%5,'*(

Number Ninety-nine February 2010

Sail into and out of Venice on the way to Dubrovnik

See overleaf for further details.
 Discovery
Club members
save an extra

Venice & the Adriatic 5%

with Mr and Mrs Bridge
From limestone fortress walls that ring Maltese Valletta, Discovery makes for A picturesque voyage of 11 days
the rough-hewn town houses of enchanting Korcula, said to be Marco Polo’s Departing September 23, 2010
birthplace. On the Croatian mainland, Zadar surprises with its Roman forum. Date Port
Sep 23 Depart Gatwick or Manchester by air
A night in Venice invites you to linger on St Mark’s square after a day on the Rialto to VALLETTA, Malta
Transfer to mv DISCOVERY
or out at Murano. Stud farms outside Koper breed Vienna’s famous Lipizzaner VALLETTA, Malta
horses, Split’s Peristyle, with its colonnades and open spaces, invites you to Sep 24 Cruising the Mediterranean,
Ionian and Adriatic Seas
people-watch around Diocletian’s ancient palace. Honeycomb patterns on Hvar’s Sep 25 KORCULA, Croatia
promenade bake under the Adriatic sun as you make for the cool marble slabs of Sep 26 ZADAR, Croatia
Sep 27 VENICE, Italy
Dubrovnik’s Placa Stradun precinct and Sponza Palace. Sep 28 VENICE, Italy
Sep 29 KOPER, Slovenia
MR BRIDGE Sep 30 SPLIT, Croatia
All Mr Bridge passengers, who have paid the £30 per person bridge supplement, will be Oct 1 HVAR, Croatia
part of the exclusive bridge party. This will make them eligible for the seminars, drinks Oct 2 DUBROVNIK, Croatia
parties, quiz competitions, occasional afternoon and daily evening duplicates after first Oct 3 DUBROVNIK, Croatia
Disembark and transfer to airport
sitting dinner. The bridge programme is fully optional and you may participate as much for flight home to Gatwick or Manchester
or as little as you wish. Mr Bridge actively encourages singles to join the party and they Inside fares from £1,199pp
will always be found a partner for a game. Exclusive Outside fare from £1,399pp

Your Voyage includes: • Flights from/to the UK (Manchester

• Inspiring destinations and £15pp supplement)
enlightening excursions • All meals, entertainment and gratuities
• Comprehensive lecture and on-board included with no hidden extras
Guest Speaker programme • Friendly and relaxed atmosphere on board
• Travel with around 650 • All prices on board in British pounds
like-minded passengers in • Captain’s cocktail parties and gala dinners
4-star comfort • All port and pre-paid airport taxes

 01483 489961 for brochures and bookings

Fares shown are per person based on two people sharing lowest twin-bedded cabin category currently available, are subject to availability and include all applicable discounts for new bookings. All offers are subject to availability,
are capacity controlled and may be withdrawn at any time. Specific cabin number may not be allocated at time of booking. Flights from Manchester £15pp supplement (£7.50pp each way). Only bookings made directly with Mr Bridge
are eligible to be part of the Mr Bridge Group. Those wishing to play bridge, please note that there is a bridge supplement of £30 per bridge player to be confirmed at the time of booking. See brochure for full terms and conditions.
Voyages of Discovery is a trading name of All Leisure Holidays Ltd.
 FEATURES

BRIDGE 3 Bidding Quiz

4
by Bernard Magee
52 Double Dummy Answer
by Richard Wheen
53 Don’t be Too Clever Too
BIDDING QUIZ
by Bernard Magee

Publisher and
Managing Editor
11 Double Dummy Quiz
by Richard Wheen
Soon by Dick Atkinson
55 Last Words by Ned Paul
Y ou are West in the auc-
tions below, playing
'Standard Acol' with a weak
Mr Bridge
13 The Generation Game no-trump (12-14 points) and
Ryden Grange by Michael Scarrott ADVERTISEMENTS four-card majors.
Knaphill, Surrey (Answers on page 43)
17 Take-out of Partner’s 2 Venice & the Adriatic
GU21 2TH on Board Discovery
3NT by Freddie North
( 01483 489961 20 David Stevenson 5 Cut-out Form 1. Dealer West. N/S Vul.
Answers Your Questions Mail Order Form ♠ A74
e-mail: ™ K2
24 Defence Quiz 6 Voyages to Antiquity
mrbridge@mrbridge.co.uk on Aegean Odyssey
© 10 4 3
by Julian Pottage
® AQ852
website: 25 A Walk in Winter 8 Bridge Weekends
www.mrbridge.co.uk by Countryman with Bernard Magee West North East South
9 Tunisia 2010 ?
27 Bernard Magee says
Associate Editor Double if They 10 Highlands & Islands
Outbid You When 2. Dealer East. Love All.
Julian Pottage with Swan Hellenic
You Own the Deal ♠ Void
Discovery Cruising
™ K765
Technical Consultant 28 Freddie North says 11 Ned Paul at © J876
One Two, That Will Do the Beach Hotel
Tony Gordon ® K 10 8 7 4
29 Julian Pottage 12 Crusaders & Pharoahs
Answers Your Questions with Swan Hellenic West North East South
Bridge Consultant
33 Declarer Play Quiz Discovery Cruising 1NT Pass
Bernard Magee ?
by Dave Huggett 18 Voyages of Discovery
34 Mike Wenble says 2010 Summer Cruises
Proof Readers Count Your Winners 3. Dealer West. N/S Vul.
26 Charity Bridge Events
Danny Roth ♠ A K 10
35 Declarer Play Voyages of
Hugh Williams ™ 76
Answers Discovery Cruises
Richard Wheen © KQ9
by David Huggett
37 Bernard Magee ® AK765
36 Justin Corfield says Tips for Better Bridge
Software Support Play the Card West North East South
40 Global Travel
( 01483 485345 You are Known to Hold
Insurance
1® Pass 2® Pass
?
37 Children in Need 2009
42 Bernard Magee’s
Events & Cruises Simultaneous Pairs
Interactive Tutorials 4. Dealer North. Love All.
( 01483 489961 38 Defence Quiz Answers
44 Eric Hill ♠ K7654
Jessica Galt by Julian Pottage
46 Stamps ™ 2
Rachel Everett 39 Julian Pottage says © 10 7 6
Preference is 47 The Case for all ® Q854
Different to Support Combinations
Club Directory
43 Bidding Quiz Answers 48 Rubber/Chicago West North East South
and Charity Support 3™ 3NT Pass
by Bernard Magee Bridge Events
maggie@mrbridge.co.uk ?
45 Readers’ Letters 49 Why it is so important
49 Catching Up for club committees
Address Changes to insure their club 5. Dealer West. Love All.
by Sally Brock
( 01483 485342 52 Duplicate Bridge
♠ AKJ653
50 Seven Days ™ 10
by Sally Brock Rules Simplified
All correspondence should © A3
55 Hand Evaluation ® 9872
be addressed to Mr Bridge. 52 Celebrating Ten Years
Please make sure that all of Teaching Bridge For 56 Cruise to the Riviera
West North East South
letters, e-mails and faxes All by John Taylor on Board Discovery
1♠ Pass 1NT Pass
carry full postal addresses
2♠ Pass 3™ Pass
and telephone numbers. The views expressed in this publication are not
?
necessarily those of the publisher or its Managing Editor.

Page 3
FORWARD IN DEED
Some of you who read my
last column will have taken
part in the prize bidding
quiz. Those with the correct
answer to Question 1, 1NT,
should by now have been
notified. The answers to all
three questions are to be
found on page 7 together
with the winners’ details.
APOLOGY
2 ♠ A K Q 10 9 6
™ AK
© K J 10
® A5
Question 2 was an error.
Please accept my apologies.
As so few have drawn it to
my attention I have counted
2® as the correct answer.
However, there is a lesson
here to be learned. Always
count your cards, in
newspapers and magazines
as well as at the card table.
THANKS
A great big thank you to
Voyages of Discovery and all
participating hotels for their
generous support.
All details submitted have
been entered, but not every-
one’s writing is legible. If
you have not been notified,
resend your email to
maggie@mrbridge.co.uk
SECURITY
Your details will always be
treated as confidential
information and will not be
sold or traded with third
parties. Indeed, I have been
registered under the Data
Protection Act for nearly 20
years. Time seems to fly by
and as the mists lift from my
memory, I remember I am
also registered with the
Financial Services Agency.
That must have been when
my credit card was first
launched back in 1995.
MORE
CORRECTIONS
I must have given the wrong
impression of the current
state of my bridge career but
many thanks to those who
wrote in with suggestions. It
is not a new career but a new
approach that I required as to
date my campaign for
organisational change has
proved to be singularly
unsuccessful.
ASIDE
Now I must explain that
before my metamorphosis I
would offer some helpful
suggestion or idea for the
powers that be to consider.
So, for the very last time,
here goes.
I see Universal Membership
via the PAY2PLAY scheme
as the last straw. It appears
there is not a single member
of the EBU, in any position
of influence, to grasp that
universal is everyone and to
ensure this in the world of
duplicate bridge in England
is impossible.... unless all
players are given free
membership and charges are
then made for services at the
going rate.
It is not rocket science.
Apologies here, to all my
non English readers bored by
such a stubborn
unwillingness to ‘get it’.
Letters from elsewhere in the
UK attest to this.
Page 4
RECAP
What was I to do? I told you
that I was being coached to
be a businessman. So out of
the window goes a working
life-time of trying to change
things and into a new world.
One of planning and budgets
and everything else that goes
with managing what I now
confidently expect will turn
into a real business. My
coach has explained that I
could very likely have
achieved all my objectives
within ten years of setting up
in 1986.
Anyway, you will be pleased
to learn that the first three
quarters’ targets have been
met and as these may have
been “soft”, those for the
future have been upped.
Now I am being coerced to
use my working time more
efficiently and to prepare
budgets so that I am not
spending precious limited
resources before the plans
have been properly and
clearly thought through.
PLANS
I am having to set aside all
other hopes, day-dreams and
ambitions in order to stick to
the plan. Videos, films,
DVD’s and an expanded
mail order division will just
have to wait, however viable
such projects seem.
THE FIRST
(BIG) STEP
Without doubt, the game
needs new players so the
first lump of my budget has
been invested in developing
a teaching product to
broaden the customer base. I
look forward to telling you
about this in the next issue.
NEXT
(TENTATIVE) STEP
The New Year will see the
opening of a small office in
the US to deal with mail
order software sales. More
of this in the next issue too.
OTHER STEPS
Everything else is on hold.
However, I am a young old
man in a hurry and I am so
pleased with what has been
achieved in this first year. I
fully understand that
consolidation comes first,
however boring.
COVER STORY
This time I thought we
would have a prize caption
competition so please think
of a bridge related caption,
of not more than seven
words, that can be applied to
the front cover making it
into a cartoon . Discovery
sailing through the
Grand Canal in Venice
may serve as a clue.
I will be on board with a
party of bridge-players
sailing in to and out of
Venice towards the end of
September when the weather
is not too hot. See page 2.
Please use the adjacent form
for your entry which will
also serve to update your
registration.
PRIZES
I almost forgot to tell you
about the prizes. Same as
before. By way of recap, the
star prize is a cabin on board
Discovery on the seven night
cruise from Harwich to Nice
with bridge hosted by
Bernard Magee.
There are ten prizes for
runners up. As before, a
place at a Mr Bridge
weekend of your choice. In
addition there will be prizes
and concessions for other
entrants that amuse.
✄

If you have not contacted us in the last two

years, please enter your details in the box MAIL ORDER
below to re-register:
PLAY SOFTWARE
QPlus 9.1 £84.00 .......
QPlus 8.8 (second hand) £54.00 .......
Name (Dr Mr, Mrs, Miss) .............................................
Trade-in any previous QPlus
Address .............................................................. Book & Disk and just send ONLY £32.00 .......

............................................................................ TUTORIAL SOFTWARE

Acol Bidding £64.00 .......
Postcode ............................................................. More Acol Bidding £94.00 .......
Telephone............................................................ Declarer Play £74.00 .......
Advanced Declarer Play £79.00 .......
E-mail ................................................................. Defence £74.00 .......

BOOKS
Duplicate Bridge Rules Simplified £5.95 .......
My Suggested Caption is: Club Offer 10 for only £35.00 .......
Simple Directing at the Club – Dr Gurr £4.75 .......
................................................................................
Better Hand Evaluation – Bernard Magee £14.00 .......
(not more than 7 words, please)
Bernard Magee’s Bridge Quiz Book £14.00 .......
Bernard Magee’s Quiz and Puzzle Book £14.00 .......
Bernard Magee’s Tips for Better Bridge £14.00 .......
If you have any comments, queries or points of
interest, please use this panel and post them in: SINGLE-SUITED BALL-POINT PENS
............................................................................
Boxed Set
............................................................................ of Four
(Spade,
............................................................................ Heart,
Diamond,
Club)
Please send BRIDGE to the following enthusiasts: £19.95 .......
All prices are fully inclusive. I enclose a cheque for £.............

Mr/Mrs/Miss ..............................................................................
Mr/Mrs/Miss ................................................................................................
Address ....................................................................................
Address.........................................................................................................
..................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
..........................................Postcode.........................................
Postcode ..............................................( .............................................

Mr/Mrs/Miss ..............................................................................

Address ....................................................................................

..................................................................................................
Expiry: ............................ CVV.................... Issue No. ...............
..........................................Postcode......................................... (CVV is the last 3 numbers on the signature strip)

, Ryden Grange, Knaphill, Surrey GU21 2TH.

Please complete all or part this form and return to www.mrbridge.co.uk/mrbridge-shop
, Ryden Grange, Knaphill, Surrey, GU21 2TH.
( 01483 489961
✄

Page 5
 V OYAGES A NTIQUITY

5,000 YEARS OF HISTORY...

TO

...two weeks you will never forget

TWO-WEEK VOYAGES HOSTED BY MR BRIDGE
T he aim of Voyages to Antiquity is to combine the The Aegean Odyssey has generously-sized suites, junior suites
excitement of exploring the remarkable classical civilisations and staterooms, with and without balconies, and accommodates
of the Mediterranean with the excellent comfort and service fewer than 380 guests, offering the sophisticated traveller every
of boutique-style cruising. comfort at sea and, for Mr Bridge passengers, a bridge area in the
Sail aboard the Aegean Odyssey, a premium class ship panoramic Observation Lounge.
especially designed for cruising the coastal waters of the From the splendour of Norman Sicily to the elegant ruins
Mediterranean. Enjoy personal service, greater passenger space of Palmyra in Syria, our itineraries have been meticulously
and a choice of restaurants with open-seating. Visit ports that planned to reveal as much as possible of the extraordinary
are too small for larger vessels, and navigate around the scenic wealth of natural beauty and history that the Mediterranean
islands of the Adriatic, Aegean and Mediterranean. has to offer.
VOYAGES INCLUDE:
TWO-WEEK BRIDGE PROGRAMME • SHORE EXCURSIONS • GRATUITIES • WINE WITH DINNER
PLUS SPECIAL INAUGURAL SEASON OFFERS
• FREE FLIGHT UPGRADE TO CLUB EUROPE, when booking in Concierge Class
• FREE CABIN UPGRADE • NO SINGLE SUPPLEMENTS
Inaugural Season Offers apply to selected cabin categories, are subject to availability and cannot be combined.

CHOOSE FROM FIVE EXCITING MR BRIDGE SAILINGS

“ROME
POMPEII IS SOMETHING SO WONDERFUL...”
JUNE 1, 2010

to VENICE featuring Pompeii, Amalfi, Aeolian Islands, Segesta, the art

of Magna Graecia, the great volcanoes of Vesuvius, Etna and Stromboli, Split

“ISTANBUL
...THE HOLY CITY OF BYZANTIUM”
JUNE 29, 2010

to VENICE featuring the treasures of the Byzantine Empire, Pátmos –

the “Jerusalem of the Aegean”, Metéora, Butrint and the mosaics of Ravenna

“VENICE
GOD CREATED THE KORNATI ISLANDS”
AUGUST 24, 2010

to ATHENS featuring Split, the beauty of the Kornati Islands, Homeric

Greece including Delphi, Mycenae and Epidaurus, Corinth Canal, Athens

“ATHENS
SICILY IS THE KEY TO EVERYTHING”
SEPTEMBER 21, 2010

to ROME featuring the temples of Sicily, Byzantine Palermo,

the wines of Italy, Pompeii, Herculaneum and Capri

“PALMYRA STOOD FORTH TO RIVAL ROME”

NOVEMBER 21, 2010

CAIRO to ATHENS featuring Luxor, Safaga, Sharm el-Sheikh, Suez Canal, Beirut,
Baalbek, Krak des Chevaliers, Palmyra, Aleppo, Limassol, Antalya, Athens

10093
TO REQUEST A BROCHURE OR TO MAKE A RESERVATION, PLEASE CALL ON 01483 489961
Cruises operated by Voyages to Antiquity
 GERRY HERROD’S NEW PROJECT
I am delighted to introduce an innovative new cruise
programme created by Gerry Herrod, a travel industry
veteran with whom I have worked very successfully
for a considerable number of years. Indeed, many of
you will have travelled with Mr Bridge on Orient
Lines’ Marco Polo or had a glorious holiday at his
wonderful Royal Plaza Hotel in Montreux.
Gerry Herrod’s new venture is Voyages to Antiquity.
The idea is to combine the excitement of exploring the
remarkable classical civilisations of the Mediterranean
with the comfort and service of boutique style
cruising. The Aegean Odyssey is a premium-class ship
that he is having especially refitted for cruising in the
eastern Mediterranean. Carrying around 350
passengers, the atmosphere on board is relaxed (black
tie is not required) and there is no piped music or
casino, plenty of passenger space and a choice of
excellent restaurants with open seating dining.
Expert guest speakers accompany all cruises and
prices include scheduled airline flights to and from
your cruise, a full shore excursion programme, on
board gratuities and wine with dinner. Please ring me
for a copy of the inaugural season’s brochure as it
explains the philosophy that makes these cruises very
special and describes why a Voyages to Antiquity
holiday will be one to remember.
There will be hosted bridge groups on the five sailings
as clearly shown in the lower part of the
advertisement on the facing page. Naturally, if other
cruises or departure dates appeal to you, we can take
your reservation although there may not be a bridge
group on board unless demand driven.
There are also some very interesting Inaugural Season
Offers which I am pleased to be able to pass on to
you. They are capacity controlled and subject to
availability so please book early to avoid
disappointment. They are not combinable.
CHRISTMAS PRIZE QUIZ RESULT
First prize cruise cabin on board Discovery goes to
Dr Derek Brown, Paignton, Devon. The ten runners
up are awarded a single place at any of the many
2010 Mr Bridge events.
Mr E Casey, Stockton-on-Tees.
Mrs A Clark, Lancaster.
Mrs N Fardon, Stourbridge, West Midlands.
Mrs Doreen Worbey, Letchworth Garden City.
Mrs E Stables, Stapleford Abbotts, Essex.
Mrs T Daly, Pinner, Middlesex.
Mr A Brown, Beaconsfield, Bucks.
Mr D Blackwell, Ruislip, Middlesex.
Mr D Haydock, Macclesfield.
Mr N Nuttall, Plymouth, Devon.
Congratulations to all of them and thank you every-
one else for taking part and making it such a success.
GOSSIP VALUE
The new design of my credit card is intended to
promote both me as well as the game of bridge.
Indeed, both are now so inextricably linked that the
promotion of either promotes the other. Just
producing the card to make a payment provides a
real talking point. It is a real Mastercard and can be
used in just the same way as any other plastic.
To encourage you to help me with this promotion, I
will give you vouchers to the value of 2% of all you
spend on the card. These will be issued every six
months based on the information provided by the
card issuer. The vouchers may be used in payment
towards any of my bridge holidays.
For further details and information:
( 0800 028 2440

l NO SINGLE CABIN SUPPLEMENTS

in selected cabin categories

l COMPLIMENTARY UPGRADE
to club Europe Flights when booking
in Concierge Class

l COMPLIMENTARY CABIN UPGRADE

when booking standard and premium categories

Please call my office for more information or to make

reservations on. ( 01483 489961.

Page 7
 2010 WEEKENDS
BRIDGE WEEKENDS
with Bernard Magee
with Bernard Magee
Full Board £235 per person
© Full-board © Sea View Option
(Beach Hotel only) No single Supplement
© All rooms with
en-suite facilities © Tuition with Supervised
Play, bidding quiz 20 - 22 August
© No single supplement and two seminars. Blunsdon House Hotel
Better Defence

Please book me for ..... places at £235 per person,

1 - 3 October
The Beach Hotel
Single .... Double .... Twin .... Sea View1 .... Executive2 ....
Declarer Play
Venue .................................................................................
8 - 10 October
Dates .................................................................................. The Beach Hotel, Worthing The Olde Barn Hotel
Game Tries
Mr/Mrs/Miss .....................................................................
5 - 7 February
Blunsdon House Hotel 22 - 24 October
Address...............................................................................
Splinters and Cue-bids Denham Grove
............................................................................................ Doubles
19 - 21 March
Postcode ............................................................................ The Beach Hotel 29 - 31 October
Signals and Discards Denham Grove
( ...................................................................................... Splinters and Cue-bids
Special requirements (these cannot be guaranteed, 26 - 28 March
but we will do our best to oblige) The Beach Hotel 12 - 14 November
Thinking Defence The Beach Hotel
........................................................................................... Better Defence
Please give the name(s) of all those covered by this booking 16 - 18 April
Blunsdon House Hotel 26 - 28 November
........................................................................................... Leads and Defence The Beach Hotel
Please send a non-returnable deposit of £50 per person per place Further into the Auction
by cheque, payable to Mr Bridge. An invoice for the balance 23 - 25 April
will be sent with your booking confirmation. On receipt of your The Olde Barn Hotel 3 - 5 December
final payment, 28 days before the event, a programme and full
Signals and Discards The Beach Hotel
details will be sent together with a map. Cancellations are not
refundable. Should you require insurance, you should contact Sacrificing
your own insurance broker. 1£30 supplement per room (Beach 4 - 6 June
Hotel only). 2£50 supplement per room (Blunsdon House only). The Beach Hotel
Suit Establishment The Beach Hotel
Worthing, BN11 3QJ
18 - 20 June
Blunsdon House Hotel Blunsdon House Hotel
Signals and Discards Swindon, SN26 7AS

Expiry: ............................ CVV.................... Issue No. ............... 25 - 27 June Denham Grove

(CVV is the last 3 numbers on the signature strip)
The Beach Hotel
Uxbridge, UB9 5DU
Game Tries
, Ryden Grange, Knaphill, Surrey GU21 2TH
( 01483 489961 Fax 01483 797302 6 - 8 August
The Olde Barn
e-mail: jessica@mrbridge.co.uk Blunsdon House Hotel Grantham, NG32 2HT
website: www.holidaybridge.com Hand Evaluation

Page 8
 BERNARD MAGEE
Over the years I have
enthused about Bernard
Magee’s software CD’s,
in the course of which,
he teaches you in an
interactive fashion. Indeed,
his first, Acol Bidding, is
now ten years old.
I’ve also extolled the merits
of his two brilliant quiz
books and more recently his
Tips for Better Bridge and
Better Hand Evaluation.
All of these I am proud to
say are now published by
me. However, nothing can
compare with seeing him
perform ‘live’, and perform
is what he does. Still not
forty year old, Bernard has
been teaching bridge since
his early twenties at local
venues, on board ship and
during land based holidays.
This year, I have increased
the number of events which
he will attend and
respectfully suggest that
readers should book early to
avoid disappointment.
Bernard Magee will also be
hosting the bridge on
Discovery from Harwich to
Malta. Mrs Bridge and I will
say hello to him as he leaves
the ship to fly home and
then sail on all the way to
Dubrovnik via Venice.
Fares for the first seven
nights all the way from
Harwich to Nice are from
only £549 per person
sharing. Singles who would
like to share a cabin on this
cruise should ring a.s.a.p.
Lots of time for playing and
learning as the ship sails
south, see back page advert.
USED STAMPS
We have just received a
further cheque in support of
Little Voice from the sale of
the used postage stamps that AT THE ROYAL KENZ
you and your friends are
carefully putting by for me.
Do please make this your
TUNISIA 2010
New Year’s Resolution. The
work that Little Voice does
in Addis Abba, is amazing
and is well worth
accumulating these
otherwise worthless pieces
of waste paper.
I should point out that
stamps collectors think much
the same about those who
play cards. Each to his own.
POSTAGE SAVINGS
Two-week half-board
duplicate holidays
Another price increase is
coming in. When will it end?
21 February – 7 March £749*
Bernard Magee
Support Clive Goff’s unusual
service supplying unused 7 March – 21 March £699*
stamps at a useful discount.
( 0208 4224906 Crombie & Helen McNeil
Clive.goff@londonrugby.com
21 March – 4 April £699*
TUNISIA Chris Barrable
11 April – 25 April £719*
25 April – 9 May £719*
9 May – 23 May £719*
30 May – 13 June £759*
13 June – 27 June £759*
The Royal Kenz Hotel has at
last completed its refit and *per person half-board sharing a twin-bedded room and is inclusive
of bridge fees. Single supplement £6 per night. These prices are
has an amazingly improved
based on air travel from Gatwick to Monastir. Flights from other
bridge room (pictured above) UK airports are available at a supplement. All prices are firm until
with lovely new tables, the end of March 2010. Prices for seven-night stays are available
chairs, decor and lighting. on application.
It also has a new indoor Pay £70 per fortnight per person extra and have a pool-facing
swimming pool. room, tea & coffee making facilities, bath robe and a bowl of
seasonal fruit.
Having spent a lot of time
These holidays have been organised for by Tunisia First Limited, ATOL 5933,
and energy trying to find a working in association with Thomas Cook Tour Operations Limited, ATOL 1179.
new Tunisian venue, I really
do not think I will find
anywhere better and have DETAILS & BOOKINGS
increased the number of
holidays on offer.
( 01483 489961
Page 9
 Swan Hellenic Discovery Cruising

Highlands & Islands

For people with a mind to travel 15 days departing August 12, 2010
At Swan Hellenic, we will always go further and delve that bit deeper. Our on-board Guest from £1,595pp
Speakers and inclusive excursions ashore take you behind civilisations, both ancient and Date Port
modern, with fascinating results. You will travel in country house style with around 320 other Aug 12 DOVER, England
Embark mv MINERVA
like-minded passengers. Choose to dine in the restaurant of your choice and in the company Aug 13 SARK, Channel Islands
of your friends and you will still be assured of exceptional value for money, including all tips Aug 14 Cruise the Celtic Sea
on board and ashore. Travel with a truly great British company, established in 1954, and Aug 15 GLENGARRIFF, Ireland
Aug 16 Cruise the Atlantic Ocean
enjoy an experience that will live with you forever. Aug 17 KILLYBEGS, Ireland
Aug 18 ROTHESAY, Isle of Bute, Scotland
Breathtaking natural scenery await on this celebratory cruise of the United Kingdom and Aug 19 OBAN, Scotland
Ireland. Discover misty mountains, brightly coloured seaside towns, and castles and gardens Aug 20 TOBERMORY, Isle of Mull, Scotland
in Scotland. Kirkwall offers Neolithic sites and a 12th century cathedral while your visit to Aug 21 Cruise the Inner Hebrides
Aug 22 KIRKWALL, Orkeny Islands, Scotland
Edinburgh makes a fitting finale. Aug 23 INVERGORDON, Scotland
Aug 24 LEITH, Scotland
Mr Bridge Aug 25 Cruising
All passengers who have booked and registered through Mr Bridge will be eligible to partake Aug 26 DOVER, England
Disembark
in the exclusive late afternoon duplicate session. There is no Bridge supplement, as like most
of the excursions, it is included in the price. Mr Bridge actively encourages singles to join the
party and they will always be found a partner for a game.

 01483 489961
for brochures and bookings
Fare shown is per person based on two people sharing a cabin. Offer applies to new bookings only, is subject to availability and may be withdrawn at any time. Booking terms and conditions apply.
Travel insurance not included. Swan Hellenic is a trading name of All Leisure Holidays Ltd ABTA W0302 ATOL 3897.
 YOU DEMAND
Among the most frequent
requests of our cruisers, are
the following, particularly
the more discerning.
l small ships
l no flying
l balconies
l insightful port lectures
l inclusive tours
l no single supplements
l open sitting dining
l daily duplicate
Discovery can meet some of
these requirements but
certainly not all.
Minerva, pictured above,
carries only 325 passengers,
has 12 cabins with balconies
(they sell very quickly),
Oxbridge quality port
lectures, inclusive tours and
open sitting dining
arrangements. Bridge groups
of nine or ten tables at most.
I have bridge hosts on the
following cruises:
Mediterranean Spring
Cadiz to Piraeus (Athens)
7 April – 19 April
13 days from £1295 pp.
Lure of the Levant
Piraeus (Athens) to Aqaba
19 April – 1 May
13 days from £1295 pp.
The bridge party is already
full, but it still promises to
be a lovely cruise.
Highlands and Islands
Dover to Dover
12 August – 26 August
15 days from £1595 pp.
Crusaders and Pharaohs
Limassol (Cyprus) to Aqaba
21 November – 4 December
15 days from £1655 pp.
Do look at the advertisement
on the facing page or the
page overleaf which should
encourage you to telephone
my office for a brochure.
YELLOW BOOK RE-DEVELOPMENT
The Beach Hotel, Worthing,
is now in its last year before
being re-developed as
AT THE
apartments. Consequently, I BEACH HOTEL
am making the most of this
Worthing BN11 3QJ
much loved venue. Over the
last few years our weekend
events at this hotel have got
better and better. Book early
to avoid being disappointed.
No single supplement.
Duplicate bridge players are DOUBLE DUMMY
said to be notoriously careful by Richard Wheen
with their money – nothing
wrong with that you say but
steady on old chap, aren’t ♠ A
you generalising a bit. Well, ™ 2 Duplicate
yes, I suppose I am, but it © K2
really is about time to use ® Q9 Events 2010
the new rule book. Copies ♠ Void ♠ Void with Ned Paul
going back to 1990 are still ™ J N ™ KQ
W E
in use at some clubs. © 10 9 8 S © QJ 29-31 Jan £199
® J 10 ® K8 Doubles
To this end I repeat my offer
♠ Void
– made at the time of
™ A 11-13 June £215
publication of Duplicate
© A76
Bridge Rules Simplified. Slam Bidding
® A2
& Cue Bids
Send in your old book – half
the cover will do and seven
first class stamps. I will send © Full-board
North (dummy) is on lead in
you the current issue by Friday to Sunday
a no-trump contract. How
return. Meanwhile, my club can North/South make all © All rooms with
offer still stands – 10 copies en-suite facilities
six tricks against any
for £35 delivered. defence? © No single supplement
(Answer on page 52.) © Tuition with
BRIDGE DIRECTION supervised play,
Long overdue, but really
NOT FOR bidding quiz
PUBLICATION and two seminars
welcome none the less,
Bridge Direction Simplified
My ‘Ask Julian’ and ‘Ask
is to be published later this
David’ services can only
year. I have commissioned
work if the problems they
Bernard Magee and David
are asked to examine and
Stevenson to produce a clear,
advise about can be
concise and accurate guide
published. Please bear this
to bridge club direction.
in mind.
For the moment, Simple
Direction at the Club by Dr NED PAUL
C E Gurr is on sale at £4.75.
Adjacent are details of two No Single
However, pay £6.75 and I extra events I have fitted in Supplement
will send you Gurr now and to the programme at the
Guaranteed
the Magee/Stevenson when soon to be closed Beach
sea-facing views
it is ready. Every club Hotel. Ned Paul will be £30 extra per room
should have at least one of hosting parties of not more
these books to kick-start an than 13 tables at this very , Ryden Grange,
interest of a few of your popular venue. Knaphill, Surrey GU21 2TH
younger willing horses
to take on this interesting Happy New Year. ( 01483 489961
and, most of the time, email: jessica@mrbridge.co.uk
website: www.holidaybridge.com
rewarding work.
Page 11
 Swan Hellenic Discovery Cruising

Crusaders & Pharaohs

For people with a mind to travel 15 days departing November 20, 2010
At Swan Hellenic, we will always go further and delve that bit deeper. Our on-board from £1,655pp
Date Port
Guest Speakers and inclusive excursions ashore take you behind civilisations, both ancient Nov 21 Depart UK by air to Limassol, Cyprus
and modern, with fascinating results. You will travel in country house style with around Embark mv MINERVA
320 other like-minded passengers. Choose to dine in the restaurant of your choice and Nov 22 LIMASSOL, Cyprus
Nov 23 LATAKIA, Syria
in the company of your friends and you will still be assured of exceptional value for Nov 24 TARTOUS, Syria
money, including all tips on board and ashore. Travel with a truly great British company, Nov 25 Cruise the Mediterranean Sea
established in 1954, and enjoy an experience that will live with you forever. Nov 26 ALEXANDRIA, Egypt
Nov 27 Cruise the Mediterranean Sea
Transit the Suez Canal, sail the Red Sea, discover Egyptian treasures including the Nov 28 Transit the Suez Canal
ADABIYA, Egypt
Pyramids of Giza, the Cairo Museum, Sakkara, remote St Anthony’s Monastery and Nov 29 Cruise the Red Sea
the temples of Luxor. There’s also the unique opportunity to walk through the Siq to SHARM-EL-SHEIKH, Egypt
Nov 30 Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt
discover the hidden city of Petra. Dec 1-2 SAFAGA, Egypt
Dec 3 AQABA, Jordan
Mr Bridge Dec 4 Aqaba, Jordan
All passengers who have booked and registered through Mr Bridge will be eligible to Disembark and transfer to airport
for flight home to UK
partake in the exclusive late afternoon duplicate session. There is no Bridge supplement,
as like most of the excursions, it is included in the price. Mr Bridge actively encourages
singles to join the party and they will always be found a partner for a game.

 01483 489961
for brochures and bookings
Fare shown is per person based on two people sharing a cabin. Offer applies to new bookings only, is subject to availability and may be withdrawn at any time. Booking terms and conditions apply.
Travel insurance not included. Swan Hellenic is a trading name of All Leisure Holidays Ltd ABTA W0302 ATOL 3897.
 The Generation
Game
‘H
e took my eight of spades
with the nine, claimed the
contract, and said, ‘Better
luck next time granddad!’ Well, I called
him an impudent young scamp. One
thing led to another and we agreed to
settle it with a 48-board competition
between the local Sixth Form College
and the Sunset House Retirement
Home.
The Charity Bridge Drive
Gerry Webster pinned the notice
announcing the match on the home’s
lounge information board. Gerry’s
friend and regular bridge partner,
Morris Brook, joined in, ‘Yes, it was
quite uncalled for. It was supposed to be
a relaxed, no fear charity bridge drive
with all proceeds going towards the
church tower restoration fund. We
decided to support the event and Gerry
even organised a mini-bus so that we
could all travel together.’
Everything went smoothly up until
the mixed group from the local college
came marching in. ‘Just to get some
playing experience’ was their excuse.’
‘They seemed OK to start with,’
continued Ethel Wells. ‘We came up
against two of the girls on round four.
Astrid and Lara. Both dressed in black
with bright red lips and rather fearsome
makeup. When I explained our system
as basic Acol they just laughed and said
we were not to worry as they would
probably be doing all the bidding
anyway!’
No Social Graces
‘They were all pretty much the same,’
added Wally Brown. ‘We played against
Craig and Jacko. Two great big lads.
by Michael Scarrott
Towered over us at the table and chewed
gum throughout the round. Told us it
was not worth explaining their system,
as we were too old to understand. Poor
Basil completely lost his concentration
and uncharacteristically played out-of-
turn on our second deal.’ ‘Can’t do that,
Squire,’ said Jacko in a decidedly
intimidating tone.
Craig and Jacko Chastised
Luckily for us, Mavis Rudd was
directing the play; she chastised both of
them for upsetting an elderly player. ‘If
it happens again, I shall ask you both to
leave. No Fear means you have to be
kind and polite to everyone.’
Eventually, it became clear that one of
the lecturers was preparing a team to
take part in a national event and
suggested the players get involved with
the local bridge scene. The squad were
getting intensive training sessions
designed to give them a superior edge at
the table. Gerry decided to find out who
was responsible for allowing them to
come out without any social graces or
etiquette.
‘You remember that particularly
scruffy chap with the spiky hair and
thick stubble all over his chin? Well it
transpired he was the teacher involved.
He readily agreed to the competition
and even had the cheek to say they
would make it as painless as possible!
Now it is jolly well up to us to teach
them a lesson they will not forget in a
hurry.’
The Challenge
‘We have agreed to divide the match
into two 24-board sessions split equally
between the college and the retirement
Page 13
home. Each team will consist of eight
players with the first round due to take
place in the college library next Friday
evening. We will play the final 24
boards next Saturday afternoon in our
dining room.’
‘We can organise an afternoon tea
with sandwiches, home-made cakes and
cream scones,’ said an enthusiastic
Alice Wit. ‘I might even ask Maud to
make a batch of her famous chocolate
brownies and almond triangles. It is
such a pity that most youngsters these
days seem to live on nothing but junk
food, eating as and when they please.’
‘Do you think we could persuade old
Charles Drake to take part,’ interrupted
Lionel Snow. ‘Was he something to do
with the Magic Circle? I believe his
speciality was sleight of hand using a
pack of cards!’ ‘Would that be rather
unfair?’ said Alice. ‘Not a bit of it,’
came back a unanimous chorus.
Session One
Friday evening found the eight players
from the retirement home entering the
college library somewhat nervously. ‘It
is a few years since I was last in one of
these places,’ chirped up Eddie Ball. ‘A
few decades more like it,’ retorted Maud
Adams. ‘Now, now, team,’ said Gerry.
‘Let us keep our sharp tongues for that
lot in there.’
Their opponents – four girls and four
boys each sporting a bright red T-shirt
emblazoned with the slogan ‘No to
Acol, Yes to Alcohol’ greeted them. ‘All
harmless fun I suppose,’ whispered
Doris to her partner Maud. With
introductions over, play was soon
underway. ‘Hope you don’t mind the
kibitzers,’ announced the college
captain, Hugo Spear. ‘They look

The Generation Game
upon us as modern-day leviathans and
have wagers on what our victory margin
will be.’ ‘What happens if you lose?’
retorted an incensed Gerry Webster. ‘Do
you get thrown to the lions or
something?’
Not one to be intimidated, Gerry
opened 1♠ on the first board. Hugo
overcalled 2™ and Morris responded
2NT. Gerry rebid his spade suit to show
length and Morris went promptly to
game in spades. Taking little notice of
his partner’s silence throughout the
proceedings, Hugo shook his mop of
unruly hair just like a dog that has come
out of a pond and flicked the double
card onto the table. ‘Audacious
behaviour,’ thought Morris, ‘I just hope
we haven’t overstretched ourselves.’
Hugo led the queen of hearts and his
partner, Vinnie, gave an unpleasant
grunt.
This was the full deal:
Morris
♠ 10 6
™ A742
© AQ85
® Q93
Hugo Vinnie
♠ AK ♠ 753
™ Q J 10 9 8 5 N ™ 6 student onlookers gathered around the
W E
© 732 S © J 10 9 6 4
® A6 ® 8742
Gerry
♠ QJ9842
™ K3
© K
® K J 10 5
Morris presented dummy in his usual
methodical manner and looked to Gerry
for approval. ‘Thank you very much,
partner,’ said Gerry in a very confident
manner. Hugo glanced sideways at
Gerry’s impartial expression and hoped
he had not overstepped the mark with
his double.
Careful Play from Gerry
With only three top tricks to lose, Gerry
realised quickly that the contract was
secure unless the opponents managed a
heart ruff. The bidding suggested Hugo
conti nued
had a 6-card suit for his overcall, which
meant that his partner probably had a
singleton. The solution was really quite
simple. He won the first trick in hand
with the king of hearts and led the
diamond king. He overtook with
dummy’s ace and played the diamond
queen to take care of the outstanding
heart in hand. Ten tricks were there and
an excited Morris was soon writing up
the score. Instantly Hugo and Vinnie
began a heated exchange over the
outcome. ‘How was I to know the old
guy was a half-decent player? I
expected him to set about drawing
trumps as soon as he won the opening
lead.’ Morris looked up and said, ‘You
should never assume anything, young
man. Has nobody told you there’s many
a good tune played on an old fiddle?’
Youthful Exuberance
Meanwhile, Maud and Doris were
struggling to get to grips with the antics
of Jen and Bex. ‘Don’t worry, this will
soon be over,’ said Bex after gaining an
easy overtrick on the first board. Doris
managed a smile and hoped the
situation would soon turn to their
advantage. The two college girls were a
popular pair, judging by the fellow
table. ‘This is all Gerry’s fault,’
reflected a nonplussed Maud. ‘Why on
earth did he have to go and challenge
this lot? I would much sooner be back at
Sunset House with my feet up and
watching the telly.’
‘Hope you don’t mind the fan club,’
said Jen in a friendly tone. ‘Yes,’ joined
in Bex, ‘we have quite a following after
an amazing victory over a well-known
public school. The grand slam in
diamonds on the last board clinched the
match. The Master in charge of their
team even hinted that they might start
offering scholarships for bridge. They
should be so lucky!’ ‘Such a pretty girl,’
thought Doris, ‘I suppose it’s only
natural for them to show such youthful
exuberance.’
On the final board of the round, Doris
opened 2NT with a balanced 22 points.
Bex passed and Maud went straight to
3NT. She decided against her usual
transfer sequence to show a five-card
Page 14
major suit, preferring instead to give as
little away as possible to the opponents.
This finished the bidding and Bex led
the five of hearts. The complete deal
was:
Maud
♠ QJ532
™ J76
© 963
® 10 5
Bex Jen
♠ 76 ♠ 10 9 8 4
™ Q 10 8 5 3 N ™ 4
W E
© KJ4 S © Q852
® J72 ® KQ93
Doris
♠ AK
™ AK92
™ A 10 7
® A864
Doris scrutinized Maud’s dummy
carefully. Hasty play at trick one was
often the reason for failed contracts.
The spade suit looked promising for
five tricks but, without an obvious entry
to dummy, the ace-king in hand blocked
the suit. The heart jack looked like the
only possible way of reaching dummy
to play the spade winners. The only
obstacle was the heart queen – almost
certainly with Bex.
Planning at Trick One
With her mind made up, she played the
six of hearts from dummy and, when
Jen followed with the four, she took the
trick with the ace in hand. Doris cashed
the ace-king of spades and led a low
heart towards dummy’s jack. Bex won
with the queen and played a low club.
Doris took this with the ace in hand and
led the nine of hearts to dummy’s jack.
Jen gave a sporting nod in recognition
of Doris’s careful play with the outcome
being five spade tricks, three hearts, one
club and one diamond. ‘Very well
played!’ said a jubilant Maud. ‘It just
goes to show you cannot turn back the
clock but you sure can wind it up again!’
‘Yes, well done,’ joined in Bex. ‘It is
interesting to note that if you win the
first trick with the six or nine, the jack
will not provide an entry to dummy. The
spades will give you just two tricks and
the contract will be down two.’
‘How do you think our lads will
cope?’ asked a concerned Jen. ‘It
The Generation Game
looks like Jacko will be in the driving
seat,’ replied Bex. ‘He has always been
a bit of a loose cannon. I cannot see that
he will take time to work out the
importance of the heart play.’ Doris
wiped the perspiration off her brow and
Maud went to get them both a glass of
water. ‘I think you deserve something
stronger,’ said Jen. ‘It’s such a shame
we can have only soft drinks in the
library.’ She winked at Bex who added,
‘Yes, we are really looking forward to
something stronger when we come up
to the retirement home tomorrow
afternoon.’ Doris grinned and replied in
a good-natured tone, ‘We can definitely
offer you both a cup of good, strong
tea!’
Toby and Rocco,
College Champions
On the far side of the room, Charles and
his partner Lionel were up against
college champions, Toby and Rocco.
‘Take no prisoners, lads – that is what
the coach said.’ Lionel looked up at a
smirking Rocco and reminded him that
this was just a friendly match between
the wisdom of age and the spirit of
youth. ‘Well, if that’s the case, I can tell
you here and now that the four ages of
man are laga, aga, saga and gaga.’
Charles winced slightly as he realised
what was coming next. ‘Toby and I are
both enjoying life in the laga stage,
while you two old codgers are just about
to graduate from saga to gaga!’ Hoots of
laughter echoed round the room and
even Lionel managed a smile. ‘Thank
goodness youth is a malady of which
one becomes cured a little every day!’
Percentage Play
Ironically, the outcome of the first
session depended on percentage play. In
each case, the contract was 3NT. This
was declarer and dummy:
Declarer Dummy
♠ 43 ♠ A8
™ AKQ N ™ 10 7 6 2
W E
© AQ6 S © 87543
® AKQ32 ® 64
con tinued
Bidding started the same at every table:
West opened 2® and rebid 2NT over
East’s response of 2©. In each case, 3NT
became the final contract. North led the
queen of spades and declarer counted
eight top tricks. A crucial decision came
after taking the ace of spades. The
college team opted for the clubs to break
3-3 in the hope of running ten tricks. The
retirement home took due note of the
percentage play and decided on the
diamond finesse. The finesse has a 50%
chance of success while a kind club
break is less than 40%. Which one
worked? Well, a happy smile on the face
of Charles said it all.
End of Session One
Thanks to some fine play and good
defence, the team from the retirement
home was only a few points behind at
the finish of the first session. ‘I suppose
you lot will be off to celebrate with a
mug of cocoa,’ said a none-too-pleased
Rocco as Gerry’s team made ready to
leave.
‘We look forward to seeing you all
tomorrow afternoon,’ replied
delighted Gerry. ‘You are all welcome
to stay for a victory tea afterwards.
Would you like to bring some of your
friends to watch the play? I think quite
a few of them have taken to our Doris
and Maud!’
Colourful Shirts
The Saturday afternoon match was soon
underway with quite a few non-playing
residents gathered to watch the play and
to see the colourfully dressed college
team in action. Each sported a bright
yellow tee shirt with the words ‘veni,
vidi, vici’ in bold, black lettering
emblazoned on the front. ‘What’s that
supposed to mean?’ asked a puzzled
Norman Bates. ‘It’s a bit premature if
you ask me,’ replied Gerry. ‘It is Latin
and translates into something like “I
came, I saw, I conquered”.’
Expecting something like this, the
Sunset House team had managed to kit
themselves out with their very own light
blue polo shirts with the words ‘Blessed
are the young for they shall inherit the
national debt.’ Gladys Cooper had
Page 15
managed a trip into town before the
start of the match to buy the shirts and
to get them printed.
It was not long before the first slam of
the afternoon came along. Gordon and
Eric from the retirement home were
playing against Polly and Lois from the
college team. ‘We’ve no time for the
esoteric aspects of the game,’ said a very
assured Polly. ‘Our team should be
miles ahead by now, so we’ve been
drafted in to neutralize the enemy.’
‘Such confidence,’ thought Eric as he
thumbed through his cards. ‘Telling a
teenager the facts of life these days
would be the equivalent of giving a fish
a bath!’
13 Winners, only 11 Tricks?
Polly opened a pre-emptive 3™ and
Gordon blasted straight to 6♠ on one of
the best hands he had ever had. Lois led
the two of hearts and Gordon held his
breath in trepidation as he watched Eric
display dummy’s cards. This was the
full deal:
Eric
4♠
™
83
©
Q 10 8 7 2
a ®
KJ953
Lois Polly
♠ 765 ♠ 83
N
™ 2 W E ™ K Q J 10 7 5 4
S
© J9653 © 4
® Q874 ♠ 10 6 2
Gordon
♠ A K Q J 10 9 2
™ A96
© AK
® A
There were thirteen top tricks but, with
only eleven of them cashable, two
seemingly inescapable heart losers.
‘Everything would be fine if only I
could gain an entry to dummy,’ thought
Gordon. ‘Both losing hearts could then
go away – one on the diamond queen
and the other on the king of clubs.’ The
sudden sound of a siren broke his
concentration as a fire engine raced up
the nearby main road. Gordon regained
his composure and realised there might
be a slim chance of success.
He won the first trick with the ace and
then cashed two high trumps. The ace of
clubs and the ace and king of
The Generation Game
diamonds followed this. With only one
trump outstanding, he played the two of
spades from hand and was relieved to
see Lois take this trick with the seven.
Lois pursed her lips as she realised the
inevitable. She nodded her head in
appreciation of Gordon’s clever play
and led a club to the king in dummy.
‘Twelve tricks bid and made,’ said a
delighted Eric. ‘Let me make a quick
note of the deal and I’ll make sure it
gets a mention in our monthly
newsletter. It confirms what I’ve
thought all along, bridge is no game for
sissies!’ The girls joined in the good-
natured fun. ‘Yes,’ added Polly. ‘We can
call him “Flash” after the comic book
space hero, Flash Gordon!’
Never Say an Unkind Word
Vera and Coral from the Sunset House
team were having an interesting time
against the mixed partnership of Max
and Amelia. ‘Don’t you ever fall out or
get angry at each other?’ asked an
inquisitive Max. ‘Most of the college
pairs change partners with monotonous
regularity.’ Coral smiled at this sad
reflection and answered in a helpful
tone, ‘We make a few mistakes and
have a few misunderstandings at times,
but we make it a rule never to say an
unkind word to each other. It always
helps to give partner a big smile at the
start of every session. Bridge generally
has a bad name amongst non-players
who see nothing but backbiting,
acrimony and endless, acidulous post
mortems. It’s such a shame.’
Final Board
Coral opened 1™ on the final board of
the round. Amelia passed and Vera
thought for a second before deciding on
the Swiss conventional bid of 4® to
describe her hand to the full. A very
excited Coral alerted this unthinkingly
and Max asked whether it was the rather
old-fashioned Gerber system asking for
aces. Coral gave an accurate description
of Vera’s response, a value raise to 4™
with two aces and, in their methods, no
Sadly, during the preparation of this issue, we learned of the sudden death of Michael Scarrott.
conti nued the queen in hand. She then led a club to
dummy and ruffed a spade in hand. She
noted with satisfaction the fall of the
jack and ten of spades, which now
meant that the nine was now good to
singleton. Max passed. ‘Oh, well,’ discard the queen of diamonds.
thought Coral, ‘I can’t remember Max and Amelia congratulated Coral
having a heart suit quite as solid as this on her performance. ‘Will our pair find
one, so I might as well try to make the that line of play?’ enquired Amelia. ‘I
most of it.’ The auction ended with her rather suspect they will try the diamond
jump to 6™. finesse and just put it down to bad luck
when it fails.’
Only Chance a Finesse?
Sumptuous Feast
‘Well, well, well,’ thought Amelia as
she led the ten of clubs. ‘I don’t know The final boards of the competition
about that high tea we’ve been promised were soon over, though it took a few
after the match, but we may have to eat minutes to collate the results. The
some ‘humble pie’ as well!’ This was players started to tuck into a sumptuous
the full deal: feast of homemade quiches, cakes,
cream scones, sandwiches, apple pie,
cheesecake, and lemon meringue. ‘This
Vera has been a great afternoon out for us,’
♠ 9652 announced Hugo on behalf of the
™ A763 college team. You have shown us that an
© 43 uncluttered game is the most effective;
® AKQ there is nothing quite to match a subtle
Amelia Max table presence. It is clear to us that old
♠ A843 ♠ J 10 7 age is when actions creak louder than
N
™ 54 W E ™ 2 words! We hope this event will become
S
© K J 10 6 2 © 9875 a regular fixture on our college
® 10 9 ® J7643 timetable and we all look forward to
Coral meeting up with our newfound friends
♠ KQ on a regular basis – especially if
™ K Q J 10 9 8 afternoon tea is on offer!’
© AQ Gerry stood up and thanked Hugo for
® 852 his kind words. ‘We’ve had such a lot of
fun ourselves. It is good to think we can
learn from one another. Your optimistic
Coral frowned ever so slightly as she expectations have been like a breath of
assessed her chances. With the spade fresh air – a long session of bridge does
ace a certain loser, it looked as though not have to mean a sentence of tomblike
the outcome rested on a successful silence at the table! A bit of friendly
finesse of the diamond queen. Coral had bantering should add enjoyment to the
a pet aversion to finesses and used them game – rather than a reason to call the
only as an absolute last resort. Might director.’
there be another less obvious chance
worth trying first? With a bit of luck I The Result
might just be able to establish the nine
of spades. With the full results of both sessions
now in, Gerry was more than pleased to
Keeping Entries in Dummy announce an honourable draw. Both
sides felt this was a fitting result and
After winning the lead in dummy nobody wanted to play any additional
perforce, she drew the missing trumps boards. Morris had the final word as the
without using the ace from dummy. She last of the students went out through the
next led the spade king, won by Amelia, front door of Sunset House. ‘Youth is
who then returned her final club. Coral such a wonderful thing. What a shame
took this in dummy and led a spade to to waste it on the young!’ n
Page 16
 It Happened That Way by Freddie North
Take-out of Partner’s 3NT
uring my many trips across the
D Seven Seas running bridge
cruises, mainly for P & O, I
learnt a thing or two. One of these gems
of wisdom was that inexperienced
players – and some quite experienced –
never use a take-out bid after partner’s
3NT in the same way as experts. Let me
give you an example.
As East, you hold:
´ 75
™ 8
© AQJ94
® K 10 6 3 2
West, your partner, opens the bidding
with 1® and you respond 1©. West
rebids 3NT – over to you.
Obviously, the no-trump game may be
best; on the other hand, a small slam in
clubs could be iron clad, so how should
you investigate? The clear-cut solution
is to continue with 4® – a bid that many
players would miss as they might be
unsure of its meaning.
Taking partner out of game into four
of a minor is not a retrograde step or
sign of weakness. On the contrary, it is a
forward-going move suggesting the
possibility of slam if partner’s hand is
suitable. On a good day, perhaps even a
grand slam may be biddable.
Built into this sort of sequence is a
safety valve that allows the opener to
sign off in 4NT when unsuitable, which
usually means a poor fit and shortage of
aces. Let us look at three possible hands
that would be consistent with West’s
bidding.
Hand 1 Hand 2 Hand 3
´ A 10 9 ´ KQJ ´ A 10 9
™ KQ6 ™ KQJ ™ AJ6
© K6 © 63 © K 10
® AQJ74 ® AQJ74 ® AQJ74
1 Here, West should be very happy to
co-operate in getting to 6®. Two choice of 3NT, he meant to convey
aces, a five-card club suit and
perhaps a vital card (the king) in
partner’s suit. It all looks very
eighteen or nineteen points. Perhaps
East took this on board but simply did
not know how to proceed.
promising. True, East has only nine points but
2 This time, with only one ace and no there is plenty of compensation with
great fit in diamonds, West should that promising eight-card suit – so long
rebid 4NT, a sign off unless, of as partner has the right controls and fit.
course, partner has other ideas. With West’s actual hand, it would be
3 You would now want to get to 7® reasonable to convert 4® to 6NT.
although bidding grand slams is Perhaps North would lead a diamond to
seldom easy. No doubt, finding the South’s ace, in which case declarer
double fit and locating all the vital could claim the remainder of the tricks
controls would get you there. without playing a single card from his
hand.
What started this discourse was a deal If North decides on a ‘safe’ black suit
from the local club duplicate when the lead, South will find himself squeezed
cards fell like this: out of his diamond trick when the play
advances to the following position:
Dealer West. N/S Vul.
´ 7 Immaterial
™ K753
© Q86543 ´ AK4 ´ 6
N
® 83 ™ Void W E ™ Q8
S
´ AK432 ´ Q6 © K © Void
N
™ A94 W E
™ Q82 ® Void ® 4
© K97 S © Void ´ J 10 9
® KQ ® A J 10 9 7 6 4 2 ™ Void
´ J 10 9 8 5 © A
™ J 10 6 ® Void
© A J 10 2
® 5
On the last of dummy’s clubs, South
cannot afford to release any of his
This was the bidding at one table and remaining cards. If he throws the ace of
repeated in similar vein at others: diamonds, West discards the four of
spades; if instead South chooses to
West North East South jettison a spade, declarer will throw the
1´ Pass 2® Pass king of diamonds. In either case, West
3NT End will make all thirteen tricks.
The squeeze would also work if the
East thought for a long time after 3NT defender with the spade length had the
but decided eventually there was king of hearts rather than the ace of
nothing she could do. Obviously, she did diamonds.
not have a meaningful bid of 4® in her It is interesting to note that 7® makes
armoury. Pity, as West would have been on any lead because the same squeeze
very happy to co-operate. cooks South’s goose. The difference in
A new factor arises here. Since East the club contract is that South can never
has responded at the two level, West cash his ace of diamonds. However,
could have made a forcing rebid of 2NT getting there – well, that is another
in most partnerships. With his actual story! n
Page 17
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Photo credit: Lofoten – Frithjof Fure/Innovation Norway.

Q
At a recent
duplicate event
with aggregate
scoring in use, the first
recorded result showed
South played in 4™ going
one down. In the second
round, following a rotation
of the cards, East played
in 4™ making 10 tricks;
the board continued in
that fashion with East
playing in hearts making
9 or 10 tricks.
The director cancelled
the board for the whole
night with no penalties
applied to the offending
pair(s). The cause of the
problem was that North at
the first table turned the
board round 90 degrees
when putting it to the side
of the table and did not
correct this before the
players replaced their
cards. Was the ruling
correct?
M A Cooper, Huddersfield.
A
No – there is no
reason to cancel the
board, and anyone
who made ten tricks, or any
opponent who defeated 4™,
has a right to feel annoyed.
The director should score
the first table as average
minus for both sides.
The way to do this is to
calculate the average score
on the board, and give each
side that score less 100
points.
DAVID STEVENSON answers questions on Bridge Laws
Does Misboarding
at One Table Spoil
All the Results?
Of course, the board
should stay in the middle of
the table. Occasionally that
is impractical owing to
small tables or poor eyesight
or similar; in that case,
everyone must make sure
the board stays in the right
direction if it goes to a
corner of the table. If I were
sure that North moved it, I
would also explain to him
that he must not turn the
board.
®©™´
Q
At our small local
club, I was
informed that it is
poor etiquette for declarer
to play a card from
dummy manually, i.e.
reaching across, lifting the
card and setting it down in
front of my partner.
Name and address supplied.
A
Assuming it is a
duplicate club, it is
more than poor
etiquette: it is against the
rules and has been so for
twelve years or more. You
are required to name the
card, which dummy will
then put in the correct place.
Only if dummy is unable to
do this (usually because he
has left the table for some
reason) is it acceptable to
reach across and touch the
cards. It is different in
rubber or Chicago, where
Page 20
declarer still picks up
dummy’s cards himself.
®©™´
Q
My West hand
was as follows.
´ AKJ86
™ 76
© AK4
® 643
North opened 1©. East
passed. South bid 1´.
Snookered, I passed. North
rebid 2© followed by three
passes.
When South displayed
dummy, to my surprise
there were only ´7-x-x.
On questioning South
about her 1´, she said, ‘I
thought I had four spades
as one of my clubs was in
the wrong place.’ This
bidding denied E/W a
makeable 4´.
Name and address supplied.
A A
Making mistakes is
very much what
this game is all
about; sometimes when
players make a mistake,
they gain rather than lose. It
is legal to bid a three-card
suit, whether by accident or
deliberately: that is a misbid
or a psyche. You have no
redress. I am sure that some
time you have made a
mistake that has helped you:
it happens to everyone
sometimes. On this
occasion, your opponent
was lucky.
®©™´
Q
East was in 3´. At
the end of play,
East, West and
North returned their cards
to the board. East then
claimed that he had made
the contract. My (South)
cards were still on the
table and indicated that
E/W had made 8 tricks.
I called the director and
suggested that, as we had
not agreed the number of
tricks and only my cards
remained on the table, my
trick count should prevail.
The director ruled that
the other players retrieve
their cards from the
board; E/W then made out
a case for 9 tricks.
Was the ruling correct?
A Glidle by email.
Yes, the director
makes decisions
based on all the
evidence.
Your cards in front of you
is evidence; if he cannot
decide any other way, he
will quite likely decide on
that basis – but there is
nothing to stop him trying to
find out otherwise first.

Ask David continued
Q
At the start of the
round at duplicate,
E/W informed N/S
about their system (not
Acol). The bidding on
board 16 was:
West North East South
Pass Pass 1´ * Pass
2® Pass 2™ Pass
3NT End
*alerted and explained
North’s choice of lead was
from either red suit. Before
leading, North asked West
if 2™ was natural. West
replied that it was. North
led a diamond and dummy
(East) revealed four hearts
to the ten.
South won the first trick
and decided that a heart
switch was ‘taking
advantage of Unauthorised
Information’. He returned
a diamond at trick two and
the contract made.
At every other table,
those in no-trumps made
just 8 tricks because N/S
played hearts early.
1. How can you ask
questions without the risk
of giving UI to partner?
2. If South switches to a
heart at trick two and West
calls the director, what is
the ruling?
Chris Catchpole, Yeovil.
A
1. The lawmakers
said that you had to
ask about the whole
auction under the 1997 laws
to avoid this sort of problem.
However, since everyone
ignored this, they have
accepted that you can ask
questions about a single call,
but they do warn you about
UI (Law 21F3). To avoid any
risk, you would ask about
the whole auction, though as
it seems you knew about the
1´ bid, you might reasonably
have asked whether all the
other bids were natural.
2. A switch to hearts at
trick two might have led to
an adverse ruling. It would
depend on the hand.
®©™´
Q
I held this West
hand at love all:
´ 87
™ QJ943
© J8532
® K
West North East South
1® 1™ 1´
3™ Pass 4™ 5®
Pass Pass Double End
We collected 500 and a top.
My LHO said that my 3™
was a psyche; he thought I
should have 11 points and
that the authorities
frowned upon psyches. Did
I do anything wrong?
Mrs A E Gilbert by email.
A
Your opponent was
talking twaddle. It is
possible he was
indulging in gamesmanship,
or perhaps he is such an
inexperienced player he
thought you had done
something strange when you
had not. Your 3™ was a
reasonable bid, not a psyche
and got a well-deserved
good result.
A psyche occurs when you
deliberately mislead partner
and opponents by bidding to
show a hand different from
the one you have. Psyches
are legal, so long as they are
a surprise to partner as well
as the opponents; you did
not psyche here anyway.
®©™´
Q
People have called
me a troublemaker
after asking the
director to resolve a
dispute. An opponent,
when asked about the
Page 21
meaning of a bid, told me
that I should have known
what it meant and refused
to say. Another player,
after committing an
infringement, threatened
never to come again if
anyone called the director.
This situation means that
players try to resolve
matters themselves.
M B Evans,
Tarporley, Cheshire.
A
Such annoyance
when someone calls
the director is rare
in clubs in which I have
played: it is against the laws
and downright rude.
Not calling the director
when something goes wrong
has led to the bitterest
arguments of all in my
experience. I do not advise
it. It is time players learnt
the role of a director, which
is to sort out disputes,
differences of opinion and
apply the laws. Best of all is
a player who calls the
director himself when he has
made the mistake.
If the problem is a lack of
confidence in the director,
there is a solution. These
days, there are several
courses available for club
directors and perhaps your
club should consider sending
its directors on courses.
®©™´
Q
What cards, if any,
can you inspect
after quitting a
trick? Is the answer
different at duplicate?
Anne Jenks by email.
A
At rubber
bridge/Chicago,
both declarer and
the defenders may look at a
quitted trick until their side
plays to the next trick.
The rules at duplicate are
different. At duplicate, you
may inspect only your own
last card once you have
turned your card face down.
Q
My club has
decided to try
doing away with
curtain cards. I was North
at table 1. The score for
table 2 was 4® made by
E/W. This was impossible
as they had three clubs
between them. They could,
however, have made 4©.
The Director asked me to
talk to North on table 2
and East, who was now on
table 3. Neither East nor
West had a scorecard but
they agreed the contract
was 4©. North and South
had no scorecard either
but they also told me that
the contract was 4©.
Should a penalty have
applied and should at least
one member of each pair
have to keep a scorecard?
Shirley Huber,
Newton Abbot.
A
I am pleased at your
club’s decision to
give up curtain
cards. They create problems
as well as wasting time and
money for very little gain.
Mistakes on score sheets
are quite common. You
sorted out this one without
scorecards, showing that
scorecards are unnecessary.
Many people keep them,
which is fine if they want to,
but there is no good reason
to inflict another rule on
bridge players. It would be
wrong to issue any penalty
whatever, even a mild
rebuke. All that would
happen is that you would
lose members fast.
I wonder why the director
asked you to sort it out. It is
his job, not yours.
David Stevenson answers
all queries based on the
facts supplied by the
letter writer.
Neither Mr Bridge nor
David Stevenson has any
way of knowing whether
those facts are correct or
complete.

Ask David continued
Q
Dealer, East,
opened 1NT, I was
South and bid 2®
(Landy showing both
majors). West passed and
my partner (North) bid 2™,
not having alerted my bid.
West then asked North
whether the 2® was
natural. My partner
apologised for not having
alerted and admitted her
fault. West thereupon
announced she had the
right to change her bid.
1. Should West have
waited until it was her turn
to bid?
2. I called the director
but, before I could say a
word, West started to
address him. Who has the
right to speak first when
the director arrives?
3. What ruling should
the director have given?
Name and address supplied.
A
No, West did not
have the right to ask
about the sequence
when it was her partner’s
turn to call. You should
really have called the
director and said, ‘My LHO
has asked the meaning of the
auction and it is my RHO’s
turn to bid. Is that alright?’.
The director should speak
first to the person who called
him, so West was, at the very
least, impolite. Still, this is
minor so long as the director
makes sure that everyone
gets their say.
He should ask West not to
ask questions when it is not
her turn to call. He should
ask West not to give rulings
at the table. He might also
warn West as to her future
conduct and say that
procedural penalties might
occur if there is a repetition.
Nevertheless, her ruling
was in fact correct: she may
change her call because of
the misinformation (failure
to alert) and if she does
change it then your partner
may change her 2™ bid. Your
partner’s original failure to
alert is unauthorised to you
and you must take no
advantage from it.
®©™´
Q
I was declarer
with two cards left
in dummy: the ´Q
and ©Q – both masters,
neither suit trumps. I led a
low spade to the queen and
we all turned our cards
over. I then exposed the
last card in my hand (®10)
and we all turned our
cards over. My RHO said,
‘2 down’. I said, ‘No, just 1
down. The queen of
diamonds was good’. She
said, ‘You led from your
hand and my partner’s ®J
took the trick’. We called
the director, who said, ‘No
gain’ (I did not understand
that) and we scored it as 1
down. Was I right to
assume that the lead was in
dummy and that ©Q won
the trick?
Sheila Mitchell, Glasgow.
A
I have no idea what
your director meant
by no gain either!
Anyway, this all sounds very
petty. I would assume you
had claimed and were just
showing your hand, if so, of
course you get the last trick.
I am surprised at an
opponent who challenged
this.
®©™´
Q
I have a few
questions about
North’s
responsibilities.
1. What are his general
duties?
2. Who should make sure
the table finishes on time?
3. Who should score on
the travellers and who on
the Bridgemates?
Nanette Gardner by email.
Page 22
A
There are no
responsibilities in
Law for North apart
from moving the boards to
the next table (unless the
director says otherwise).
There is a requirement
about maintaining proper
conditions of play at a table:
that is primarily the
responsibility of a stationary
pair. That means North or
South only if they are
stationary and does not apply
if N/S are moving. It also
says ‘primarily’ so if a board
is placed wrongly on the
table then all four players
should point it out. Slow
play is the individual
player’s responsibility, and
not North’s.
There are further rules laid
down by the Tournament
Organiser (in a club, that
means the club) or even by
custom and practice. People
generally accept that North
or South do the scoring; East
or West check it.
For some unfathomable
reason, many players assume
the scorer has to be North,
but why?
While the vast majority of
clubs that have Bridgemates
have got rid of travellers,
sadly a few clubs still use
travellers as well, which
slows the scoring, wastes
natural resources and
introduces more mistakes
into the scoring.
Unbelievably, some
players insist that North has
to both do the Bridgemate
and the traveller! Of course,
this is nonsense: unless
North or South is unable to
score, one should do one,
one the other.
®©™´
Q
As dealer with
eight clubs and
eleven points, I
opened 4®. My partner
thought it was Gerber and
bid 4©. I rescued to five
clubs doubled, two off.
We had a big discussion
about pre-empts. What is
the right answer?
Mrs Ena Callway,
Mill Hill, London.
A
An opening bid of
4® should always
be natural. Gerber is
much over-used.
However, this is not an
absolute rule: you can agree
whatever you like, but you
must be in agreement with
your partner!
®©™´
Q
What is the Rule
of 25 and how does
it relate to the
rules?
Rodney Bennett, Enfield
and Aidan Buccholz.
A
There is a simple
valuation method
used mainly to
decide opening bids. You add
your points to the lengths of
your two longest suits.
´ AK
™ KQ8654
© J954
® 9
If you had this hand, you
would get 23 – 13 points
plus 6 hearts plus 4
diamonds – so you would
say this hand satisfied the
‘Rule of X’ where X is no
higher than 23. I much
prefer the Australian name:
they call it ‘Opening Points’,
so the hand shown has 23
‘Opening Points.’
The minimum permitted
strength to agree to open at
the 1-level in holiday/novice
bridge is Rule of 19, or 19
Opening Points: in all other
duplicates it is Rule of 18, or
18 Opening Points. The
minimum permitted strength
to agree to open at the
2-level and call it strong is a
variety of things, but one of
the possibilities is Rule of
25, or 25 Opening Points.

Ask David continued
Q
My RHO opened
1™ and I held:
´ K84
™ A9
© J973
® A Q J 10
I bid 1NT and LHO
doubled. RHO alerted and
said ‘penalties’. When the
bidding came back to me, I
retreated to 2®. This went
four down. LHO then said
that he meant his double
for takeout, showing a
heart shortage. Should we
have had any redress?
Stuart Barrett,
Denby Dale, Huddersfield.
A
While it is true that
opponents must
disclose any
partnership understandings,
it does not seem to me that
they had an understanding:
one person thought one thing
and one the other.
It also seems to me that
their understanding was
irrelevant to the result. You
have made a limit bid of
1NT, which means further
action for the partnership is
up to your partner: his pass
of 1NT doubled indicates he
is happy to play there. Your
2® is a gamble. While, of
course, you may make such
a bid if you wish, I cannot
see how the opposition’s
agreements affect this bid.
The failure of your gamble is
merely unfortunate.
®©™´
Q
As a director, I had
a problem that I
had not met before.
The contract was 3™ and at
about the ninth trick
declarer claimed ‘the rest
are mine’. No dispute and
all four agreed it was 9
tricks +140; North duly
entered this on the traveller.
At the end of the next hand,
the previous declarer stated
‘I had only 3 losers it should
be 10 tricks.’ At this point,
they summoned me – they
could not agree the facts. It
was now the end of the
round and I was finding my
way through new ground in
the laws so I ruled that I
would further check the
laws, the hand and adjust
the score, if indeed
declarer’s claim of 10 tricks
appeared right. In fact,
there were three obvious
losers; declarer would have
had to play unreasonably
badly to make only 9 tricks;
most others, including me,
made 10 without much
trouble.
Law 79 B1 appeared to
apply and then Law 69 B
seemed to apply if ‘would
likely have won’ applies
retrospectively to the claim
as well as if ‘play
continued’. In the end, I
rescored the board as 10
tricks +170. Was I right?
John Traill by email.
A
Yes, that is fine.
Law 79B1 does not
apply: there was no
dispute over how many
tricks each side had won.
Law 69B2 is the relevant
one: if you are confident
declarer would have made 10
tricks, you allow him to
cancel his concession of the
fourth trick. Any benefit of
doubt would go to the opp-
osition if you were not sure.
®©™´
Q
Unless we have
exactly 7 tables, I
like to use a
Mitchell movement and
usually arrow switch to
produce one winner. If
need be, I add a hesitation
table to get a sensible
number of boards. I do not
like using a three quarter
Page 23
Howell movement as it
seems less fair, especially if
there are a great many
tables. Am I right on the
fairness issue?
Geoffrey Maskall, Cumbria.
A
From one point of
view, no pairs
movement is
entirely fair: probably the
7-table Howell is the closest
to fair. All pairs’ movements
have some innate unfairness.
In practice, what we do is
to run events with a
reasonably adequate level of
fairness. Mitchells without
arrow switches are
reasonable but you play
none of the people against
whom you are competing.
Mitchells with arrow
switches are also quite fair,
playing half or fewer of the
people against whom you
are competing. Many players
dislike them, probably
because they do not seem
instinctively fair.
A Howell is quite fair,
probably fairer, because you
play everyone against whom
you compete. They do
involve a lot of moving, and
are unsuitable for many
clubs because of this and
because the number of
rounds is often unsuitable.
Three-quarter Howells are
in effect a compromise
between full Howells and
arrow-switched Mitchells.
You play some of the pairs
against whom you compete.
They have the big advantage
that you can use them for any
number of rounds between
the number in a Mitchell, and
the number in a full Howell.
Also, they have some
stationary pairs and are often
the best solution for many
numbers of tables.
The idea of them being
innately unfair is just wrong.
They are a practical solution,
with advantages. It makes no
real difference whether you
play the better pairs or the
weaker pairs: certainly not
over several nights. If there
were any real issue about
unfairness, then Mitchells
would be less equitable than
three-quarter Howells, since
with those you do not play
against any of the pairs with
whom you are competing.
Why do clubs use three-
quarter Howells? They are a
good, practical solution to
many clubs’ problems. They
are better than Mitchells
where you consider against
whom you play but this is a
completely trivial problem
so is ignored by competent
directors.
®©™´
Q
E/W were
defending. South
(declarer) led a
spade. West put down a
heart, which East saw.
West then realised he could
follow suit and changed it
to a spade before anyone
else had played to the trick.
Without consulting any
books, the director ruled
that the change was in
order and that West could
simply put back the heart
as if nobody had ever seen
it. Was this correct?
Name and address supplied.
A
Once a defender
puts a card in a
position where
partner could see it if he was
looking (whether he did see
it is irrelevant) then it is a
played card and may not be
changed. It was thus a non-
established revoke and needs
treatment as such. This
means that it becomes a
major penalty card, but
there are no penalty tricks
awarded.
I do not understand why so
many club directors rule
without opening the law
book, or Mr Bridge’s Yellow
Book. All directors at all
levels are advised to read
rulings from the law book,
and one can see the
importance of this in rulings
of this sort.
 Ask David continued Some players think that
they may change a call no

DEFENCE
matter how long it is
afterwards. If I, as a

Q
I would like a director, state that there
table movement so has been pause for thought,

that I can play
teams with 3 full tables,
and swap pairs at the end
of each round; is there a
QUIZ
they challenge me to
produce my reasons.
J M Taylor, Rugby.

movement available? I am
used to playing as pairs
and scoring as teams (at
the end of each round)
with 2 tables. I am
organising a social evening
and this means we can play
A
Pause for thought is
from the moment of by Julian Pottage
realisation – and (Answers on page 38)
when in doubt you should
interpret this generously. If a ou are East in the defensive positions below. It is your turn
player puts a 2™ card down,
looks around the room and
Y to play.

duplicate teams and score then notices the card, he may

at the end of each round. change it if he does so
Brian Ford by email. immediately from that 1. ´ AQ 3. ´ J964
moment of realisation, so ™ A K Q 10 3 ™ AQ8

A
It is not entirely long as the wrong card was © 732 © KQ93
clear what you inadvertent. ® Q 10 3 ® 63
want. Do you want If players challenge your ´ 10 7 6 ´ K 10 8
a teams’ movement for 3 ruling that there was a pause N ™ 872 N ™ 10 7 2
W E W E
teams, or a pairs’ movement for thought, tell them that it S © A85 S © 865
for 6 pairs using teams’ was your judgement and ® KJ85 ® Q J 10 2
scoring? they may appeal it if they
I am afraid neither is very wish. They will be very
suitable for the sort of social unlikely to. West North East South West North East South
evening you are proposing, Pass 3´ 1® Dbl 2® 2©
because with three tables, ®©™´ Pass 4´ End 3® Pass Pass 3©
scoring after each round End
Partner leads the ©Q. You

Q
does not work. We play a 1®
For pairs, you can play a opening as 12-19 overtake with the ace and Partner leads the ®A –
3-table Howell. The points, roughly South follows low. What ®3, ®Q, ®7. Next comes
traditional one means people balanced or a club suit, do you return? the ®5 – ®6, ®10, ®8.
play boards at different times with point-showing What do you return?
until the last round, so you responses. If someone
could score before the last overcalls 1™, a pass shows 2. ´ AQ9
round, then at the end. There 0-5 points and double 6-9. ™ 10 3 4. ´ A864
would be five rounds to play Should we alert the pass or © Q J 10 7 2 ™ QJ83
the other five pairs. double? ® AJ3 © 3
For teams, you play AvB R C Orme, ´ 76 ® KQ93
N
at one table, BvC at the Bathampton, Avon. W E ™ A872 ´ Q 10 7
S
second, and CvA at the third. © 853 ™ 72
N

A
After the first round, E/W In your system, the ® K 10 8 5 W E © AQ85
S
take the boards to their passes over ® A J 10 8
teammates then go to the overcalls are
third table. Then they can artificial, not natural, so West North East South
score. You could then play require an alert. The doubles 1´ West North East South
again, of course but, sadly, over overcalls are artificial, Pass 2© Pass 2´ 1NT1
some pairs have to meet not takeout, so require an Pass 4´ End Pass 2® Pass 2™
again. Not very satisfactory alert. n Pass 4™ End
for a social evening, I fear. West leads the ™Q; you 12-14
1

overtake and South fol-

®©™´ lows low. What do you Partner leads the ©10,
E-mail your questions return? which you win with the
on bridge laws to:

Q
I seek advice on ace. What do you return?
Law 25 about davidstevenson@
what ‘without mrbridge.co.uk
pause for thought’ means.

Page 24
 Seasonal Walks with Countryman
A Walk
in Winter
T
his little piece of England
where the birds are singing, the
sun shining and the air
seriously intoxicating – it is all too easy
to fall under its magic spell and dream
on, contentedly...
With Christmas now well behind us, I
notice that the sun seems warmer and is
doing its best to soften up the ground,
which will be good news for the farmers.
In so many ways it is a changing scene
as frogs awaken from their winter
hibernation and screaming gulls move
inland to reap the benefit of the rich
pickings unearthed in the wake of the
plough. Many birds have nests, eggs and
families on their mind and so the
country pageantry moves along slowly,
but inexorably, preparing for the future.
Cindy, my much-loved golden retriever,
and I are on our morning walk – or to be
more precise, a sedate stroll in my case
and a helter-skelter rummage here, there
and everywhere in hers. Not that she
ever leaves me for long but she covers a
lot of ground exploring and running
back to ensure that I am still on course.
It was during one of these moments
when Cindy had temporarily
disappeared from view that I heard the
sound of a hunting horn in the far
distance. The current law prohibits
foxhunting as we used to know it and I
expect it is a drag hunt in progress. Just
as I am thinking all will be well – for the
fox, I mean – as long as it does not cross
the path of the hounds, a fox breaks
cover from the woods immediately
ahead of us. I assume it is a vixen
judging by its size – in any case, she
stops suddenly and looks across in my
direction. Whether she caught sight of
me or whether it was her acute sense of
smell, I do not know. Apparently, she
satisfied herself – perhaps that I was
nothing to do with that ominous hunting
horn – and away she lolloped, intent on
putting some distance between herself
and potential danger.
A hand from last night
Seeing the fox reminded me of a bridge
hand from last night’s duplicate teams.
Dealer South. Game All.
´ K52
™ 963
© A8643
® 83
N
W E
S
´ A Q J 10 8
™ AK5
© 52
® Q 10 5
Against silent opposition, you (South)
reach a rather ambitious contract of 4´.
West leads the queen of hearts. What are
your plans? We will come back to this
hand later.
As we wander on, I am not expecting
to hear many birds singing; it is just the
wrong time of year, and yet there is a
melodious sound not far away and I see
one of our smallest and most beautiful
finches – the goldfinch. This colourful
bird apparently spends the winter
Page 25
months searching for seed-heads. The
added bonus is its little song, which is
quite enchanting.
Cindy seems thoroughly pleased with
herself as she startles a rabbit, which
scuttles off to the safety of the woods
and, no doubt, its own burrow. While the
traditional feeding times are early
morning and evening, it is not so
unusual to run into a hungry scavenger
at this time of year when food is short.
Let us get back to our bridge hand.
Here is the complete deal.
´ K52
™ 963
© A8643
® 83
´ 74 ´ 963
™ Q J 10 8 N ™ 742
W E
© K J 10 S © Q97
® KJ62 ® A974
´ A Q J 10 8
™ AK5
© 52
® Q 10 5
With only eight tricks on top, it is
obvious that declarer will require a little
luck with the diamond suit. Although the
odds favour a four-two break (about
48%), a kindly three-three division is no
forlorn hope (about 36%); as we can see,
it is declarer’s lucky day.
Of course, declarer must be careful
how he tackles the diamonds because
dummy is very short of entries. For
example, it would be no use playing off
the ace followed by a small one.
 Winter continued
The king of spades would
enable you to establish the
suit but then there would be
no entry to enjoy the winners.
The story at one table
Let me tell you what
happened at one table.
Against 4´, West made the
natural lead of the queen of
hearts. Declarer won in hand
and played a low diamond
from both hands immediately;
West’s ten held the trick. West
was about to continue with
the jack of hearts which
would have enabled declarer
to win, cash the ace of
diamonds, ruff a diamond and
then draw trumps ending in
dummy for ten tricks, when
he stopped to consider what
the result would be. Not
liking his projected forecast,
he suddenly had an idea that
seemed to offer a realistic
chance of success – and he
switched to the two of clubs.
Well, people did not call him
the Old Fox for nothing and,
when East won the ace of
clubs and returned the suit, he
was confident his reputation
would remain intact. The jack
of clubs won trick four and
the king of clubs forced
declarer to ruff in dummy.
The effect of this little gambit
was to kill that all-important
entry declarer needed so
badly. Declarer succeeded in
ruffing the diamonds good but
then, after two rounds of
trumps, East ruffed the fourth
diamond. Declarer had to
admit defeat, losing one
diamond, two clubs and one
heart.
As I explained to Cindy
later, ‘That cunning Old Fox
rendered the diamond
winners useless by his play
in the club suit.’ Cindy gave
me the sort of look that I
think said something like,
‘Funny game this bridge;
they even have foxes playing
it now.’ n
CHARITY BRIDGE EVENTS
JANUARY 2010
22 HOME-START DACORUM BRIDGE
LUNCH 9.30am for 10am.
Ashley Green Memorial Hall,
Bucks. £15 per person, includes
coffee and biscuits, 2 course
lunch and wine.
Christine Prendergast
( 01442 250287
28 KINTBURY BRIDGE CLUB RUBBER
BRIDGE DRIVE IN AID OF
KINTBURY CORONATION HALL
2pm- 5pm £15 per pair, inc. tea.
Mike English ( 01488 658413
29 CHORAL SOCIETY, ST NEOTS’
BOWLING CLUB, ST NEOTS
10 for 10.30am £14.
Jane Lambert ( 01480 861581
FEBRUARY 2010
12 ST. IVES’ ARTHRITIS RESEARCH
CAMPAIGN.
Village Hall, Hemingford Abbots.
10 for 10.30am. £14.
Lorna Baker ( 01480 462783
19 ELLINGTON CHURCH
Village Hall, Ellington.
10 for 10.30am. £13.
Marian Horsford
( 01480 890561
26 CHARITY BRIDGE EVENT
IN AID OF LEUKAEMIA RESEARCH
St Faith’s Parish Centre,
Lee-on-Solent. 2pm. £32 per
table to include tea and prizes.
Pat Loader ( 01329 663054
MARCH 2010
3 WIMBORNE ROTARY CLUB
Allendale Community Centre,
Wimborne. 2.30pm £24 per
table, including tea and cake.
Don Philips ( 01202 891801
4 MACMILLAN CANCER SUPPORT
BRIDGE DRIVE
Heswall Hall, Heswall 7.00pm.
£52 per table, includes supper.
Viv Fairclough ( 07794 271609
9 BRIDGE DRIVE & LUNCHEON IN
AID OF BICKLEY CHURCH
10.30 am for 11am.
Coronation Hall, Bickley £12.50.
Muriel Latham( 01829 720225
13 MACMILLAN CANCER SUPPORT
Bristol Bridge Club. 10.30am
£18.50 per person, includes
coffee, lunch & tea.
Judy Hall ( 01275 877181
Shelagh Bower ( 01275 846512
Page 26
MARCH continued MAY 2010
16 ST. NEOTS’ BOWLING CLUB 28 RFET
10 for 10.30am £14. Hunts & Fens Regional College,
John Shaw ( 01480 475454 Huntingdon 10 for 10.30am.
£13.50.
20 BURY HOSPICE BOWL BRIDGE Malcolm Howarth
DRIVE ( 01480 212910
Bury Athenaeum Bridge Club,
Moss Street, Bury. JUNE 2010
7.15-10.15pm. £5.
Kenneth Gold ( 0161 764 4218 2 FESTIVAL BRIDGE
Downham Market Town Hall.
26 CONSERVATIVE ASSOCIATION
Afternoon tea. 1pm. £5.
Great Stukeley Village Hall.
Pat Roberts ( 01366 382947
10 for 10.30am £13.
Kay Brownlow ( 01480 880663
4 ST ANDREW’S CHURCH
The Mandeville Hall, Kimbolton.
27 BARBARA FORRYAN ANNUAL
10 for 10.30am. £14.50.
BRIDGE TOURNAMENT IN AID OF
Mavis Campion
ST. MICHAELS HOSPICE Bartestree
( 01480 860477
Village Hall 1pm for 1.30pm.
£10 including substantial tea. 18 ST MARY’S CHURCH EATON SOCON
Rex Shutler ( 01905 831314 St Neots. 10 for 10.30am. £13.
Malcolm Howarth
( 01480 212910
APRIL 2010
7 CHRISTIANS IN IRAQ JULY 2010
and LITTLE VOICE Joint Appeal
Jubilee Hall, Little Shore Lane, 2 ST IVES INNER WHEEL, HELP FOR
Bishop Waltham.
HEROES Village Hall, Hemingford
10.30am–5pm £30 per person
Abbots 10 for 10.30am. £14.
includes lunch, coffee, tea,
Pat Cole ( 01480 431574
cakes & biscuits and two
seminars (take-out doubles
and penalty doubles) delivered SEPTEMBER 2010
by Bernard Magee.
10 CHILDREN’S CHARITIES
Margaret Cochrane
( 023 8069 4959 Doddington Village Hall.
10 for 10.30am. £13.50.
15 HUDDERSFIELD PENNINE Val Topliss ( 01354 653696
ROTARY CLUB CHARITY
17 ST MARY’S CHURCH EATON SOCON,
BRIDGE AFTERNOON
Outlane Golf Club. St. Neots 10 for 10.30am. £13.
Malcolm Howarth
12 for 12.30pm £44 per table
including lunch. ( 01480 212910
Brian Noble ( 01484 427356
OCTOBER 2010
16 ST IVES’ INNER WHEEL,
HELP FOR HEROES 22 CHESHIRE HOMES
Village Hall, Hemingford Abbots. Village Hall, Hartford
10 for 10.30am. £14. 10 for 10.30am £13.50
Pat Cole ( 01480 431574 Malcolm Howarth
( 01480 212910
21 PRINCESS ALICE HOSPICE
Burgh Hall, Putney.
10.30am for 11am. NOVEMBER 2010
£64 per table, including lunch.
26 CHARITY TBA
Pam Turner ( 0208 995 2270
Village Hall, Hemingford Abbots.
10 for 10.30am £14.
23 PARKINSONS AWARENESS WEEK
Sheila Poval ( 01480 395394
HUNTINGDON BRANCH
Village Hall, Hemingford Abbots.
10 for 10.30am. £14.
John Davies ( 01480 497245
E-mail your charity
30 CHESHIRE HOMES events to: maggie@
Village Hall, Hartford.
mrbridge.co.uk
10 for 10.30am. £13.50.
Malcolm Howarth 01480 212910
 Bernard Magee Says

Double if They
Outbid You When
You Own the Deal
f you have 13 HCP and partner This time, nobody is vulnerable;

I opens, you can be confident that you

‘own’ the deal. If your opponents
outbid you, you must take some action –
again, you are sitting East: ´
™
©
QJ98
5
10 5 3 2
doubling or bidding on higher – do not ´ Q9 ® K 10 9 2
let them play undoubled. ™ J5 ´ 7 ´ 632
© J 10 9 6 5 ™ Q J 10 8 6 N ™ AK432
W E
® A 10 9 3 © 9876 S © KQJ
´ AK982 ´ 7 N
´ 632 ® A54 ® 87
™ 9852 ™ KQ86 W E ™ A432 ´ A K 10 5 4
S
© KJ9 © KQ32 © A7 ™ 97
® 8 ® QJ54 ® K872 © A4
´ 7 ´ 63 ´ A K J 10 8 5 4 ® QJ63
™ AQ643 N ™ KJ ™ 10 9 7
W E
© Q632 S © A754 © 84
® A54 ® KQ732 ® 6 West North East South
´ Q J 10 5 4 1™ 1´
™ 10 7 4™ 4´ ?
© 10 8 West North East South
® J 10 9 6 3´ It is still Love All but this is a different
Dbl 4´ ? situation: West’s 4™ does not show high
cards – it usually means a shapely hand
West North East South The question here is, ‘How strong will – hence you should not think you have
1™ 1´ 2® 4´ West be for his double?’ Of course, the game values; this in turn means that you
Pass Pass ? answer depends on partnership style, but do not just double. With a fifth trump,
to bid over 3´ he should have a decent you might do best to bid on.
As East, at Game All, you find the opening hand with a shortage in spades. Both 4´ and 4™ make, so you do
auction at a high level by your second If partner has 13+ points and you have indeed do best to bid on to 5™: you go
turn. In truth, South has simplified eleven, the deal belongs to you – make one off, but that is much better than
things: there is only one sensible call to sure your opponents do not steal it. 5™ allowing 4´ to make. The outcome here
make: Double. You must not pass: it is seems a long way away when you can is not so important – what is vital is the
your deal – once partner opened 1™, you expect bad breaks – double is by far the difference between this deal and the
expected to bid game, but with no best call. previous deals. This time, East could not
obvious fit, it would be crazy to bid a As long as the defenders switch to claim ownership of the deal and so could
suit at the five-level. South was raising trumps early on, they can stop dummy not sit back and double.
to the level of the fit – with ten spades from ruffing a heart and thereby defeat
between North-South he has jumped to 4´ by two tricks: undoubled that is Conclusion
4´ (to make ten tricks). It is unlucky for worth just 100 points, but doubled it is
him that you cannot make a game. +100 worth 300. East-West are likely to be Do not let the opponents bully you. Just
(if North guesses diamonds right) would able to make 4™, which scores 420, but because a player jumps to 4´
have been too little compensation, but your job was simply to get as big a score confidently does not mean he expects to
+200 for one off doubled is far better! as possible – your double achieved that make it. If you and your partner hold
When you have 25+ points, you must aim. Double dummy, the defence can 25+ points, you hope for a game score or
make your opponents pay if they outbid take four tricks against 4™ via two club better – if your opponents outbid you,
you. Note that, occasionally, they will ruffs! More likely is one club ruff and look to punish them. You may not get
make their doubled contract, but the ten tricks – although 4™ might make, 5™ many hands that belong to you in a
number of undertricks you usually certainly will not. session, so do not let your opponents
amass will far outweigh this. Here is one last deal: steal them away from you! n

Page 27

he idea behind this advice is to
T prevent the opener from getting
too ambitious after a single raise,
such as 1™-2™ or 1´-2´. Responder will
do his best to support his partner when
holding length in his suit, especially if it
is a major. However, because of the fit,
his high cards may be very limited.
Suppose you hold this nice 16 points:
´ K J 10 9 6
™ AK4
© 973
® AJ
You hear your partner raise your 1´
opening to 2´. Do you feel tempted to
try for more? Applying the maxim ‘One
two, that will do,’ you’ll be pretty
chuffed that you didn’t get carried away
when you see the dummy, (1) or (2).
(1) ´ Q853 (2) ´ AQ85
™ J763 ™ J76
© K64 © 8642
® 82 ® Q 10
For sure, 2´ is high enough opposite the
first hand and, on a bad day, you could
even go down. Facing the second hand,
2´ will surely make but you don’t really
want to be any higher.
Of course, while you are ensconced in
your ‘one two, that will do’ cocoon, you
must remember that the opponents have
not gone away. Furthermore, unless they
are two of David Bird’s Eustachian
monks, they have not taken a vow of
silence. For this reason, many tournament
players use a re-raise (e.g. 1™-2™-3™)
when they are weak and shapely. With
this method, you expect partner to pass
your rebid (to look for game you make a
trial bid or bid 2NT).
Freddie North Says
One Two,
That Will Do
Here is a typical example of the re-raise Despite partner's ominous warning that
in action: ‘two will do’, your own holding will
often decree otherwise.
Suppose you hold:
´ AQ93
™ 6
© 98432 (a) ´ K J 10 7 2
® A83 ™ KQ4
´ J ´ 10 8 7 © A Q 10
™ A 10 9 7 4 2 W N E ™ KJ83 ® A6
© Q 10 5 S © J7
® KJ5 ® Q 10 6 2
´ K6542 After a sequence of l´-2´, only a
™ Q5 confirmed pessimist would balk at the
© AK6 prospect of game. You have 20 points
® 974 (including one for the fifth spade) or five
losers (two spades and one in each other
suit using the losing trick count). Bid 4´.
West North East South I am sure partner will not be disappointed.
1™ Pass 2™ Pass Facing hand 1 (in the first column),
3™ End you make ten tricks, losing just the
major-suit aces and a club. Facing hand
East-West have no game aspirations but 2, you will lose a heart and probably one
they do want to buy the contract for their trick in each minor.
side in hearts. ‘One two, that will do’
works for them but only so long as
North-South don’t stick their oar in. (b) ´ K J 10 7 2
Of course, North-South might have ™ AKQ42
staked a claim on the first round of the © Q3
bidding. When they do not, North would ® 6
almost certainly come to life if 2™ came
back to him.
Yes, West’s pre-emptive advance to This time, after 1´-2´ again, you have
3™ tells his opponents what sort of hand fewer points but much better shape so it
he has, but competing at the higher level would be unrealistic to settle short of
has its concomitant risks. game. You have 18 points (including one
The alternative is to play one-two- for the fifth spade and one each for the
three as constructive, looking for game fourth and fifth hearts) or five losers
but not specifying where you need help. (two spades, two diamonds and a club).
This may gain on some hands but, all in Bid 4´. Facing hand 1, you will lose just
all, the pre-emptive approach has the three aces. Facing hand 2, you have just
edge. three top cards in the minors to lose.
You’ll notice that, on this deal, both In summary ‘one two’ will usually do
sides can make nine tricks with their when you have an average six- or seven-
chosen trumps (3™/3´). loser hand. You tend to bid game with an
Perhaps to ‘one, two, that will do,’ average five-loser hand. You invite game
(some say ‘one up, shut up’) I should with a good six-loser or poor five-loser
add ‘one, two, three, don’t raise me.’ hand. n
Page 28

Q Q
Playing Benji Acol
with a 12-14 1NT,
my regular
partner and I cannot
decide what to bid with a
12-14 point hand and a 5-
card major. I had a 12
pointer with ´J-10-x-x-x
and a low doubleton heart.
I decided on 1´ and rebid
2´ over partner’s response.
1NT scored better but
another day we might lose
the first five heart tricks!
My partner opens 1 NT
with a poor spade suit
(like mine) but 1´ on a
better one, not my
approach. What do you
suggest?  What are the odds for it
Colin Davies by email.
A
Although both
members of a
partnership should
play the same system, it is
unlikely that they would
each bid every single hand
the same way. Individual
judgement is just that –
individual – even experts do
not agree in many marginal
cases.
However, I think your
partner is on the right lines
in allowing suit quality to
influence the decision.
Usually with a weak five-
card major (zero or one of
the top three honours) and a
5332 type I open 1NT. This
avoids having to rebid a
weak suit. It also reduces the
chance that partner will
Can Suit
Quality be
Important?
make a losing lead should
your left-hand opponent
become declarer.
®©™´
Q
My right hand
opponent shuffled
the deck and my
partner dealt herself this:
´ AK Q best suit. Is this correct?
™ AK Q Name and address supplied.
© AK QJ
® AK Q For sure, this is a
Has this happened before?
ever to happen?
Hugh Arnold, Swansea.
A
There are
635,013,559,600
possible 13-card
bridge hands, so on any
given deal the chance that a
particular player picks up a
specified one of these, such
as the hand you quote, is 1
in 635,013,559,600.
If 10,000,000 bridge
players played 24 hands a
week, 52 weeks a year for
50 years, they would pick
up 624,000,000,000 hands
(i.e. the same order of
magnitude as the number of
possible hands).
I believe that, at the height
of the game’s popularity,
there were more like
50,000,000 bridge players
Page 29
Ask Julian Pottage
worldwide, so it seems very
likely that someone will
have held this same hand
before.
®©™´
Q
My LHO opened
with a 3´ pre-
empt. After two
passes, I doubled. My
partner did not show her
A
take-out double.
Usually, though not
always, partner should show
her best suit.
There are a few important
exceptions. If her best suit is
a minor and she has spades
stopped, she might bid 3NT
– nine tricks are usually
easier than eleven. If she has
four hearts and a five-card
minor, she might bid 4™
rather than show her minor.
This is because one needs
fewer tricks for game,
playing in a major; also, if
she can make the same
number of tricks, it scores
better to play in the major.
The final exception comes
if partner has good spades
(typically four or more with
some honours) and expects
to defeat 3´ doubled
comfortably. In this case, she
can pass, converting your
take-out double into a
penalty double.
Opponents open
one of a suit,
followed by two
passes. Player in fourth
seat has opening values
and a 4-4-4-1 hand, the
singleton not being the bid
suit. What are the options?
With 12-14 points, a suit
overcall would tell a small
lie. With 15-17 points, a no-
trump bid would tell
perhaps a bigger lie.
David Donnison,
Windermere.
A
You are quite right
that with a singleton
in an unbid suit you
do not usually want to make
a take-out double.
With 12-14, points you
might reopen with 1NT – as
you seem to realise, you
mentally treat your hand as a
king stronger than it is in the
reopening seat, so you would
be right on values.
If your singleton is in
spades, you may do better to
pass; the opponents might
find a better fit in spades if
you give them the chance. If
the opponents are vulnerable,
again you may do better to
pass, trying to collect a
penalty at 100 for each
undertrick. If you have four
strong spades and a singleton
heart, reopening with 1´
may work well. There is no
hard and fast rule. As you
say, anything you do tells
some sort of lie.

Ask Julian continued
Q
If opener reverses
(opens 1© and
rebids 2™ after a
response of 2® or 1´),
what shape and strength
does this show?
G Keate, Parr, Cornwall.
A
Whether the
response was at the
one level or the two
level, opener promises at
least five cards in the first
suit and four cards in the
second, with the first suit
longer than the second. The
strength shown varies
slightly, depending upon the
response. After a one-level
response (1´ or 1NT in this
instance), opener shows at
least a good 16 points, up to
a maximum for a one-level
opening, say 19 or 20 points.
After a two-level response
(2®), the maximum strength
is the same but 15 points is
acceptable for the minimum
– responder usually has 10
points or shape to
compensate. After the one-
level response, an opener’s
reverse is forcing for one
round. After a two-level
response, it is forcing to
game.
®©™´
Q
Why does a 2™
response to a 1´
opening show a
five-card (or longer) heart
suit?
Mrs J Eede, Chepstow.
A
One goal in the
bidding is to find
out whether the
partnership has an eight-card
or better fit in one of the
majors. This is because you
can usually make an extra
trick playing in a suit
contract if you have a fit –
and the major suits score
better than the minors.
By promising a five-card
heart suit, you make it easy
to find a 5-3 heart fit. You
are not going to miss a 4-4
heart fit by having to
respond something else.
With 5-4 in the majors,
opener can rebid 2™ over a
response of 2® or 2© (or
1NT for that matter); with
4-4 in the majors, opener
would have opened 1™
rather than 1´.
®©™´
Q
I open 1NT (12-14
points). The next
hand overcalls 2™.
My partner has 9-11 points
but no heart stopper.
Should she double to
compete or do something
else?
Name and address supplied.
A
Without prior
agreement, a double
of the 2™ overcall
would be for penalties,
suggesting 9+ points and
4+ hearts or 11+ points and
3+ hearts.
Some people play
Lebensohl, whereby 2NT is
a convention, asking opener
to bid 3® so that responder
can show a suit at the three
level (non-forcing). In
classic Lebensohl, double
shows a balanced 11-12 as
responder then has no easy
way to show that strength of
hand. Some people play the
double as take-out (often
with a shortage in the suit
overcalled). On grounds of
frequency, the take-out
double appears to be the
most useful. If you play the
double as take-out, you need
to be clear on the minimum
values and the minimum
length in the suit overcalled.
If you play that responder
might have 7 points and a
void in hearts, opener never
wants to leave in the double
for penalties even with a
maximum and four hearts.
Lebensohl does allow
responder to show whether
the hand has a stopper in the
Page 30
suit overcalled, though not
on hands too weak to raise to
3NT, which hands in the 9-
11 range are.
®©™´
Q
With two 4-card
or 5-card suits and
12-15 points  I was
taught that, with touching
suits, bid the lower of 4-
carders and the higher of
5-carders, but not if you
are strong enough to
‘reverse’. However, modern
thinking seems to be to
open the lower of 4-card
suits and the higher of 5-
card suits irrespective. Is
this right and how does the
logic go for this?
Martin Carr by email.
A
1. Unless you play a
16-18 1NT opening,
which is very rare,
you will often be opening
1NT if you have two four-
card suits and 12-15 points.
If you play a weak no-trump,
you open 1NT with two
four-card suits and 12-14
points, only opening one of a
suit with 15 points. If you
play a strong (15-17) no-
trump, only the 15-point
hands will be good enough
for 1NT. Holding a 12-14
point hand when playing a
strong no-trump, it is normal
to open a low suit to
maximise the chance that
you can rebid 1NT. Most
strong no-trump players use
five-card majors, in which
case opening a four-card
major is not an option.
If you are out of range for
1NT, then you intend to bid
only one suit and then rebid
in no-trumps. Opinions vary
as to whether it is better to
open the higher suit or the
lower suit. Opening the
higher suit is slightly better
at finding 4-4 fits, while
opening the lower suit is
better at finding 5-3 fits. A
minority of players like to
have the option of either the
higher or the lower,
depending upon suit quality.
The Mr Bridge house style is
to open a major rather than a
minor, but the lower suit with
two majors or two minors. 
2. If you have two five-
card suits, you intend to
show both suits. On the vast
majority of hands, the best
way to achieve this is to
open the higher suit. While
on some hands with 5-5 in
the black suits it can work
better to open 1®, the simple
rule is always to open the
higher suit. Whether you are
strong enough to reverse is
irrelevant. If you open 1©
and rebid 2™, partner will
think you have more
diamonds than hearts – you
do not want to be
understating your length in a
major.
®©™´
Q
My partner and I
had recently
started playing
negative doubles. The
bidding went:
West North East South
me
1™ 2©
2™ Dbl
He meant the double to
show 5-5 in the missing
suits plus points.
Unfortunately, as I was not
expecting a negative
double, I passed. Is it
normal for the advancer to
use a negative double?
Name and address supplied.
A
While this is not a
negative double,
using a double for
takeout on this auction is
quite common at club level
and almost universal in
tournament play. When the
opponents have bid and
raised a suit, it is unlikely
that your side would want to
penalise them at such a low
level. This sort of double
would go by the name
‘competitive double’.

Ask Julian continued
Q
I am South with
the following
hand:
´ KJ75
™ Void
© KJ63
® AKQ75
North South
1™ 1´
1NT ? ´
I bid 4®, which I thought
was asking for aces.
My partner took this as a
cue bid supporting hearts –
though my first bid denied
support – and suggested
that I should have made a
quantitative bid of 4NT.
We ended up in 6NT
making 13 tricks.
How should I bid?
John Dunbar by email.
A
The way most
people play, the 1´
response does not
deny heart support if you
have a hand with game-
forcing values (but not
enough for a jump shift). If
my partner bid 4® on the
sequence shown, I would
take it as a splinter bid: a
singleton or void in clubs
and heart support.
With your hand, you
should respond 2® rather
than 1´. When you have
sufficient strength to make a
responder’s reverse (i.e.
bidding 2® and then 2´),
you should respond in your
longest suit even if it is a
minor.
®©™´
Q
David Huggett’s
Deal No 3 in the
declarer play quiz
(BRIDGE 97) raises an
interesting point. One of
the earliest ‘tips’ I learnt is
to lead the 4th highest card
from your longest suit
against a 3NT contract
(when there are no clues
from the bidding). Here, a
lead from ace and two
small cards would have
defeated the contract easily.
John Friedberger,
Whitchurch, Hampshire.  said before, one cannot just
A
On the deal in
question, East had a
six-card heart suit
and West, on lead, held:
K62
™ A75
© 832
® J976
We did not give the auction.
Playing a weak no-trump
and Stayman, it would
probably have been
1NT-2®-2©-2NT-3NT.
When opener denies a
4-card major, this slightly
suggests leading a major.
An invitational sequence
slightly suggests a passive
lead. If West had an
attractive or safer holding in
one of the majors, such as J-
10-x or 10-9-x or even three
low, then he might well have
led that in preference to his
4-card club suit. On his
actual hand, neither major
was particularly attractive,
with an unsupported honour
in each. The other problem
with leading from three to an
honour is that partner thinks
you have a 4-card suit when
you do not.
The best percentage
opening lead will not work
on every individual deal, as
this example shows.
®©™´
Q
With East dealer,
East-West reached
3NT on the cards
below; they bid 1NT-2NT-
3NT. This went two
down when South led a
spade from K-J-10-x-x-x.
Page 31
Is there are a better way to Where did we go wrong
bid the hands? and how should we have
bid?
Name and address supplied.
´ Q2 ´ 73
A
™ K53 ™ A 10 9 7 South should have a
© AQ73 © K854 better hand to open
® J532 ® AK9 an Acol 2´ than the
one he had. As I think I have
Mrs B Green, Bristol. use the losing trick count to
say ‘the hand has five or
A
Using the same fewer losers and thus it must
system, I suspect I have eight playing tricks.’
would have bid the The hand has only 13 HCP
same way. West does have and there is a big hole in the
one of the worst 12-point spade suit. South’s rebid was
hands you will see also incorrect. The raise
(doubleton queen and from 3™ to 4™ should show
terrible spot cards), though it three-card or better support.
would be taking a big Having treated the hand as a
decision to pass East’s 1NT. big black two-suiter with the
Sometimes standard bidding opening bid, it is
does not get you to the best inconsistent not to show the
contract – bidding is not a club suit.
precise science at times. I 1´-2™-3® is the right
ran a quick computer start to the auction. North is
simulation, which suggested then a bit good to bid 3NT,
that 3NT makes about 40% but with no assurance of a fit
of the time facing 12-14 at this stage, caution seems
balanced, so trying for game advisable. If South then bids
cannot be so wrong. 4™ or 4´, this probably ends
the auction. If instead South
®©™´ bids 4®, North might well
raise to 6®. The club slam is
Q
Partnering a vastly not a great contract but
experienced player, certainly has some play.
I (North) held:
®©™´
Q
´ A How strong is a
™ Q 10 7 4 3 1NT response to
© AJ76 a one-level opening
® Q87 if the opponents intervene
with a double or an
overcall – is it 7-10? When
Our uncontested auction: they overcall, is one
stopper enough?
North South Keith Rickson by email.
2´
A
3™ 4™ Yes, after a double
4NT 5© or one level overcall
5™ End there is no need to
respond with 6 points. A
Partner’s hand was: range of 7-10 sounds fine.
Yes, one stopper is
enough. As when there is no
´ K87643 intervention, showing a
™ K5 4-card major (either by
© Void bidding it or via a negative
® A K 10 9 6 double) usually takes priority
over showing the stopper.

Ask Julian continued
Q
With these hands,
I started with 2®,
and my partner
called 2©.
´ AKQJ9
™ Void
© AKJ53
® AK9
N
W
S
E ©
´ 10 5 3
™ AJ32
© 10 2
® QJ87
I then went to 4´, instead
of asking for aces. I ended
up in 5´ but made a slam.
What should I have
done?
Ruth Campion by email.
A A
The 2® opening
creates a game force
(unless you rebid
2NT). This means there is no
need to rush the later
bidding. After South’s 2©
(you seem to be playing this
as negative or waiting), you
should just rebid 2´. South
then raises to 3´, showing
some values (2NT would be
the weak bid) and agreeing
spades. You are not stopping
out of a slam now. However,
since all you need for 7´ is
the ©Q and four-card spade
support, it would be rash to
bid 6´ yet.
You are right that holding
a void yours is the wrong
hand on which to ask for
aces.
You should try a cue bid of
4®, showing the ace (or a
void) in clubs. South cue
bids 4™ and you cue bid 5®.
Since you have shown first-
and second-round control in
clubs, South can now bid 6®
to show the third-round
control. Moreover, by going
past 5´ South is committing
to a small slam and so
showing interest in a grand
slam. I think North can then
bid 7´.  force unless followed by a
®©™´
Q
In BRIDGE 97,
South plays in
3NT with these
cards:
´ A3
™ K84
98653
® QJ5
N
W
S
E Sometimes there is
´ K6
™ AQ73
© A J 10 7
® K72
Declarer wins the spade
lead in hand and plays
three rounds of hearts
ending in dummy. When
hearts are 3-3, declarer
knocks out the ace of clubs
for nine tricks.
Given that the chance
East has one of the missing
diamonds honours is far
better than that of a 3-3
heart break, why does
declarer play this way?
Name and address supplied.
A
It is a case of
combining chances.
By testing hearts
first, declarer has the option
of trying the double diamond
finesse if hearts are not 3-3 –
the ace of spades is still
there to stop the spades and
as an entry for finessing
again.
If declarer played on
diamonds first, it is quite
likely that West will win and
clear the spades.
Then all depends on
finding East with the
remaining diamond honour –
a 3-3 heart split is of little
use now because there is no
time to knock out the ace of
clubs.
Page 32
Q Q
My partner, West,
opened 1´ and I
responded 2®:
´ KQ8754 ´ A 10 2
™ 6 N
W E
™ AKQ
© 3 S © 10 6
® A K 10 8 7 ® J9652
Partner jumped to 5®,
which I raised to 6®. How
should we have bid to 6´?
Dinger Bell by email.
A
Bidding is not an
exact science.
no way that you can bid
confidently to the highest
scoring spot. Freak hands are
tough, as are slam deals with
a club fit. In any case, at
teams and rubber bridge, the
extra 60 points for playing in
6´ is small. Even at match-
point pairs, a slam bid and
made is rarely a bad score.
Your direct natural sequence
has given the opponents only
limited clues to the lead.
Without a diamond lead, you
can make 13 tricks and beat
the pairs in 6® just making.
Once upon a time, it was
usual to open 1® with 5-5 in
the black suits. You could
then infer that someone who
opened 1´ and supported
clubs violently was 6-5.
These days, it is usual to
open 1´ on most hands with
5-5 in the black suits and
such an inference is no
longer available. If East bid
6´, it would be a gamble.
Even if you knew that
opener had six spades, it
would still not be clear to
play in 6´. If opener had the
©A and weak spades (e.g.
J-x-x-x-x-x), you would have
a much better chance of
avoiding two spade losers in
6® than in 6´. In 6®, you
might be able to time the
play on elimination lines,
playing a spade to the ten
only when you knew you
would either get a spade back
or a ruff and discard.
At matchpoint
pairs, my partner
opened 2® (game
2NT rebid). I replied 2©
and partner rebid 3©.
What should I bid next?
´ 8653
™ K85
© 962
® 962
I was unsure how partner
would take 3™ or 3´ and
did not want to go past
3NT with a raise to 4©. I
did not want to bid 3NT
myself because partner was
likely to turn up with a
singleton somewhere. In
the end I passed.
I made 10 tricks, so 5©
was not on, but 3NT by
partner was a good
contract.
M S Kingston, Newcastle.
You make some
interesting points.
Some play that 3™
or 3´ from you would show
a stopper rather than a suit;
however, this is not standard.
The choice is thus between
3NT and 4©. You really
should not pass – partner has
shown game or close thereto
in his own hand – he may
even be looking for a slam.
In any case, your hand is by
no means worthless. Your
king of hearts is likely to be
a trick and the three low
diamonds could be useful,
either solidifying the suit or
maybe providing an entry.
My first thought was to
bid 3NT, keeping the
bidding low and with the
pairs scoring in mind. On
reflection, 4© seems better –
partner knew it was pairs
when he followed this
sequence. If the right
contract was 3NT by him,
it sounds as if he should
have bid differently,
rebidding 2NT rather than
3© perhaps.
 however is clear. It is
Ask Julian continued
quantitative, because: (a) it is
a direct raise of a no-trump
bid and (b) the partnership DECLARER
Q
What is a has not agreed a suit but has
‘Truscott’ bid?
John M Roe,
previously bid no-trumps.
The murkier situations
PLAY
QUIZ
Westerham, Kent. tend to occur when (a)
applies but (b) does not or

A
Truscott is a vice versa.
conventional Assuming the 1NT rebid
defence to strong shows 15-17, the 4NT raise by David Huggett
artificial openings. The shows about 16-17 points.
(Answers on page 35)
principle is that a suit bid
shows that suit and the next ®©™´
ou are South as declarer playing teams or rubber bridge.
higher suit.
Y In each case, what is your play strategy?

Q
If an opponent opens a As North, I bid 4´
strong 1® (Precision, Blue with this hand:
etc), bids are as follows:
1. ´ AKQ74 3. ´ 8743
dbl = clubs and hearts ™ 82 ™ 75
1© = diamonds and hearts ´ AKQJ9874 © 3 © KJ3
1™ = hearts and spades ™ 7 ® A7643 ® AQJ4
1´ = spades and clubs © 8 N N
W E
1NT = diamonds and spades ® 853 S
W E
S
2® = clubs and diamonds
jumps are natural. ´ 62 ´ AK
West North East South ™ Q 10 9 5 ™ AK42
You can play the same 1© 1™ © AK72 © Q 10 8 5
method one level higher over 2® ? ® K82 ® 10 9 8
an artificial 2® opening (e.g.
Acol or Benjamin) East ended up in 5©
You can also play Truscott making 12 tricks. (5® also You are declarer in 3NT You are declarer in 3NT
after responder has given an makes 12 tricks). My after a transfer sequence and West leads the ´Q.
artificial response (e.g. 1®*- partner queried whether and West leads the ©Q. How do you plan the
pass-1©*). Again bids show my bid could be a pre- How do you plan the play?
touching two-suiters, with empt saying she took it as a play?
double showing a non- strong hand. What would
touching two-suiter you have bid?
including the suit doubled J Bardun by email. 4. ´ K4
(i.e. diamonds and spades) 2. ´ J86 ™ 75

A
and a NT bid the other If one opponent can ™ AQJ5 © A8654
non-touching two-suiter. open the bidding, © K Q J 10 ® 9753
the other can ® 65 N
®©™´ respond at the two level and W E
N S
partner has enough to bid as W E

Q
The North-South well, it is rather unlikely that S
´ A Q 10 5 2
bidding went you have a strong hand. ´ A3 ™ A84
1™-1´-1NT-4NT. Assuming you play 4´ as ™ K76 © K73
Should this 4NT be natural, which most people © 8632 ® AK
quantitative or Blackwood? do, the bid seems fine. The ® A Q J 10
Ron Turner, Alton. opponents are less likely to
judge what best to do if you You are declarer in 3NT after
You are declarer in 3NT and North raised your 2NT open-

A
Some 4NT bids can go straight to your final
be ambiguous even contract. Indeed, from what West leads the ´4. You play ing bid to 3NT. West leads the
to experienced you say, it sounds as if they the ´J from dummy but East ™2. East plays the ™J, which
partnerships. This one, missed a slam. n plays the ´K. If you duck, you allow to win, and contin-
East continues with the ´10 ues with the ™3. How do you
and West follows with the ´2. plan the play?
E-mail your questions for Julian to: How do you plan the play?
julianpottage@mrbridge.co.uk

Page 33

s Andrew Robson said, bridge is
A all about winning tricks, so it
makes sense to count winners
before making a plan. Our first deal
shows what happens if you fail to do so.
Pairs. Love All. Dealer East.
´ J85
™ K753
© A4
® J983
´ Q92 ´ 10 4 3
™ 6 N ™ Q J 10 9
W E
© 86532 S © Q 10 7
® AK42 ® 765
´ AK76
™ A842
© KJ9
® Q 10
4™ looks like the normal contract, but it
has no play on the 4-1 trump split.
Our opponents reached 3NT after the
poor auction 1´-2®-3NT. West led a
diamond to the queen and king. The
declarer’s play reflected his bidding. He
played a heart to dummy’s king and a
heart back, ducking my ten. He then had
no chance and ended up two off, losing
two tricks in each of three suits.
While it looks attractive in a way to go
after hearts, the heart suit cannot provide
enough tricks for the contract even if
they break 3-2. To make 3NT, it is
simply a matter of counting one’s tricks.
There are seven winners on top after
the diamond lead: two in each major and
three in diamonds. The sure source for
the other two is in clubs. The correct play
at trick two is the queen of clubs and,
after winning the next diamond, the jack
of clubs to drop the ten – 3NT now made.
My next deal arose in a club
duplicate. It gives another good
example of the importance of counting
your winners.
Mike Wenble Says
Count Your
Winners
´
™
©
A65
QJ54
K73
® QJ8
´ Q 10 2 ´ K973
™ K 10 8 3 N ™ A7
W E
© J86 S © Q 10 5 4
® 952 ® 764
´ J84
™ 962
© A92
® A K 10 3
South reached the normal contract of
3NT. West led the three of hearts and
declarer played the queen from dummy.
East won and returned the suit. West
won with the king and continued with
the ten, squashing the nine and setting
up the eight.
Too late declarer stopped to count his
winners. One heart trick in the bag, one
spade, two diamonds and four clubs
added up to eight. Prospects for a ninth
were bleak. He ran four rounds of clubs
and then played on spades in the hope of
a miracle in the suit or some kind of
defensive error. When neither was
forthcoming, he was one down.
Only when he picked up the traveller
did declarer recognise that he had
misplayed the game. Declarer should
always think before playing to trick one;
his failure to do so cost him dear.
Counting seven top tricks in spades and
the minors, he should have played for
two heart tricks, not one.
Since West might well lead an honour
from A-K-x-x, the lead is far more likely
to be from K-10 or A-10. The correct
play from dummy at trick one is low,
hoping West has the ten. After the ace
wins, declarer can play twice towards
the queen-jack to make two tricks. (Yes,
declarer will need to hold up the ace if
East switches to a spade at trick two).
Page 34
This final deal is straightforward so long
as you approach it logically.
Dealer South. Game All.
´ K 10 9 2
™ A 10 6 3 2
© Q
® 732
´ 4 ´ 8753
™ KQJ7 N ™ 985
W E
© 10 8 6 4 S © KJ5
® KJ96 ® A 10 4
´ AQJ6
™ 4
© A9732
® Q85
Both North and South bid aggressively
on this deal. With silent opponents, their
auction was 1©–1™–1´–3´–4´. West
decided that a lead of the unbid suit was
too dangerous given his holding and
chose the king of hearts.
Declarer could see only six top tricks
– four trumps and two aces. While there
was some chance of making an extra
trick in clubs or perhaps via a long card
in one of the red suits, it was clear he
would need some ruffing winners to get
up to ten. Indeed, with five cards facing
a singleton in each red suit, he might
make a ruff with all of his side’s eight
trumps to give him ten tricks. This
meant that he could not afford to lead
any trumps and that he would have to
hope nobody could overruff on the
second round of hearts or diamonds.
Declarer won the opening lead on the
table, ruffed a heart with the six of
spades, cashed the ace of diamonds,
ruffed a diamond with the two of spades,
and proceeded to crossruff his way to ten
tricks. Again, counting winners, allied to
good technique (and a bit of luck with
the lead – an early trump lead beats it),
brought home the bacon. n
 ANSWERS TO THE DECLARER PLAY QUIZ
ON PAGE 33 by DAVID HUGGETT
plays the ♠K. If you duck, East continues with broke 4-3 or that East has the ©A. Now try the
1. ♠ AKQ74 the ♠10 and West follows with the ♠2. How do effect of playing on diamonds first. Whoever
™ 82 you plan the play? wins with the ©A will knock out your
© 3 remaining spade stop, but, this way when
You correctly played the ♠J from dummy in
® A7643 you take the club finesse it can lose only to
case West started with both the high honours,
♠ 83 ♠ J 10 9 5 East. If he has another spade then the suit will
but you were unlucky. East played the ♠K,
™ KJ73 N ™ A64 have broken favourably, while if he does not,
W E which you allow to win and he continues with
© Q J 10 9 S © 8654 then you are in no danger.
the ♠10. You win and West follows with the
® J95 ® Q 10
♠2. With only six tricks ‘on top’ it looks The point is that either hand might be able to
♠ 62
tempting to play on diamonds as once the win the diamond, but only East can win the
™ Q 10 9 5
ace has gone you will have three diamond club.
© AK72
tricks. But just think. You know from the lead
® K82
and continuation that West started with a five-
card spade suit: if you play on diamonds, you 4. ♠ K4
are bound to lose four spades and a ™ 75
You are declarer in 3NT after a transfer diamond. No, you have to play on clubs © A8654
sequence and West leads the ©Q. How do instead and you will need a slice of luck if you ® 9753
you plan the play? are going to succeed. You need East not only ♠ 3 ♠ J9876
to hold the ®K but also to hold no more than ™ K 10 6 2 N ™ QJ93
You have seven tricks ‘on top’ and, even if you W E
three cards in the suit. So play a heart to © Q 10 9 2 S © J
lose the lead early on, the defence would be
dummy at trick three and take the club ® J862 ® Q 10 4
unable to make more than three heart tricks.
finesse. Then cash the ™K, enter dummy with ♠ A Q 10 5 2
With only two more tricks required, it might
your last heart and cash the remaining ™ A84
look natural to cash the top spades and hope
winner in that suit. Finally take the club finesse © K73
for a 3-3 break; in fact, there is a danger in
again and cash the ace. On a good day, you ® AK
doing that. If the spades do not break evenly
will make four club tricks.
– and that is likely to happen – you will have
set up a spade winner for the defence. If you
then try to set up an extra winner in clubs, you You are declarer in 3NT after North raised
3. ♠ 8743
will have to lose one in the process; in that your 2NT to 3NT. West leads the ™2. East plays
™ 75
case, the defenders might be in a position to the ™J, which you allow to win, and continues
© KJ3
cash three hearts, one spade and one club. with the ™3. How do you plan the play?
® AQJ4
The answer is simple, of course. Just lose a
♠ Q J 10 9 2 ♠ 65 The lead of the ™2 indicates that the suit is
club early on before you tackle spades. If N
™ 96 W E ™ Q J 10 8 3 breaking evenly and East’s return of his
clubs do break 3-2, you will always have at
© A92 S © 764 original fourth best heart has confirmed this.
least three spades, two diamonds and four
® 752 ® K63 With only one more trick to find, it is easy to be
clubs – enough for the contract. If clubs break
♠ AK complacent and not give the hand enough
badly, you can still hope for the even division
™ AK42 thought.
in spades.
© Q 10 8 5
If you play two top spades for example, you
® 10 9 8
might be disappointed if the suit breaks 5-1.
2. ♠ J86 Likewise, if you play on diamonds (whether by
™ AQJ5 cashing the ace-king or ducking a round) you
© K Q J 10 You are declarer in 3NT and West leads the will need that suit to break 3-2 or the spades
® 65 ♠Q. How do you plan the play? to be kind – if you lose three hearts and at
♠ Q9542 ♠ K 10 7 least one diamond, you cannot afford to lose
With four tricks readily available in the majors,
™ 93 N ™ 10 8 4 2 any spades. Given your excellent holding in
W E you will need five tricks from the minors to
© A4 S
© 975 spades, it must be better to go for that suit:
succeed in your contract. As you will need to
® 9743 ® K82 after taking the second heart, play a spade to
develop both minors, it may not seem as
♠ A3 the king and then a low spade to the ten. If
though it is important which suit you try to
™ K76 that loses then the suit has broken favourably,
develop first; in fact, nothing could be further
© 8632 while if East started with five spades then the
from the truth. Suppose you run the ®10 at
® A Q J 10 ♠10 will win.
trick two and it loses to the ®K. East will
undoubtedly play another spade if he has All the hands in this edition revolve around
You are declarer in 3NT and West leads the one and then when you play on diamonds determining which of two side suits you
♠4. You play the ♠J from dummy but East you will either hope that the spades originally should develop first. ■

Page 35
 Justin Corfield Says

Play the Card

You are Known
to Hold
ften it is clear that you hold a now wonder whether the spade position You lead the four of this side suit. East

O particular card from the auction,

play or opening lead; if so, it is
good to play it early, rather than going
is this: plays the king, ace and another, South
ruffing. Dump the queen on the third
trick (East’s play at trick one marked
through the play marked with that card. ♠ AJ3 you with it); now declarer does not
How would you rate declarer’s N
know who has the last card in this suit.
chances below in 3NT on the ™Q lead? ♠ Q2 W E ♠ 10 8 5 4 As declarer, you should also play a
S
card you are known to hold. Often, the
♠ K976 opening lead marks you with a card, and
♠ AJ3 you need to play it as soon as you can,
™ 762 creating a problem for your RHO:
© K72 In this layout, a spade to the ♠J, the ♠A
® K652 and then a finesse of the ♠9 is the way to
♠ Q 10 2 ♠ 854 collect four winners. © K874
™ Q J 10 9 8 N ™ A43 Once a spade to the jack holds, West’s
W E N
© 10 5 S © QJ93 ♠Q-10 become equals, and so playing © 10 W E © AQ632
S
® Q 10 4 ® J73 the higher card can cost nothing.
♠ K976 If you keep the ♠Q in your hand, she © J95
™ K5 is doomed anyway, because declarer
© A864 knows you have it, but not so the
® A98 ♠10 . . . This is a side suit. When West leads the
It rarely hurts to increase declarer’s ten, East knows South holds the jack.
blood pressure in a side suit like this: (West would not lead the ten from J-10).
West North East South To give East a problem, South dumps the
1NT jack under East’s queen at trick one. Now,
Pass 2NT Pass 3NT ™ AQ543 from East’s view, the layout might be:
End
N
™ K J 10 9 W E ™ 872
S
Declarer has nine tricks there for the © K874
taking: the ™K, four spade tricks with ™ 6
N
the winning finesse and 3-3 break, and © 10 9 5 W E © AQ632
S
four top minor suit winners.
However, there is more to this deal Declarer takes a finesse of the queen and © J
than meets the eye. Let us look at the continues with the ace, pitching a loser.
spade suit in isolation: Dump the king underneath and declarer
will not be sure whether he can afford to Here, continuing the suit could be costly,
ruff this suit low or not. letting dummy make two tricks. On a
♠ AJ3 Even the smallest deceptions can good day, East will switch and declarer
make all the difference. will have the chance to pull trumps and
N
♠ Q 10 2 W E ♠ 854 Take this layout: make two diamond tricks.
S

♠ K976 Summary
™ 6532
N
Understanding these sorts of positions is
Declarer is going to play a low spade to ™ Q984 W E ™ AK7 what makes some players hard to play
S
the ♠J, which will hold. When dummy against. If you want to be one of them,
then leads the ♠A, West can create a ™ J 10 play the card you are known to hold
guess by dropping the ♠Q. Declarer will whenever it cannot cost to do so. ■

Page 36
 Children in Need Bernard Magee’s Tips
Simultaneous for Better Bridge
65 invaluable tips in 160 pages
Pairs 2009 Bidding Tips 33 A low lead usually promises
1 Always consider bidding length and an honour
The 8th ECatsBridge Simultaneous Pairs tournament for Children in spades if you can 34 When declaring 1NT
2 Bid more aggressively try to be patient
Need was held over five nights from Friday 13 November until Thursday
when non-vulnerable 35 Duck an early round when you
19 November 2009. 3 Always double when the are short of entries
490 heats were held over five evenings with a total of 8,870 pairs opponents steal your deal 36 Lead up to your
(17,740 individual players) competing. Bridge clubs from Botswana, 4 A take-out double shows two-honour holding
Croatia, Cyprus and Spain joined clubs across the United Kingdom to shortage in the suit doubled 37 Do not always assume
raise £58,889.37, taking the total raised by bridge players for Children in 5 ‘Borrow’ a king a suit will break well
Need to an amazing £398,868. to keep the auction open 38 Drop a high card
6 After a penalty double, don’t to put off the defence
Organisers Anna Gudge and Mark Newton paid tribute to the
let the opponents escape 39 Play your highest card to
commentators, Sally Brock, Mark Horton, Liz McGowan, Julian Pottage 7 Halve the value of a singleton tempt a defender to cover
and Brian Senior and heaped praise on all the heat organisers who honour when opening 40 Draw trumps first unless you
made up the hands, put out the tables and chairs, directed for the 8 Only add length-points for a have a good reason not to
evening, scored up and collected the money from the many kind and suit that might be useful 41 Do not waste your trumps
generous bridge players in their clubs. ‘Without them all it just wouldn't 9 Isolated honours are bad 42 Consider leaving a lone
happen and we both thank you all from the bottom of our hearts.’ A except in partner’s suit defensive trump winner out
10 Use the jump shift sparingly
special mention to Summertown BC who raised an incredible £1,000. Defence Tips
11 Consider passing and letting
Friday 13 November 2009 partner decide 43 Keep four-card suits intact
12 You need two top honours whenever possible
1 Mukesh Shah & Ravi Mulchand Shah 73.32%
for a second-seat pre-empt 44 Give count on declarer’s leads
(Oshwal BC, England) 45 Keep the right cards
13 Put the brakes on if you have a
2 Roger Blackburn & Gwen Cowell 72.88% rather than signal
misfit
(C.H.S. Bridge Section, England) 14 Strong and long minors work 46 Take your time
3 Marian Rudd & Hugh Gross 70.78% well in no-trumps when dummy is put down
(Devizes BC, England) 15 One stop in the opponents’ suit 47 High cards are for killing other
can be enough for no-trumps high cards
Monday 16 November 2009 16 Keep your two-level 48 Do not waste
1 Frances Hinden & Graham Osborne 76.87% responses up to strength intermediate cards
(Wimbledon BC, England) 17 Use your normal methods in 49 Pick two key suits to
2 David Hugo & Graham Penney 72.36% response to a 1NT overcall concentrate on during the play
50 If in doubt, cover an honour
(Kingsbridge Regal BC, England) 18 Don’t overcall just because
you have opening points with an honour
3 Wendy Simpson & David Latchem 71.08% 51 If a lead is from two honours,
19 Overcalls can be quite weak, so
(trowBRIDGEclub BC, England) it is best not to cover
be prudent when responding
52 Keep your honour to kill
Tuesday 17 November 2009 20 Weak overcalls must be based
on strong suits dummy’s honour
1 Mala Lever & Tom Gunn 73.34% 53 Try to show partner
21 6NT requires 33 points
(Young Chelsea BC, England) your solid honour sequences
not 4 aces and 4 kings
2 Ray Cornell & Peter Oake 71.70% 22 Raise immediately, if weak 54 Lead the normal card when
(Billericay Mayflower BC, England) with four-card support leading partner’s suit
3 Peter Martin & Norman McGeagh 71.08% 23 In a competitive auction, show 55 Never underlead an ace at trick
(Cairngorm BC, Scotland) support immediately one in a suit contract
24 Bid to the level of your fit 56 Be wary of leading from
Wednesday 18 November 2009 quickly with weak hands four cards to only one honour
1 Peter Marriott & Neil Richardson 76.03% 25 With strength and support, 57 Lead a higher card from
(Southam BC, England) use the opponents’ bid suit a suit without an honour
2 Margaret Eddleston & Bernard Eddleston 74.15% 58 Lead through ‘beatable’
Declarer-play Tips strength and up to weakness
(Hitchin BC, England) 26 When your contract depends 59 Cash your winners before
3 Lesley Peers & Derek Peers 73.26% on a finesse, think ‘endplay’ trying for a trump promotion
(Acacia BC, England) 27 Consider what a defender 60 Be patient when defending 1NT
might be thinking about 61 Trump leads can be safe
Thursday 19 November 2009 28 Always take your time throughout the play
1 Jill Skinner & Jeremy Willans 70.79% at trick one
(Hawkhurst BC, England) 29 Establish extra tricks before General Tips
2 Alex Shields & Kenny Watson 69.43% cashing your winners 62 Do not put important cards
(Peebles BC, Scotland) 30 Use your opponents’ at either end of your hand
bidding to your advantage 63 Avoid being declarer when
3 John Copson & Peter Gaskin 69.04%
31 Avoid the ‘baddie’ you are dummy
(Bawburgh BC, England)
gaining the lead 64 Before you lead ask for a
The ECatsBridge for Children in Need Pairs is organised by Anna Gudge 32 Use the Rule of Seven when review of the auction
holding up in no-trumps 65 Enjoy the Game!
and Mark Newton. For further information, including details of next
year’s event and sponsorship opportunities, contact Anna Gudge 01787 £14 including postage and packing from Mr Bridge,
881920, anna@ecats.co.uk. www.ecatsbridge.com Ryden Grange, Knaphill, Surrey GU21 2TH. ( 01483 489961

Page 37
 ANSWERS TO THE DEFENCE QUIZ ON
PAGE 24 by JULIAN POTTAGE
West leads the queen of hearts; you overtake bidding confirms. How can South’s spades go
1. ♠ AQ and South follows low. What do you return? anywhere? Since West would open 1™, not
™ A K Q 10 3 1®, with five hearts, South must have at least
The situation is similar to the first deal – here
© 732 three hearts. You should switch to a trump. As
you know of long diamonds in dummy and
® Q 10 3 the cards lie, the contract makes easily if you
long spades on your left. You should switch to
♠ 5 ♠ 10 7 6 return a black card. On a heart switch, an
the five of clubs; you hope partner has the
™ J654 N ™ 872 inspired declarer might also make it.
W E queen of clubs and an entry, no doubt a top
© Q J 10 9 6 S © A85
diamond. When this hope bears fruit, and Yes, the contract fails if West takes two clubs
® A96 ® KJ85
South has three clubs, you beat the contract and then leads a trump. Take the underlead
♠ KJ98432
with two club tricks, a diamond and a heart. to let you do it as a compliment!
™ 9
© K4 Many players would be reluctant to lead a
® 742 club for fear of losing the king. The truth is that
if partner does not have the queen of clubs
4. ♠ A864
then it is not going to make anyway –
™ QJ83
West North East South dummy’s diamonds will take care of any club
© 3
Pass 3♠ losers declarer has by providing discards.
® KQ93
Pass 4♠ End
♠ K53 ♠ Q 10 7
™ 654 N ™ 72
Partner leads the queen of diamonds. You W E
© 10 9 7 4 © AQ85
overtake with the ace and South follows low. 3. ♠ J964 S
® 654 ® A J 10 8
What do you return? ™ AQ8
♠ J92
© KQ93
Often the key decision you need to make as a ™ A K 10 9
® 63
defender is whether to be busy (active), trying © KJ62
♠ A53 ♠ K 10 8
to cash or set up winners, or passive, trying to N ® 72
™ K654 ™ 10 7 2
give nothing away. When there are long suits W E
© 4 S © 865
around, it usually pays to be active.
® AK954 ® Q J 10 2
West North East South
You should switch to the five of clubs. You ♠ Q72
1NT (12-14)
expect partner to have the ace of clubs on the ™ J93
Pass 2® Pass 2™
bidding. If you are really in luck, declarer will © A J 10 7 2
Pass 4™ End
have three losing clubs and you can cash the ® 87
first four tricks. If partner does not have the
Partner leads the ten of diamonds, which you
ace of clubs, your switch has cost nothing.
win with the ace. What do you return?
Assuming that declarer has a seven-card West North East South
spade suit and the king of diamonds, 1® Dbl 2® 2© The attacking defence is a spade switch,
dummy’s hearts would surely take care of any 3® Pass Pass 3© trying to set up a couple of tricks in the suit. If
club losers. End partner has K-9-x, the switch would work.
When, as shown, South has the nine, it is
Partner leads the ace of clubs – three, queen, rather less effective. How can you know not to
seven. Next comes the five of clubs – six, ten, lead a spade? Obviously, you do not know
2. ♠ AQ9 eight. What do you return? who has the nine. You can work it out by
™ 10 3 thinking whether declarer can throw spades
You rule out a club. It looks as if a club would
© Q J 10 7 2 away on anything.
give a ruff and discard – a bad idea. A heart
® AJ3
hardly appeals either – West may hold the If you look at your club holding, you see you
♠ 85 ♠ 76
king and be in trouble if South has jack-nine. have the suit well held. A discard on a club
™ QJ954 N ™ A872
W E Breaking suits in which the honours are would only be possible if declarer held a
© K96 S © 853
spread around the table often costs a trick. singleton club. You can rule this out on the
® Q96 ® K 10 8 5
bidding (1NT opening). Aiming to play safe, a
♠ K J 10 4 3 2 You might think of playing a spade – perhaps
diamond continuation is not a good idea. You
™ K6 West has A-Q-x and you can take three tricks
do not want declarer to make both the king
© A4 in the suit. There are two clues that this is not
and jack, thereby discarding two spades from
® 742 such a good thing to do. The first is the size of
dummy. A club switch is clearly unattractive
partner’s club at trick two. If wanting a spade
(you could lead the jack without instant cost
back, it would be normal to lead the nine of
but would be storing up problems for later).
West North East South clubs (a high card for a high suit) as a suit
1♠ preference signal. The second, you can work You should lead a trump. This is completely
Pass 2© Pass 2♠ out off your own bat. Dummy’s flat shape safe. With the ace of clubs offside, declarer
Pass 4♠ End suggests passive defence, something the then has to go down. ■

Page 38

f partner bids a suit, especially if it is
I a major, you tend to raise straight
away if you have support (normally
four cards in the suit). If you bid
something else first and only call that
suit later, after partner has shown a
second suit, this is preference. If you
pass a bid of the second suit, this too is
preference, for the second suit rather
than the first. Take this auction:
1 West North East South
1♠ Pass
1NT Pass 2© Pass
2♠
As West, you cannot have four spades or
you would you bid 2♠ rather than 1NT
at your first turn. Nor are you likely to
have three spades and a ruffing value
(doubleton) – with such a holding, again
you would surely have bid 2♠ on the
previous round.
Hand A Hand B
♠ K96 ♠ K6
™ J85 ™ Q852
© 10 7 5 © 10 5
® A974 ® J9874
Hand A, with three spades but a flat
4333 shape is about as good as you are
likely to have as spade support. Hand B,
with two spades is more typical. You do
not overly like spades or even want to
bid again but you have a duty to go back
to bid 2♠ as partner will often be 5-4 in
spades and diamonds.
Having responded 1NT, you are not
going to have the values to give jump
preference, bidding 3♠ rather than 2♠.
However, if you do jump in partner’s
first suit, this shows a more positive
liking for the suit – secondary support of
three cards. You do not give jump
preference with a doubleton.
Julian Pottage Says
Preference is
Different to
Support
Hand C
♠ QJ832
™ K
Hand D
♠ A97542
™ J
© AKQ4 © KQJ2
® Q 10 2 ® A6
Moving across to the East seat, what
does opener do after receiving simple
preference? Mostly, if the initial
response was at the one level, you pass.
You need significant extra values (the
strength to have bid 2NT last time) to
bid on. You must also remember that
partner has given preference rather than
shown real support.
On Hand C, you are worth 2NT over
2♠. Responder might have eight or even
nine points and been unable to bid more
strongly. You do not bid 3♠. As we have
seen, partner can easily have only two
spades (as with Hand B), so you do not
want to commit to playing in spades on
a possible seven-card fit. On Hand D,
you are happy to play in spades.
However, what you cannot do is say ‘I
have a five-loser hand, a responding
hand typically has nine losers, so we
belong in game.’ The losing trick count
tends to work only when you have a real
fit. Content yourself with 3♠, inviting
game and showing the sixth spade.
Facing hand B, 4♠ is hopeless with four
losers even with spades 3-2.
2 West North East South
1® Pass 1♠ Pass
2® Pass 2™ Pass
2♠
Opener can also give preference, as in
auction 2. Again, various inferences
apply. You cannot have four spades or
you would have bid 2♠ rather than 2®.
Nor now can you have even three
spades. You would have either rebid 2♠
or given jump preference to 3♠.
Page 39
Hand E
♠ AJ832
™ KQ942
Hand F
♠ K9862
™ AQ94
© K9 © J9
® 2 ® 82
These are a couple of East hands for
auction 2. With Hand E you next bid 3™.
Partner might hold three hearts (raising
2™ to 3™ would require four hearts). You
do not leap to 4♠.
With Hand F, you should pass. West
has shown a minimum opening and no
great liking for spades. Your 2™ rebid
was forcing, but just for one round.
3 West North East South
1© Pass 1™ 1♠
2® Pass 2© 2♠
?
The situation changes slightly when the
player who bids two suits bid a minor
initially. In auction 3, East can bid 1™
even with primary (four-card) diamond
support. All the same, West should take
care, bidding 3© only if holding a sixth
diamond – East might well have three
diamonds or even a doubleton.
Likewise, if East had passed 2®, giving
preference to clubs, West really needs a
fifth club to compete safely to 3®. East
might pass 2® with 1-3 or sometimes
2-3 in the minors. A pass of 2® would
not promise four clubs.
Summary
If you bid two suits and partner merely
puts you back to your first suit at the
lowest level, proceed with caution. This
shows preference rather than actual
support, often with only two or three
cards in your suit. Do not bid your suit
again unless you expect your side to
have an adequate fit in the suit. ■
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condition or have been admitted or undergone a procedure/ intervention in a hospital.
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islands comprising the British Isles (except the Channel Islands and the Telephone No.
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On behalf of all persons listed in this application, I agree that this application shall
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 BERNARD
MAGEE’S
INTERACTIVE
TUTORIALS
ACOL MORE DECLARER PLAY ADVANCED
BIDDING (ADVANCED) DECLARER PLAY
l Suit Establishment
ACOL BIDDING
l Opening Bids and in No-trumps l Making Overtricks
Responses l Basics l Suit Establishment in No-trumps
l Slams and Strong l Advanced in Suits l Making Overtricks
Openings Basics l Hold-ups in Suit Contracts
l Support for Partner l Weak Twos l Ruffing for Extra l Endplays
l Pre-empting l Strong Hands Tricks l Avoidance
l Overcalls £64 l Defence l Entries l Wrong
£79
l No-trump to Weak Twos in No- £74 Contract
Openings l Defence trumps l Simple Squeezes
and Responses to 1NT £94 l Delaying l Counting the Hand
l Opener’s and l Doubles Drawing Trumps
l Trump Reductions
Responder’s Rebids l Two-suited Overcalls l Using the Lead & Coups
l Minors and Misfits l Defences to l Trump Control l Playing Doubled
l Doubles Other Systems l Endplays & Contracts
l Competitive l Misfits and Avoidance l Safety Plays
Auctions Distributional Hands l Using the Bidding

NEW
DEFENCE £74
l Lead vs Notrump Contracts l Attitude Signals
l Lead vs Suit Contracts l Discarding
l Partner of Leader vs Notrump Contracts l Defensive Plan
l Partner of Leader vs Suit Contracts l Stopping Declarer
l Count Signals l Counting the Hand

Sharpen your defence in the course of 20 introductory exercises and 120 complete deals

Make your cheque payable to and send to: Ryden Grange, Knaphill, Surrey GU21 2TH

( 01483 489961 www.mrbridge.co.uk/mrbridge-shop Fax 01483 797302

System Requirements: Windows XP, Vista or 7, 8mb RAM, CD-ROM
 ANSWERS TO THE BIDDING QUIZ ON
PAGE 3 by BERNARD MAGEE

1NT is going off, then 3® probably will also. hard to believe your partner will be able to
1. Dealer West. N/S Vul. The thing to remember is that, when you are make 3NT, but consider the alternatives: is 4♠
♠ A74 ♠ J982 non-vulnerable, going off in 1NT is not such a any more likely to make? Why take your
™ K2 N ™ 76 bad thing. On a hand like this, you can be partner out of a contract he has selected into
W E
© 10 4 3 S © A865 sure that your opponents have a good spade a suit in which you hold five flimsy cards?
® AQ852 ® K94 fit and can probably make 2♠, which means
Generally, you should take partner out of a
going two off in 1NT undoubled will be fine
3NT overcall only if you have a good long suit:
(-100 instead of -110). Of course, if North
this is because partner will often hold a strong
West North East South doubles, you can retreat to 2® (which would
and long minor suit of his own. Such is the
? be natural after the double).
case here, where partner is expecting to
make at least five diamond tricks; these will
1NT. You have 13 high-card points with a good
combine with the ♠A-K and a very likely two
five-card suit; you also have a balanced 3. Dealer West. N/S Vul.
tricks from hearts to make nine. In contrast,
shape: ‘no more than one doubleton’. With a ♠ A K 10 ♠ 72
4♠ is a very poor contract, likely to go down
five-card minor you should prefer to open 1NT ™ 76 N ™ 984
W E one or two.
on hands like this for two reasons: (1) it gives © KQ9 S © A65
an accurate description of your hand: 12-14 ® AK765 ® Q J 10 4 2
points and balanced; (2) it helps to keep the
5. Dealer West. Love All.
opposition out of the bidding. A 1NT opening
♠ AKJ653 ♠ 2
is a pre-emptive bid and its greatest value is West North East South
™ 10 N ™ QJ87653
on hands like this. 1NT is likely to make if the 1® Pass 2® Pass W E
© A3 S © K65
clubs break 3-2; in fact, on a heart lead, you ?
® 9872 ® 10 4
might make eight tricks for +120.
2©. Partner has shown a weak hand with
At the same time, had North-South managed
club support, but that should not stop you
to get in to the auction and bid their hearts, West North East South
from trying for a game. Your hand is balanced
they might have finished in 3™ making for 140 1♠ Pass 1NT Pass
and no-trumps would seem the obvious aim,
points the other way. That is no small 2♠ Pass 3™ Pass
but, without a heart stopper you cannot be
difference: 260 points – these points are ?
sure that it is right, so use a trial bid of 2© to
valuable at any form of the game: rubber,
show values there. When you have agreed a
teams or duplicate pairs. Over 1®, it is much Pass. The key here is to try to work out what
minor, bidding a new suit below 3NT shows a
easier for North to enter the auction with 1™; your partner can hold for his bidding so far:
stopper and asks partner to show you where
over 1NT, a vulnerable 2™ overcall needs why did he not respond 2™ in the first place?
his values lie.
much courage! The answer is that your partner is very weak,
The complete auction might be: 1®-2®-2©- but holds a fistful of hearts – he should have
3®-4®-5®. East would deny values in hearts seven of them to go up from 2♠ to 3™ since
2. Dealer East. Love All. or spades by rebidding 3®; over this, you your rebid showed a six-card spade suit.
♠ Void ♠ J965 invite game with 4® and then, with his 5-card Many players would have been tempted to
™ K765 N ™ AQ3 support and outside ace, East can go for it. respond 2™ with the East hand, but that
W E
© J876 S © A53 would take the bidding too high too quickly: a
® K 10 8 7 4 ® Q96 2-level response suggests at least 9 or 10
4. Dealer North. Love All. high-card points, so he might even find the
♠ K7654 ♠ A2 bidding at 3NT when it comes back to him
West North East South ™ 2 N ™ AQ (though not on this hand of course!).
W E
1NT Pass © 10 7 6 S © AK8532
If you know partner is suggesting seven
? ® Q854 ® J76
hearts and 5-7 points, you should know what
to do… Pass.
Pass. You certainly hold an unbalanced hand,
but that does not mean you have to bid. You West North East South It is often the hardest call to find but, if you
should only respond to 1NT if you can expect 3™ 3NT Pass pass 3™, you get the best score; any other bid
to improve the contract and nothing here ? will result in going down in some or other
gives you that expectation. With just five clubs, contract; partner might even go down in 3™,
it is not sensible to contract to play in 3®: if Pass. You do not hold a great hand and it is but that would be unlucky. ■

Page 43
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READERS’
LETTERS
DATA PROTECTION
Please note that the name
and address for mailing
BRIDGE, which is printed
directly on to its plastic
envelope, cannot be properly
shredded. Please help us to
protect our identities.
Mrs I Turner,
Sleaford, Lincolnshire.
Helpful suggestions on a
postcard please.
PLAYING CARDS
I have been pondering how,
in the course of playing a
hand, the simple act of
choosing a card and getting
it to the table can result in so
many different ways of
achieving this – some of
them extremely irritating!
First of all there is:
l The Snapper
l The High-Thrower
l The Flutterer
l The Refined
(3 fingers up in air)
l The Chin Stroker
l The Bender
l The Sucker
l The Ditherer
l The SNAP!-er
(as in card game SNAP)
and then we come to
l The Face Puller
l The Huffer and Puffer
l The Frowner
l The Ponderer
Have I missed any out?
Terri Humphrey,
Hatfield, Herts.
BELIEVE IT
I liked Victor Meldrew’s
suggestion in Bridge 97 of a
simplified Orange Book. In
fact there is already an
excellent two-page summary
card of Announcing and
Alerting Rules which I find
very clear and helpful. It’s on
the EBU website though it is
a bit buried, under Laws and
Ethics – Publications. Even
Victor might like it!
Ian C Kemp, Ware, Herts.
INVITATION
Come and join us, Victor, if
you want, as you said in
BRIDGE 97, ‘to play cards and
enjoy it without being
weighed down by a lot of
rules that get ever more
complicated’. At Burghfield
Bridge Club, just west of
Reading, one can use any
bidding convention provided
the partner alerts and, on
request, elucidates when:
1 A suit call does not just
mean it is a candidate for
a contract.
2 Doubles are not for
penalties.
3 A bid conveys information
not apparent to the
opposition.
4 There are no other rules
beyond those of the Laws
of Duplicate Bridge except
that the strength of
no-trump calls is given
before play starts.
Furthermore, convention
cards are not required. It is
possible that a player could
gain an advantage by not
alerting a conventional bid,
but, as masterpoints are not
given, why bother to do so. In
18 years as chairman of the
club, I have never heard of
anyone accused of cheating
by so doing. Masterpoints
Page 45
have spoilt bridge for many,
because the desire for points
and status encourages some
to be too aggressive; not that
having many points is a
reliable measure of ability, as
those that play more
frequently have a greater
chance of acquiring them.
Masterpoints have been a
good source of income for
the EBU and a source of
conceit for the avid collector.
Our club has no need of the
EBU which has expanded the
half page on conventional
bids, in the Laws of Duplicate
Bridge, into the Orange Book
which is as long as the whole
of the laws.
You may say ‘I don’t
believe it’, but a club with
freedom of bidding, few
rules, friendliness and no
acrimony does exist in
Berkshire, and others
probably exist elsewhere in
the UK.
Ronald L G Keith,
Burghfield Common, Reading.
BEGIN BRIDGE
I wonder whether it would be
appropriate to include a
section in your magazine for
beginners.
We have done just one
year of a five-year course
and are very keen to learn,
but find a lot of the content
too ‘advanced’ for our current
levels of knowledge.
Mrs Maggie Hyde,
Macclesfield, Cheshire.
Certainly worth thinking
about.
A HOPELESS CASE
My wife and I are both
bridge addicts since starting
lessons two years ago. We
both enjoy reading your
magazine and have been on
a few of your holidays. Keep
up the good work. I have
spoken to my doctor about
my dependence on this
habit. He prescribed an
improvers’ course at my local
club. This has been most
beneficial. He also suggested
taking supplements and this
is why I am sending the
email.
Hope you can help.
Yours truly, a hopeless case....
Mr I Kirkman, Bovey Tracey.
MORE FOR
BEGINNERS
Thank you for the magazine.
Would it be possible to see
more for the beginner and
perhaps recommendations
on publications that would
suit the first timers?
Mrs Joanna Knight,
Burford, Oxon.
NEW TABLETS
Thank you for sending me
your excellent magazine. I
am looking forward to
receiving your e-supplement,
although I have difficulty in
accessing my computer as
my husband spends a lot of
time on it with Bernard!
Mavis Frankel by email.
NHS
I have applied for the free
trial for the daily hand but do
not know how to find the
page. Can you help?
Colin Broad, Exmouth.
Still under development.
Watch this space.
MORE DEMAND
I’m registering by email in the
hope that I may receive an
exciting and illuminating
daily missive on bridge;
because I’m very keen to
learn.
Thank you for BRIDGE and
may you enjoy morphing into
a businessman.
Susan Cobley by email.
SPREADING THE FUN
A special thank you for the
‘Bit of Fun’ article in this
month’s issue. I have typed it
into my computer and sent it
to my children in Canada.
We all love a laugh and
‘A Bit of Fun’.
Kathleen James, Bedford.
READERS’ LETTERS that I and all men could attributes can be recalled lovely idea to have four aces
better understand our wives. easily after play, therefore the – after all we don’t have
continued
I want to know how mine table is easy to use. these particular cards that
feels inside, what she’s Compensation Table is often at the bridge table!
MORE FUN thinking when she gives me based on tens of thousands I would like to recommend
I just spotted the ‘Bit of Fun’ in the silent treatment, why she of deals from world class these earrings to anyone
the October issue of BRIDGE. cries, what she means when events. The table with more who has pierced ears and is
I am attaching a similar bit of she says nothing’s wrong information can be found at able to wear short drop
fun that might amuse. when something obviously is www.compensationtable.com earrings; they are a lovely
John Russell, Shropshire. – and how I can make her This table is invaluable for addition to anyone’s
truly happy.’ all duplicate bridge players, collection and I am sure they
Bridge to NZ The Lord replied: ‘OK, OK – especially for those who are will be worn often.
A man was riding his Harley this bridge – now, will you new to duplicate and would On top of that, the price is
beside a Sydney beach when need two lanes or four?’ like some practice before very reasonable. Some might
suddenly the sky clouded going to club tournaments. like to have two pairs – one
above his head and in a MISLEADING? I would be pleased if you silver and one in gold.
booming voice, the Lord said, Misleading the public – what would write an article about I so enjoy BRIDGE – may
‘Because you have TRIED to poppycock. Given your years the method and publish it you prosper – and continue
be faithful to me in all ways, I of service to the game and with the Compensation Table. sending me a copy.
will grant you one wish.’ its players, you can mislead Questions and feedback are Mrs M. G. Poole,
The biker pulled over, us as much as you like. By all welcome. Chippenham, Wilts.
thought for a few seconds means, learn to be a Tanel Teinemaa, Estonia
and said, ‘OK Lord, build me businessman, but please, Anyone fancy a stab at it? TOO SERIOUS
a bridge to New Zealand so I please, do not change your Let’s hear from you. Looking through the
can ride over any time I want.’ personality. I’ve seen too correspondence columns I
The Lord said: ‘Oh dear, much of that in my business POST LISBON wonder what happened to
oh dear, your request is just career. Not worried about the EBU. ‘it’s only a game’. I’m not
so materialistic. Think of the Ken Smith, Chiddingfold. Let’s leave the EU. surprised some people don’t
enormous challenges Mr Peter Brackfield, want to belong to a club.
involved in that kind of 1-TABLE DUPLICATE Haslemere. Mr J Metson, Reading, Berks.
undertaking... imagine the Article idea for editors –
supports required that will duplicate bridge for four HAUNTED CLUB FIRST OF MANY
have to reach the bottom of players. The recent issue was so I’m a bit baffled by your quiz
the Pacific and just think of all I am a computer science interesting and I wish you on page 4. The three
the concrete and steel it student and bridge player well with your plans. I play at questions seem all very easy,
would take! It will probably from Estonia. I would like to The South Bucks Bridge but hand 2 has 14 cards. Is
exhaust several natural introduce a new version of Centre in Burnham, which this a typo or is that the
resources. Compensation. With this must be the most beautiful catch? You say they are not
Of course, I can do it, but method, it is possible to play venue in the UK. We play in a trick questions. If it’s a typo, it
it’s hard for me to justify your duplicate bridge with four 550 year old barn, but are must be the first I’ve ever
desire for such a frivolous players. The players are completely computerised. seen in your mag as your
thing. Take a little more time playing in an open room. Mrs Emily Say, proof readers are fantastic.
and think of something else Compensation Table takes Burnham, Slough. Anyway, please re-register
that could possibly help ALL deal attributes such as high me to receive this great
mankind.’ card points, vulnerability and FRED OLSEN magazine for the next two
The biker thought hard major/minor fit length into I would take issue with your years.
about it for quite a long time. account and returns the reply to Elizabeth Lonkhurst Ian Dalziel, Troon, Ayrshire.
Finally, he said, ‘Lord, I wish closed room result. All these (Issue 97 – October 2009) – I’m afraid we fell short of our
surely she is being a little high standards on this page.
hard on Butlins.
REDUCE THE COST OF YOUR POSTAGE Peter Wiseman, ABSOLUTELY
North Walsham. BRILLIANT
Postage stamps for sale at 90% of face-value,
We have recently purchased
all mint with full gum. Quotations for
SHETLAND DELIGHT Bernard Magee’s ‘Defence’ –
commercial quantities available on request.
I have recently received a absolutely brilliant. It
Values supplied in 100s, higher values available pair of Ken Rae’s silver maintains, and perhaps even
as well as 1st and 2nd class (eg 1st class: earrings (as an early surpasses, the standard of
100x37p+100x2p)
Christmas present) and I his other four tutorial discs.
wanted to let you know how Rod Smith & Elaine McKinstry,
(/Fax 020 8422 4906 e-mail: clive.goff@londonrugby.com
successful they are. It was a Dobcross, Oldham.

Page 46
READERS’ LETTERS
continued
GOOD GOSSIP
The article ‘Gossip Value’,
Bridge 99, page 5, interested
me, but I was unable to find
any reference as to how to
apply for a card.
I would like to obtain an
application form and secure
a card.
Ken Nuttall, Fishguard.
LAST TIME
My bridge club has voted to
opt out of the P2P scheme. I
foresee that we will have
quite a large number of
paper masterpoint
certificates left over that we
will not be able to use.
In your opinion, should the
EBU refund the cost of these
certificates?
Mr P Wand, Hailsham.
Treat it as a donation to
the EBU.
QPLUS PROMOTER
Thank you so much for the
QPlus software, which
arrived today and is now
successfully installed.
You are correct – there
certainly is a stunning
difference between my old
version 6 and today’s joyful
progression. There is no
doubt that this is my best
ever bridge programme. It is
not only very interesting for
experienced players, but
also invaluable for learners
at every level.
As you are aware, we
lecture to all levels on cruise
ships and it is nearly always
a very rewarding occupation.
Occasionally, we have a
surprising turn of events,
especially with the complete
beginners. To tell you a story.
Starting off with mini-
bridge, I told the players to
deal out the cards, count up
and then announce their
points. 4 points for an ace, 3
for a king, 2 for a queen and
1 point for a jack. All went
well, but, on one of the 11
beginner tables, a gentleman
was slow and looked very
puzzled. I reassured him and
reminded him of the values
of the cards as presented on
the flip chart. He continued to
frown and look very worried
and then suddenly, he said
‘92’! I had to avoid giggling
at all costs – he had just
added up all the spot cards
as well as the honours – no
wonder it took him a long
time!
We very much look forward
to our next cruises (back-to-
back) when thankfully we will
once again be promoting the
advantages of QPlus to all
the bridge enthusiasts.
Pauline Shaw,
Tenterden, Kent.
PRIORITIES
I purchased QPlus bridge
from you 2-3 years ago. The
version I have is 7.8. My
husband and I have been
sailing on a yacht from the
UK since 2007 and we are
currently in Cartagena,
Columbia. Just over a week
ago, our yacht hit something
on passage from Panama to
Cartagena, we took on a lot
of water and had to abandon
the yacht before it sank.
Fortunately, another yacht
picked up our radio call,
came to our assistance and
picked us up from the life raft.
The problem I have is that I
no longer have the booklet
that came with the disk and
very shortly the programme
will prompt me to complete a
word/line from the booklet. Is
it possible to get another
booklet or alternatively, I am
prepared to purchase the
more up to date programme
if I could have the discount
you normally offer when an
old version is returned.
Can you help at all?
Nesta Morris by email.
Just send in your cheque for
£32. I believe you.
Page 47
The Case for
All Combinations
I have been involved with setting up two new bridge
clubs and participating regularly in a third club. The one
thing all were lacking was a ready reference to choosing
an appropriate movement in relation to the number of
pairs attending and being able to handle late comers.
What is on offer is a master movement reference card
based on playing 24 boards with a maximum 3 board
sit-out for a half table. The single master sheet details
which movement is required from 3 tables up to 10
tables and all ½ tables in between. It shows which tables
share boards and where any relay table is placed.
Arrow switches and sit-out tables are specified as is the
best table for the director.
Where movement cards are required they show all pair
numbers, NS/EW moves to other tables and the board
movement. All information is on stiff card, laminated for
durability and is customised to the name of your Club.
The whole is provided in a concertina presentation case
which has labelled partitions for:
Yellow Book Running a Duplicate Event
Orange Book Handbook of EBU Directives
White Book Tournament Directors Guide
Rule Book Rules Simplified 2008 (Mr Bridge)
Red Book EBU Manual of Duplicate Bridge Movements
(Please note: the above books are not provided)
Other partitions are labelled up as appropriate to cover
the movement cards for non-straightforward Mitchell
movements. For standard Mitchell movements, there
are no movement cards but a reminder is provided on
the master of appropriate share and relay.
All movements can be scored on Scorebridge,
Winscore or other computer scoring systems and
comply with the EBU Red Book. The package is ideal
for starter clubs or where less experienced directors
might appreciate some readily available guide. I am
retired and am not in this for any business opportunity
so the cost is based on material plus small overhead
recovery and postage and can vary between £25.00
and £30.00 depending on the number of table
movement options. E.g. if you never have fewer than
5 tables, then the 3T to 4½ T movement cards are not
required.
For further information, please contact Kevin Dawson
( 01270 522253 or email bridge@jkdawson.co.uk
 READERS’ LETTERS
continued
RUBBER / CHICAGO 09/10
GREAT RESULT
at The Beach Hotel,
At our club’s friendly pairs’
Worthing, BN11 3QJ
evening, an opponent bid
Hosted by Diana Holland 4NT over our four diamonds
after a competitive auction in
12-14 February (Fri-Sun) the minors. Perplexed,
everyone passed. My
28-30 May (Fri-Sun) diamond lead through
30 July-1 August (Fri-Sun) dummy’s unsupported queen
set up partner’s six-card suit
Please note there are no seminars or set hands at these events and his heart return through
declarer’s king set up my five
£199 – Full-board – No Single Supplement heart tricks. Thoroughly
rattled, declarer unguarded
dummy’s spade king,
allowing my ace-queen to
win the last two tricks. She
never made any of her
clubs.
This was the first time in
forty years of bridge that I’ve
seen the defence take all
thirteen tricks. But our
opponents gained a crumb
of comfort: ten down not
vulnerable cost them minus
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ BOOKING FORM _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 500, but, elsewhere, four
hearts, vulnerable, had been
Please book me for .... places, Single .... Double .... Twin .... bid and made for minus
620! Bridge never ceases to
for the Rubber/Chicago weekend(s) of ...............................
surprise and delight.
Mr/Mrs/Miss ..................................................................... Nicholas Beswick by email.
Address............................................................................... DEATH THROES
I do not know whether P2P is
............................................................................................ still an active debate or not.
If it is, you may be interested
Postcode ............................................................................ in the attached letter. I was
pushed into writing this
( ...................................................................................... following a YCBA Meeting in
Special requirements (these cannot be guaranteed) which our EBU officials kept
telling us that it is only the
........................................................................................... small clubs who have opted
Please send a non-returnable deposit of £50 per person per place out ....
by cheque, payable to Mr Bridge. An invoice for the balance The figures before us
will be sent with your booking confirmation. On receipt of your confirm that some 40% of the
final payment, 28 days before the event, a programme and full
details will be sent together with a map. Cancellations are not
refundable. Should you require insurance, you should contact
your own insurance broker. (Sea view £30 supplement.) Write to Mr Bridge at:
Ryden Grange, Knaphill, Surrey GU21 2TH
, Ryden Grange, Knaphill, Surrey GU21 2TH or e-mail letters@mrbridge.co.uk
( 01483 489961 Fax 01483 797302 E-mail correspondents are asked to include their
e-mail: jessica@mrbridge.co.uk name, full postal address, telephone number and
to send no attachments.
website: www.holidaybridge.com
Letters may be edited for length and clarity.
Page 48
clubs that were affiliated to
the EBU when P2P first raised
its head have now left. EBU
officials, still defending P2P,
are telling us not to worry
because the clubs who have
opted out are mainly the
small clubs. Are we to accept
that the EBU no longer cares
about the small, ‘social’
clubs? Whatever happened
to the promise to do more for
the rank and file?
Attention now turns to the
many clubs, including the
one to which I belong, who
have signed up for one year
but with reservations. We
recognise the importance of
having a strong national
body, we realise that such
has to be paid for, we have
no problems with universal
membership and we
commend the EBU for the
new initiatives being shown.
But we deplore P2P as a way
to finance the package for its
inappropriateness and
unfairness to the social clubs,
as proven by these
disastrous figures. No doubt
the decision, which clubs like
ours are going to have to
face in a year or so, will be
taken for us when the P2P
rate is hiked up from its
present 29p, as surely it is
going to have to be.
Is it still too late for the EBU
to finance its plans in a
sensible and fair way so that
the proposed benefits can be
enjoyed by all our clubs? Or
is it the case that the EBU is
hell-bent on creating a much
smaller union of elite bridge
clubs who will have to pay
yet more for the privilege?
Alan Best, Wetherby, Yorks. ■
 Catching Up
by Sally Brock
M
y parents are both 80
this year. If I am
anywhere near as fit
and lively as they are when I
am 70, I will be pleased. A
couple of years ago, they
downsized housewise and
moved out of the beautiful,
large, 17th-century house in
which they had lived for 43
years. They moved across
the road in the village to the
former school. Although
they reduced the number of
bedrooms and the size of the
garden, the main ground
floor of the new house is
probably bigger than the old
one. So they decided to have
a large party in October to
celebrate my father’s
birthday. Over 100 people
were accommodated for
drinks and dancing in the
main house, while a marquee
provided space for a sitdown
dinner.
Although they have had a
lot of parties over they years,
this was the first large one in
the new house. But of course
it all went with a swing;
teenage and young adult
grandchildren mixed seam-
lessly with octogenarians
and a good time was had by
all.
The next decision was
what to do for my mother’s
birthday in December.
Somewhat exhausted by the
above-mentioned do, friends
and family settled for a
Chinese takeaway party for
40 or so.
For half-term we went to
Malta. In 1999 the European
Championships were held in
Malta. The Malta Bridge
Federation is very small and
their players are not strong
so, although entitled to play
in the European Champion-
ships, they had previously
not done so. However, they
were keen to participate in
the event in their own
country. They did not expect
to do well but did not want to
make fools of themselves, so
they hired me to select and
train a team. To this end, in
the run-up to the event, I
went to Malta several times
and eventually captained
them in the event itself. In
the process of this, I made a
lot of friends and I and my
family have since been back
to the island a number of
times as guests of my friends
Mario Dix and Margaret
Parnis-England.
This year we had been
warned that the weather fore-
cast was terrible, so we took
plenty of anoraks and warm
clothes. However, it was a
false alarm and the weather
we actually experienced was
warm and sunny. I even
swam and went kayaking in
the sea. Briony also went jet
skiing and parasailing (if
that’s the right word for
being towed along by a
speedboat while suspended
from a parachute). She thor-
oughly enjoyed both, just a
bit alarmed by all the
Portuguese man-of-war jel-
lyfish she saw from her ele-
vated view.
While in Malta, I played
two sessions of duplicate,
one with Mario at the Malta
Bridge Club (in the evening)
and one with Margaret at the
Malta Union Club (where
they regularly get up to 20
tables) in the afternoon. I
can’t say we acquitted
ourselves with any great
distinction, but it is
interesting playing in other
countries. I’m sure that any
readers who go to Malta for a
holiday would be welcome –
let me know if you’d like
some contact details. ■
Page 49
Why it is so important
for club committees
to insure their club
The rise in TV adverts offering free legal assistance in the
event of an accident or personal injury has increased
public awareness of the possibility of making a claim
and, as a result, the need for club committee members to
seek public liability insurance is becoming more
important than ever.
Over the last year we have seen two incidents that
highlight the need for clubs to take out insurance to
protect their committee members against possible claims.
The first case concerned a club member hurriedly
leaving his club’s meeting, unfortunately tripping over
another member’s briefcase and falling through a plate
glass door. As a result of the injuries sustained, the
gentleman sadly died a few weeks later in hospital. This
could have resulted in a possible liability claim against
the club committee and member but, fortunately, the
gentleman dictated a letter absolving his club of any
responsibility and making it clear that the accident was
his own fault. An act that is very rare these days.
The second incident occurred when a member attended
his club’s regular meeting. After parking his car in the
meeting hall car park, the member apparently slipped
over on ice and injured his knee. Some months later the
member initiated a claim via solicitors for personal injury
as a result of the fall. The allegation of fault by the club
surrounds their statutory duty under the Occupiers’
Liability Act 1957 to provide safe premises for lawful
visitors and that the club failed to do so by not clearing
the ice or gritting the car park. The car park holds around
60 cars, so clearing ice or gritting the car park would not
have been easy for the club committee to arrange.
In both cases the club committees were initially
extremely concerned but fortunately both were insured
through our bridge club protection policy scheme. In the
second case, the ongoing claim and all associated
correspondence has been passed to the club’s insurer to
act upon. However, if the club had not been insured it
would have been left to the committee to respond to the
allegation or to seek legal advice, which would have
proved very expensive. Likewise, in the event that
liability was proven, any damages would have to have
been met by the club committee and members.
These two examples illustrate how important it is for
committees to protect themselves against these types of
incidents by insuring their club. The premium cost is
modest as the Bridge club insurance scheme has an
annual premium of £57.75 and for clubs joining after
February 2010 the pro-rata cost through to the scheme
annual renewal date in November each year is just
£45.50.
For more information please contact
Moore Stephens Insurance Brokers Ltd
email: enquiries@msibltd.com
( 020 7515 5270

Monday
Up early for a dental
appointment. Then an eye
test, except all the opticians
had phoned in sick so they
couldn’t do it!
Yesterday Briony had a
friend to stay and together
they thought it would be a
good idea to try to plug the
play station into the back of
our wall-mounted 32 inch
TV. Not surprisingly, they
dropped it and broke the
screen. Just what I need! So,
in the hope of getting the TV
sorted before my parents
arrive to stay next week, I go
to John Lewis to buy a new
one.
When I get home, I phone
the insurance company and
find I’ve done the wrong
thing. They will come and
inspect the broken one and
replace it rather than settle up
with me. So, back to John
Lewis to return the TV. Some
days I seem to spend all day
running around and getting
absolutely nowhere!
Entertain ex-boyfriend for
supper which was nice.
Tuesday
Am persuaded to drive the
children to school. Then to
the gym. In truth, taking them
to school doesn’t add that
Seven Days
by Sally Brock
much time to my journey
because if I go straight to the
gym I have to crawl along the
A40 for a couple of miles,
while if I go via the schools
the back route is pretty much
traffic free … if we go early
enough. However, we usually
don’t so it takes forever.
Then back for a bit of work
(USA by Rail, Rwanda)
before catching the 2.15 train
into London. An afternoon of
rubber bridge, and my first
real disaster at the table.
When these truly terrible
things happen, it is because
both sides of a partnership
live in a completely different
reality.
I will start by presenting
the bare, gruesome, facts.
It is the last hand of a
Chicago, so both sides are
vulnerable. We have a 40
partscore and our opponents
60.
♠ K984 ♠ Q76
™ A953 W
N
E
™ K74
S
© Void © A7
® AJ843 ® K9752
West North East South
Pass 1® Pass
3© Dbl Pass Pass1
Rdbl End
1
after long thought
Ouch! My partner thought it
was quite clear that his 3©
Page 50
was a splinter for clubs and
later redoubled to show his
first-round control.
I thought 3© was natural
(this is a world where,
although we do play splinters
after major-suit openings, we
don’t even play the simplest
of Sputnik doubles). I would
have passed if North had not
doubled. I thought my partner
was just trying to buy the
hand as quickly as possible
because of the partscore
situation. When he redoubled
I had a few misgivings, but
thought that he was heavy for
his bid and wanted to make
the vulnerable opponents
really pay. Clearly South was
uncomfortable, and if he was
passing with long weak
diamonds, maybe, for
example, 2-2-5-4 shape, then
they could be in real trouble.
(Of course, in reality South
was thinking about bidding
4©!)
It’s easy to say I could have
taken the safe course and bid,
but to remove 3© redoubled
and end up in 4© going down
would not have been a good
move. I also thought that my
partner wouldn’t put me in a
position where I could
misunderstand in such a
costly way, when he could
make any other bid to make it
clear that his 3© had been
made on a shortage.
Anyway, he plays it well
and manages to get out for
2200 (or £330 – not counting
the plus we would have made
had we bid and made 4®,
converting our partscore)!
In the evening, I have a
TGR’s League match, which
we lose by 4, having been 21
IMPs up at half-time. So, all
in all, bridge-wise, I’ve had
better days.
Wednesday
I have recently been elected
to the EBU’s Selection
Committee and today is my
first meeting. I get to the
station to see a train pulling
out, no problem in itself until
the next train is 20 minutes
late. Also the State opening
of Parliament makes public
transport around St James’s
Park a bit tricky, but I manage
to arrive only a few minutes
late.
The meeting lasts about
four hours and then we
adjourn to the pub – I can’t
believe how packed it is at
4.30 in the afternoon!
Thursday
Gym first thing. Then some
Bradt work (Peloponnese and
Lake Baikal).
Have an online teaching
session late morning, in the
middle of which a TV engin-
eer arrives to check that
 Sally’s Blog continued
the TV really doesn’t work. It
doesn’t so he takes it away.
This play hand crops up,
illustrating a simple point of
technique:
♠ 953 ♠ J10
™ KQ85 W
N
E
™ A62
S
© AQ105 © K73
® A7 ® QJ932
I open a strong no-trump as
West and partner raises me
straight to three no-trumps.
North leads a diamond. I play
off four rounds of diamonds
(North started with five),
hoping South will discard a
heart, but he does not. Now,
do I play for hearts 3-3 or
take the club finesse?
The answer is to play
hearts in a slightly unusual
way: first the king, queen and
then one to dummy’s ace,
blocking the suit. If hearts are
3-3, I come back to hand with
the ace of clubs and cash the
thirteenth heart; if my fourth
heart is not a winner, I take
the club finesse.
After lunch it’s my weekly
counselling session. Then
half an hour’s haven of peace,
before the kids come home.
Friday
A busy weekend ahead. I am
neglecting my parental
duties. Last weekend I went
away with a girlfriend. A
while back we decided that
we would rather spend time
together than exchange
presents so we take it in turns
to choose weekend activities.
We have a habit of picking
our destination because of
some event that turns out to
be disappointing. Two years
ago it was an Arts Festival in
Tenby. Tenby was fabulous
but the Arts Festival was not
what we had hoped. This year
we chose Taunton because of
a Christmas market.
However, I got my dates
wrong and the market was the
previous weekend, so we
went to Bath Christmas
market (an excellent affair)
on the way. Anyway, as was
entirely predictable, we had a
jolly good weekend.
But I digress. This weekend
I am also away. It is
unfortunate that the two
weekends are consecutive but
life can be like that, especially
as Christmas approaches.
Today is the annual match
between the House of
Commons and House of
Lords. I get an invitation
because of my column in the
Sunday Times. The event
starts at 10.30 at Crockfords
Club in Mayfair. Fourteen
boards are played before an
excellent lunch. Then another
fourteen boards afterwards.
The format is teams of eight,
with aggregate scoring. The
event is sponsored by both
Crockfords and Stephen Perry
and his London Export
Company. This year the
match was won by the House
of Commons, narrowing the
gap in the overall standings to
17–18.
The last board I watch is
exciting. You hold:
♠ AKQ
™ winners before ruffing a
AKQ
© AJ52
® AK6
Yes, thirty high-card points. I
watch Michael Mates open
two clubs. He has a tricky
choice of rebid over the
predictable two diamonds.
He chooses three diamonds
and his partner raises to four
diamonds. This partnership
enjoys the sophistication of
Roman Key-Card Blackwood,
so he discovers that his
partner does not hold the king
of diamonds and settles
unselfishly for six diamonds.
This is the complete deal:
Page 51
♠ AKQ
™ AKQ
© AJ52
® AK6
♠ 73 ♠ J109642
™ 986432 W
N
E ™ 10
S
© KQ7 © Void
® 73 ® QJ10985
♠ 85
™ J75
© 1098643
® 42
Declarer, Robin Squire, does
quite well in my opinion. He
wins the heart lead and,
rather than just bashing out
the ace of diamonds, starts by
playing the ace and king of
clubs and ruffing a club high.
West can defeat the slam by
overruffing and leading a
major to lock declarer in the
dummy. Because West also
has a doubleton spade,
declarer can’t get back to
hand with a spade ruff.
However, in the event, West
discards a spade instead, and
now declarer can pick up the
trumps for the loss of just one
trick.
Although it is completely
double-dummy and would
never be found, there is a
successful line of play for
declarer. Have you spotted it?
He must win the lead and
play off the ace-king of both
black suits and all three heart
black suit high. West can
overruff but now has to allow
declarer access to his hand so
he can take a trump finesse.
The match finishes at about
four and I scrounge a lift to
TGR’s and play for a couple
of hours before dashing
across London to play in the
Friday night Butler pairs at
the Young Chelsea with
Barry Myers. There are lots
of exciting hands, but we get
too many wrong to score
well. Fun though. A quick
Chinese meal afterwards
while we go through the card
and then I go to Margaret’s
for the night.
Saturday
Margaret is having a dinner
party to celebrate the
refurbishment of her flat. In
the morning we go shopping
for food and do various
preparatory chores. Then I go
to TGR’s again for the
afternoon and leave her to do
the real work.
The dinner party is good,
mostly non-bridge players.
The food, wine and company
are all excellent.
Just before the main course
I get a phone call from the
kids. Briony has stepped on a
piece of glass and cut her
foot. It’s bleeding a lot and
should they ring 999? I am
lucky enough to get through
to a neighbour who goes
round and has a look.
Thankfully, she doesn’t think
it particularly serious so the
ambulance is averted.
Sunday
Today is TGR’s Christmas
party. So, after waking up
with a mild hangover and
getting myself ready, I am
back there for the third time
in three days. I thought we
were having a casual buffet
meal but it turns out to be
proper set tables and a full
Christmas lunch. And very
good it is too.
Afterwards, we retire
upstairs for a variety of
activities. There is a small
duplicate and some back-
gammon.
I prefer my usual rubber
bridge and play for a couple
of hours before heading back
to High Wycombe on the
train.
Then there’s my regular
Sunday night date: both
children and I settle down
comfortably on my bed to
watch House! ■
Contact Sally at
sally@sallybrock.com
 Celebrating DOUBLE DUMMY SOLUTION
Ten Years by Richard Wheen
(Problem on page 11)
of Teaching
Bridge For All
North/South to make the last
♠ A two tricks. If West threw the
™ 2 jack of clubs, dummy’s nine
In October 1999, The Bridge For All Teaching Group © K2 would become good for the
was formed in the Bolton area by John Taylor and Frank ® Q9 sixth trick. His actual
Cox. They had both attended EBU teaching courses and ♠ Void ♠ Void diamond discard worked no
were reasonable experienced bridge players but had no ™ J N ™ KQ better: declarer now played
W E
© 10 9 8 © QJ
experience of teaching the game, so they co-opted a
S
a diamond to the ace and, as
® J 10 ® K8
third person, John Whone, who had been teaching West pointed out, won the
♠ Void
bridge for many years in the evening at a local school. last trick with the diamond
™ A
seven.
They advertised locally and took a stand in a marquee © A76
I must have looked
exhibition for the over 50’s in the town hall square, ® A2
bemused, as West continued,
enrolling 8 people who expressed an interest in learning
‘Didn’t you know that if
the game of bridge. This small group started lessons in
declarer wins the last trick
a church hall on a Monday afternoon and, within a few
weeks, 4 others joined us. Three months later the group
S o there we were, in a
South-East Surrey
Senior Novice Competition,
with the seven of diamonds,
his partner has to buy him a
had expanded to 21 and a Thursday evening session pint of beer? It is called the
in a no-trump contract.
was also started for those who could not attend in the “drinking card”.’ On my
Partner (South, declarer)
afternoon. needed to make all the rest, return from the bar, partner
As the group progressed and became better known, with North on lead. I was confided in me that he had
many more who had played social bridge at home and watching partner from set the diamond seven up to
at golf clubs and wished to improve their game, also behind his wheelchair (as is win the last trick by means
joined us. permissible in such events). of a squeeze. I congratulated
I could see five easy tricks – him but quizzed him on his
It was always our aim to develop a friendly social initial ‘finesse’ of leading the
from where was the sixth to
atmosphere, so that the less experienced players would come? Partner first led club queen. He told me it
not feel intimidated by the more advanced members. dummy’s queen of clubs, was not a finesse (well, I
As the standard improved, competition ladders were and I cringed – did he think knew that!) but a vital move
introduced for spring, summer and autumn, trophies that was a finesse? In any to transfer control of the club
being awarded for the highest average percentages. A event, East covered with the suit from East to West, who
cup is also awarded to the Player of the Year. king and declarer won with alone could be squeezed
the ace, West following with because he controlled the
The group has prospered over the 10 year period, and third round of diamonds.
the ten. Declarer then
last year 109 players enjoyed playing at one or both of cashed his ace of hearts and Partner then suggested (as
our two venues. We have also organised bridge continued with the diamond tactfully as he could) that I
weekends in a hotel in the Skipton area for the last six to dummy’s king – all should restart the bridge
seven years. These are always fully booked within days following in each case. lessons I had given up 50
of their being advertised. We find that these weekends Partner now led the spade years ago. I was delighted to
help enormously in improving the social atmosphere from dummy, East and discover that our success on
within the group, resulting in the development of many South throwing clubs. West this board had helped us to a
new friends. took his time over his good result in the event,
Unfortunately, John Whone left the area a few years discard and, having peeked despite the fact that partner
ago. However, John Taylor and Frank Cox have at his hand, I saw why. Any had been noticeably tipsy
continued with the development of the group and new discard by him would allow for the rest of the evening.
players are joining us on a regular basis. When we
started we charged £3 per session which included
tea/coffee and biscuits and, even though the quality of
the biscuits has improved, we still charge £3. DUPLICAT EBRIDGE only
The advice we would give to anyone starting a new
bridge group or developing an existing one, would be
RULESSIMPLIFIED £595
(otherwiseknownastheYellowBook)
to ensure that it has a pleasant and friendly atmosphere
by John Rumbelow and revised by David Stevenson
and that any new players, regardless of ability, are
made welcome. John Taylor NewEdition.Includes2008LawRevisions.
Availablefrom ( 01483 489961

Page 52

M
y uncle Leopold, the seventh
Baron von Münchausen, is a
notable analyst of the game.
He is also something of a collector of
Bridge Literature, though the books on
his own shelves are in a bewildering
variety of languages.
One bright April Sunday morning I sat
in my favourite armchair, where the pale
sunlight fell nicely across my lap and
my newspaper. I underlined a clue idly:
Poet’s short span – six letters. Nothing
sprang to mind . . . As usual, I had
ground to a halt part way through the
crossword. I laid it aside on the coffee
table and fetched down Tiger Bridge
from the shelf, one of several favourite
titles I keep there. It fell open at an
interesting hand.
The author, the late Jeremy Flint,
wrote about one of his very favourite
deals, which ‘I played when I was
virtually unknown in the world of
bridge. It gave me a lot of pleasure at the
time, although I have no doubt that it
would be duck soup to the experts of
today.’
Dealer: East. Game All.
♠ AJ7
™ 5
© K983
® AKJ62
N
W E
S ♠
♠ 6
™ K73
© A Q J 10 6 4
® 754
Don’t be Too
Clever Too Soon
by Dick Atkinson
West North East South threw the jack of clubs and East parted
Pass 3© with a small club. Flint cashed the ace
3™ 6© End and king of clubs and the ace of spades,
ruffing a spade back to hand to score
Flint remarked, ‘I am sorry if you don’t the seven of clubs. If East had
like the bidding, but that was the way unguarded the spades, the ace of spades
we used to conduct our auctions.’ and ruff would come first, the clubs
I am hopeless at following the providing a re-entry to score the jack of
analysis, so I wrote the hand out again in spades. Annoyingly, Flint’s opponent in
the broad margin of the newspaper, and the other room finessed the clubs like
added underneath the auction as it any beginner, for an undeserved tie.
should have been: 3© – (3™) – 4NT – 5© It was a beautifully played hand. I
– 6©. Yes, much better. Then I ticked off was just about to pick the book up
the cards as I followed Flint’s play: the again when my uncle strolled into the
ace of hearts was led, East playing the room, with a book in his own hand.
eight; the queen of hearts was ruffed ‘Good morning, my boy. I just wished
high, East following low. Trumps were to return this.’ It was The Rixi Markus
drawn in two rounds, East having the Book of Bridge – one of mine.
singleton. With eight spades East would I hid my mild annoyance – Uncle Leo
have opened 3♠: therefore he had to has an infuriating habit of writing
have three clubs at least, making the abusive footnotes in books where the
finesse a poor proposition; so Flint went authors’ views do not coincide with his
for a squeeze. But since ‘dummy has to own. I had once tried to discuss the
discard in front of the hand you intend to topic with him, remarking gently that
squeeze – I had to rely on what is known he did not suffer fools gladly. ‘I don’t
as a trump squeeze,’ he wrote. The six- suffer them at all if I can help it!’ he had
card ending was: snapped, looking me straight in the eye.
I had retreated in some disorder.
‘What’s that?’ he inquired, his eagle
♠ AJ7 eye having discerned the familiar
™ — bridge layout scribbled on the
© —
® AKJ newspaper.
♠ xx ♠ K Q 10 Here was a chance to catch him out.
™ J 10 N ™ — ‘Oh, it’s something I played at the club
W E
© — S
© — the other night,’ I answered innocently.
® Qx ® xxx ‘I’m still trying to decide whether I
6
™ — should have gone for the club drop
© J 10 rather than the finesse after that
® 754 bidding. How would you set about it
after a heart lead and continuation?’
He picked up the folded paper, seated
On the jack of diamonds dummy his monocle a little more firmly
Page 53
 Don’t be Too Clever Too Soon
cont inued
and twitched his moustache, like a hound
on the scent of an old fox. ‘Stupid
auction. I’d have raised straight to six
rather than give East a chance to raise to
5™... Hah! You hope to take me off guard,
but I am quite familiar with this theme.’
I tried to look mystified. ‘Theme?’
‘Oh yes, yes indeed. I have thought of
submitting it as a ‘Bols Bridge Tip’:
‘Don’t rush into the obvious expert line
when a simple beginners’ strategy
should be tried first. I go for the drop.’
Gotcha! Somehow he had missed the
whole point of the deal. ‘So your line
is…’ I invited him smugly.
He frowned in exasperation. ‘Well,
it’s obvious. You hope to make on a
trump squeeze; but many declarers, I
feel sure, would be so thrilled with this
line that they would neglect to cash just
one high club first, in case West held
something like:
♠ Qxx
™ AQJxxxx
© xx
® Q
‘Otherwise you will be discarding your
twelfth trick – the club knave – before
you realise it is the essential winner.’ He
nodded again. ‘Yes, indeed, quite
interesting. That’s how you played it, I
presume?’
‘Oh . . . Well . . . Of course.’
He gestured towards my Rixi Markus.
‘You can see much the same principle in
the first hand in there.’ I reached towards
the book where he had laid it down, next
to the fallen favourite, Tiger Bridge.
‘Don’t touch it! I have taken the trouble
of writing the analysis underneath
for you,’ said the shameless old vandal,
‘so I’ll jot it down in this margin . . . just
slightly modified, to bring out the point,
though it doesn’t affect the key calls or
plays.’ He wrote the hand in the next
column on my newspaper. ‘This is from
the 1983 Guardian Easter Tournament.
The late Frau Markus was, of course, the
columnist for that paper for very many
years, though I remember her as a girl in
her early twenties when I played against
her in Salzburg, or maybe it was
Innsbruck, in ‘34 or ‘35. As North, Zia
Mahmood opened 1♠, Mrs Markus
forced with 3™, and Zia showed a long
and completely solid suit by jumping to
4♠ over the force – one of your
excellent Acol understandings, I believe.
After that the auction degenerated a little:
4NT Blackwood – 5© – 5NT – 6© . . .
Ridiculous really.’
♠ AKQJ82
™ 983
© Q7
® Q 10
N table. If the hearts break anyway, that’s
W
S
E fine; while if anyone has five hearts
♠ 10 3
™ AKQJ2
© AJ3
® A96
I couldn’t let him get away with that. ‘I
have to disagree. If her partner shows up
with an extra king, 7NT will be solid.’
‘But when he doesn’t – what do you
bid?’
‘Well . . .’
‘Mrs Markus bid 7NT, demonstrating
that the Blackwood was entirely
redundant. She gave away the chance
for opponents to make a free lead-
directing double of a diamond call,
which could have been crucial with a
different lie of the cards in the three
unseen hands. As it was, the leader had
sufficient information now to lead a
passive spade. How do you play the
hand?’ he pounced.
I thought frantically. It must
somehow relate to that other hand. ‘Er,
take the ten of spades in case they break
five-nil. Then cash four heart tricks –
they must be five-nil or there’d be no
story. Then your carefully preserved
small spade gives you an entry for the
squeeze.’
‘Correct – in one particular only: the
hearts are indeed five-nil. But your
completely unnecessary squeeze only
works against East.’ He paused to take
out his Fabergé pill-box, popping open
the jewel encrusted lid before selecting
an aromatic cachou to suck. ‘Now,
suppose you play a high spade and third
hand shows out?’
‘Ah! yes, I see. You could unblock the
ten, and finesse against the nine on the
way back to dummy later . . . So . . . you
can win in dummy without risk of
blocking the suit and then lead the
queen of diamonds to tempt a cover. If
Page 54
the king doesn’t appear, you overtake,
and cash the hearts . . .’ I could tell
something was wrong from his
demeanour, rather like a roadside crow
preparing to dine on a freshly crushed
hedgehog.
‘Nein, nein. You must preserve your
diamond queen. This is such a lovely
hand. If you had been a reasonably
strong player, you would have gone
straight for the rare Double Vienna
Coup: cash both minor-suit aces, then
run the spades, keeping the hearts on
together with either of the minor kings,
he will be squeezed, of course.’
A lovely hand indeed. ‘Okay, I
missed it; but I’d have played that way
at the table,’ I lied.
‘Perhaps. But a good player will cash
just one of the hearts first, to see if they
are going to drop.’
‘What diff—’
‘If the opening leader shows out, your
strong intermediates will enable you to
finesse against the ten of hearts after
cashing your spades! You need not run
the risk of finding East with neither
minor king, and therefore being
immune to the squeeze.’
He had me yet again. Still, my
vestigial dignity demanded some show
of resistance. ‘It probably wouldn’t
matter at the table, of course.’
He chuckled wickedly. ‘That’s
exactly how Mrs Markus made the
contract. I’m a little surprised, though,
that she didn’t even mention that
wonderful back-up line of the Double
Vienna Coup in case the other hand had
showed out. And, by the way, since you
would then be hoping for one at least of
those minor kings to be with the hearts,
you can never want that diamond
finesse to be right.’ He whistled
cheerily – a snatch of Wagner’s
Insomnia, I think – as he walked to the
door, remarking as he left, ‘Oh, and that
was quite a coincidence.’
‘The two hands?’
‘No, no. Eleven across in your
puzzle. ‘Bridge.’ Don’t look so blank.
Herr Doktor Bridges was your poet
Laureate, was he not?’ And the twinkle
in his watery, blue eye seemed to say:
Gotcha! ■
Previously published in BRIDGE 50.
Reprinted to satisfy popular demand.
 Last Words
I
f the debate about the English
Bridge Union’s ‘Pay-to Play’
scheme has gone quiet, it is
because we have now reached
the ‘phoney war’ stage. P2P is
based on a compulsory levy
payable by affiliated clubs,
worked out as a per capita charge
each time any player – new or
established – plays at the club.
Those clubs that do agree to the
scheme have to disclose personal
membership data to the EBU and
allow the EBU to audit their
activity to ensure that the correct
levy is paid. Clubs that do not
feel comfortable paying the levy
have no choice other than to dis-
affiliate.
By now, most clubs have
decided one way or the other but
the scheme does not start until
April 2010. Clubs that have paid
a normal subscription under the
old scheme can continue without
change until that date. Currently,
EBU officers and staff are con-
tinuing to put great effort into
recruiting the last few waiverers
into line. Nobody will know the
final outcome until well into
2010 but, with a figure of 40%
for the drop-out rate being
bandied about, there ought to be
some worried brows. If anything
like this figure comes to pass,
then in reality we will have the
English Bridge Dis-Union, with
the governing body losing the
right to speak for all of bridge.
There is considerable disinfor-
mation about, with the EBU
claiming that only small clubs are
not signing up to the scheme.
This is untrue: in several counties
there are significant clubs that are
choosing not to pay the levy. In
London and Middlesex, for
example, nearly all the major
proprietary clubs will be operat-
ing independently and some of
the mutual clubs as well. In other
counties, some key clubs are
splitting into two, with an unaffil-
iated ‘Academy’ for the teaching
and supervised play arms, and an
affiliated club for the tournament
players. It is the tournament
players of course who are really
the beneficiaries of the scheme:
by Ned Paul
the EBU claims its objective is to
be broadly revenue neutral yet the
EBU’s most visible activity will
continue to be its tournament pro-
gramme for higher level players.
The new tax however will be
spread across all sections of the
bridge community, social as well
as tournament. It is not really sur-
prising how many clubs and
counties have accepted this with-
out demur: mutual clubs and
counties tend to be run by keen
activists who participate in this
higher level activity.
The ‘divided club’ model is
apparently going to be rigorously
policed and, if there is so much
as a common stationery cup-
board, the EBU intends to claim
‘tax avoidance’ and hit the club
with a bill as if it were still a sin-
gle entity. It is this mindset of
centralised control that defines
P2P for many clubs who are opt-
ing out, not the comparative
small sums of money initially
being demanded.
P2P policies will also affect
Bridge Great Britain, the body
that organises home internation-
als: BGB raises its money
through a programme of simulta-
neous pairs, issuing generous
master points in return for entry
fees. The EBU is ceasing to
recognise BGB master point cer-
tificates, demanding that any
non-affiliated clubs running
these events pay a significant
financial penalty to register
points and go through the P2P
membership data sharing process
as well. I for one will simply stop
running these events. No-one
consulted BGB before this deci-
sion was made, but then the BGB
has no vote. Nor of course do
ordinary bridge players: votes in
the EBU are held by an inner
cabal of eighty ‘shareholders’.
Bridge recruitment is one of
the things that will be affected by
P2P. Initially, the membership
numbers will look good. Many
club players who have been
happy outside the EBU and
thrown any club master points
they win in the bin, will now find
themselves head-counted as
Page 55
EBU members. So will some
occasional players who appear
just a few times a year, but is
hard to see club numbers
expanding thereafter. I do a lot
of teaching and I hear endless
accounts of would-be bridge
players approaching their local
club, the kind that has willingly
signed up to P2P, being told, ‘We
don’t accept beginners.’
Many of these enquirers, if
they persist, end up learning
bridge outside the EBU system –
and it is the hardest challenge in
bridge to take the step from
learning the game to becoming
good enough to hold your own in
a typical club duplicate. Instead,
learners tend to stick to social
bridge, playing in each other’s
homes with a little charity bridge
here and there, and only very
gradually and in limited numbers
moving towards club bridge.
What momentum there is
depends largely on active bridge
teachers running classes and
playing sessions professionally,
in parallel with the higher-level
clubs rather than in tandem. If
there is no entrepreneurial bridge
teacher in your area, it is likely
that demand for bridge is not
being met.
A number of people, including
me, are sufficiently worried
about the future that we are
having talks about forming an
Independent Bridge Information
Exchange. Initially at least, IBIX
is intended to be just a website
where non-affiliated clubs that
welcome new players can be list-
ed. Also to be listed will be those
playing sessions that are below
the level of club bridge and are
really just ongoing ‘supervised
play’games. This is incredibly
important for the future of
bridge, but, of course, will not
produce any short-term revenue
for the centre. These are dotted
about but we need more of them
– lots more. There will be some
work involved in making IBIX
function and keeping the infor-
mation up to date. If you would
like to participate then please
email me: at44@dial.pipex.com
Better Hand
Evaluation
Bernard Magee
Introduction
Better Hand Evaluation is
aimed at helping readers to add
greater accuracy to their
bidding. It deals with auctions
in which you and your partner,
against silent opponents, can
describe your hands fully to
each other and, by evaluating
them accurately, find the best
final contract. The emphasis of
all good, accurate bidding is on
hand evaluation.
There are two general types of
auction: a) A fit is found and b)
No fit is found.
When you do not have a fit, you
are aiming to describe the
strength of your hand as soon
as possible, most often using
no-trump bids. This book
begins by discussing balanced
hand bidding in Acol, as it is
very important that both
members of a partnership have
an accurate knowledge of how
to show hands of different
strengths.
When a fit is found, there is
much re-evaluation of the hand
to be done; point count, though
still important, needs to be
evaluated together with
distribution. The best way of
reaching an accurate assess-
ment is to use the Losing Trick
Count; this is an important
method of hand evaluation and
takes up a number of chapters.
Finally, we move on to different
forms of evaluation including
game tries and splinter bids.
You can never know enough
methods of hand evaluation;
the more you learn, the better
you get at judging your hand.
Although the Losing Trick
Count is used more easily in
tandem with your partner, a
large proportion of the ideas in
this book can be used by an
individual. For example, evalu-
ating your hand to be worth an
extra point is going to help any-
one you partner – as long as
you get it right!
£14 including postage
from Ryden Grange,
Knaphill, Surrey GU21 2TH
( 01483 489961
 Discovery
Club members
save an extra

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Cruise to the Riviera
with Bernard Magee
Follow Discovery to the sun on this two-part cruise that opens with two full days at sea, the An exceptional voyage of 8 days
chance to savour a host of shipboard delights. Lisbon is the first of our calls around the Iberian Departing September 6, 2010
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Date Port
Climb the cobbled streets of the Bairro Alto or head out along the River Tagus to the Belem
Sep 6 HARWICH, England
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relish the views of Africa from the top of the Rock. En route to the Côte d’Azur and Nice’s Sep 7 Cruising the Atlantic Ocean
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Alhambra, built against the spectacular backdrop of the Sierra Nevada. Sep 9 LISBON, Portugal
MR BRIDGE Sep 10 GIBRALTAR
Sep 11 ALMERIA, Spain
All Mr Bridge passengers, who have paid the £30 per person bridge supplement, will be part
Sep 12 Cruising the Mediterranean Sea
of the exclusive bridge party. This will make them eligible for the seminars, drinks parties, quiz
Sep 13 NICE, France
competitions, occasional afternoon and daily evening duplicates after first sitting dinner. The bridge Disembark and transfer to airport
programme is fully optional and you may participate as much or as little as you wish. Mr Bridge for flight home to Gatwick or Manchester
actively encourages singles to join the party and they will always be found a partner for a game.
Exclusive Mr Bridge fares
Inside fares from £549pp
Your Voyage includes: • Flights from/to the UK (Manchester Outside fares from £649pp
• Inspiring destinations and £15pp supplement)
enlightening excursions • All meals, entertainment and gratuities THE ULTIMATE BRIDGE EXPERIENCE
• Comprehensive lecture and on-board included with no hidden extras Combine Cruise to the Riviera, Italian Insights and
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• All port and pre-paid airport taxes
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28 days, departing September 6, 2010
With Bernard Magee from Sept 6-23
And with Mr & Mrs Bridge from Sept 23
Inside Cat N from £2,699pp
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FREE CABIN UPGRADE*

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Fares shown are per person based on two people sharing lowest twin-bedded cabin category currently available, are subject to availability and include all applicable discounts for new bookings. *Free one cabin category upgrade applies
from grades N to M and K to J only, on the Grand Andalucia, Italy & Adriatic cruise. All offers are subject to availability, are capacity controlled and may be withdrawn at any time. Specific cabin number may not be allocated at time of
booking. Flights from Manchester £15pp supplement (£7.50pp each way). See brochure for full terms and conditions. Please note: Bernard Magee sails from Harwich Sept 6 to Valletta Sept 23, Mr & Mrs Bridge sail from Valletta Sept 23 to
Dubrovnik Oct 3. Only bookings made directly with Mr Bridge are eligible to be part of the Mr Bridge Group. Those wishing to play bridge, please note that there is a bridge supplement of £30 per bridge player to be confirmed at the time of
booking. Voyages of Discovery is a trading name of All Leisure Holidays Ltd.