Wolverhampton Bridge Club Newsletter Number 54, April 2015

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1 Wolverhampton Bridge Club Newsletter Number 54, April 2015 Chairman s Chat It is coming up to the end of the club s year and the AGM is due on the 17 th May. It has been a year of consolidation with attendance fairly static, if not slightly down, with Thursday nights particularly giving us concern to the point where we have had to cancel several Thursdays recently. We have tried various different methods of attracting members to Thursday evening bridge and I am going to tempt you with another innovation to Thursday evening bridge. On the first Thursday in the month and starting on the 7 th May, we are planning an Open Handicap Teams bridge evening. I want to encourage players of all abilities to mix and play and would like to see some pairs enter from Tuesday Gentle Bridge. The idea is not to have all the experienced players together but the lesser experienced and beginners all to have a chance of winning on the evening. An entry sheet will appear on the notice board later this month. Please enter as a pair so that we can know how many pairs are coming and handicap the pairs beforehand. When you arrive at the club, the teams will be drawn. You will play as a team of four so both pairs will play the same boards but one in N-S and the other E-W but obviously not together. The most experienced players will have a zero handicap with the lesser experienced having a plus handicap which will be added to their score at the end of play. In an ideal world, everyone should be level at the end of play. Not a chance!!! Please give it your support and come along. Please support the first Thursday in May at the Open Pairs Handicap. The Premier bridge club in Wolverhampton needs your support now. I am sad to report that the current secretary, Sue Martin has decided to resign after many years of dedicated service. I would like to thank Sue for her efforts on behalf of the club. She has made a terrific contribution as secretary and we will certainly miss her presence at the committee meetings. My thanks also go to Jackie Dwyer who will be leaving the committee this year. Jackie has worked tirelessly within the committee but also with assisting with catering, sending cards to members for various reasons and being a Duplimate which I hope she will continue. Finally as my little ditty had such a marvellous response the last time, here is another, with a little help from my friends, Rudyard Kipling and Peter Rowlett: 1

2 If If you can choose your partner for his morals And those with looser scruples you eschew, If you concede the better pair the laurels, To Laws and Ethics hold steadfastly true - If you can take finesses without peeping To find if East or West might hold the Queen, Or, going down, you still refrain from weeping And pondering match points there might have been - If you can bid, yet never stoop to psyche-bids, Confusing all and sundry with your calls; If you forego the Multi and suchlike bids, Or, lacking points, you do not bid at all - If you can get a good board without crowing Or telling your opponents that they're dumb, It may be that to heaven you are going, But you'll never win a pairs event, old chum! Recognise anyone?!!! Yours in Bridge Ron Captain s Report TEAMS OF FOUR Most of the bridge we all play is pairs whether it is at a club or socially at home. I personally prefer to play teams of four. It is still bridge as you all know it but the tactics are different. It is important to bid tight games and slams especially if you are vulnerable because the points scored compared to a part score make a big difference. Overtricks are not important. You only double opponents contracts if you are 90% certain that they are going down because it is too costly if they make the contract. A really bad board in teams can cost you the match whereas in pairs a bad board is just a bottom on that board. Remember you have team-mates who are sitting the opposite way at another table and they will play the same cards that your opponents are playing. If you are interested in playing in a team and do not have a partner, please me at lcalice@btinternet.com or just call me on Linda Curtis 2

3 Club News Calendar The improvers group continues to meet with Roy Edwards on Tuesdays at 1.30pm when recent topics have included cue-bids, take out doubles and count. Anyone wishing to join the group should contact Roy, tel The notes of the Committee meetings held on 17 January, 28 February and 28 March are now available on the club s website and notice board. Members Congratulations go to. Pam Booth-Jones and Tony Leech, winners of the Mixed Pairs Competition; James Vickers, Bill Sherman, Celia Day and Colin Draper winners of the Winter Teams, ; Roy Jennings and Barrie Tykiff winners of the Express & Star Novice Trophy. Mike Barlow and Graham Blower, joint winners of the Winter Handicap competition Congratulations also go to members promoted in the national Master Point scheme: 1 Star Premier Master Ron Stevenson; Advanced Master Trevor Freeman; County Master Gordon Michie; District Master Davina Boldero; Area Master Frances Legg and Club Master Toni Hamp. How to Access your EBU National Grade. Some members have asked how they can get information about their national grade under the EBU s National Grading Scheme (NGS). The NGS calculates a current grade for each EBU member which is updated whenever new results for that player are received. This information can be gained from the EBU website. The process to follow is: 1. Access the EBU website 2. Click on Members in the top blue band to enter the log in page; 3. Enter your EBU numbers for the User, and the password you received in the EBU welcome letter when you first joined. If you no longer have this, you can receive a reminder by clicking on the link on the log in page. 4. Click on log in to access the page setting out the results of all the sessions you have played in this and previous years. Information includes the bridge session, your score, strength of the opponents in the session and your National Grade after each session. 5. If you then click on NGS information in the top table on the right, you will find a chart of the progress of your Grade together with a list of the partners you have played with and the grade for each partnership. 6. For a full explanation of how the NGS is calculated, click on NGS in the left had side menu on the EBU home page or on the members page. 3

4 Management arrangements Not Just One Direction The club has a team of seven directors who are responsible for the eight sessions played each week. Whilst they strive for consistency in interpreting the code of play, the atmosphere of each session owes much to the director s personal style. Jeff Jones shares his views on what makes a good director. He has been directing for more than 20 years at club and county levels and, currently, directs the Wednesday Handicap Competition. The director s aims are to ensure that events run smoothly, are on time and that all participants have a pleasant experience and get what they came for a good game of bridge. Jeff believes that to achieve these aims you do not need to know all 93 laws, of the rules book, inside out, but you do need qualities and a skill set that suits the role, notably that directors should be: Authoritative, Assertive and Approachable; Calm, Confident and Consistent; and Responsible, Resilient and Receptive. Timeliness in playing the boards is a critical requirement for Jeff when directing. It is unfair if some players play a set of boards in 20 and others in 25 or more minutes. Rather than allow delays to cause unintended consequences for other players, he prefers to allocate average scores if players have been unable to complete a set of boards within the allocated time. To this end, the clock is now an established feature of Wednesday night play. Directing bridge may seem easy but is full of pitfalls. Rules can sometimes be ambiguous and players can themselves inadvertently impede a satisfactory outcome, for example by folding up their cards before the score is agreed or a revoke can be established. All players are asked to call the director at the earliest opportunity if things go wrong at the table and to allow the director to resolve the problem. One of the most difficult aspects of directing is managing discourteous behaviours. Failure to respect a director s ruling or criticisms of individual players can be distressing, is often disruptive and can in extreme circumstances result in the resignation of directors. Director s rulings should be respected at all times, even if seen as wrong, as a ruling can always be resolved later on. In complex situations adjudication takes place with other directors or more experienced players before rulings can be finalised. All directors in the club have completed an EBU training course and have been assessed as competent. Consistency is supported through regular meetings, mentoring and access to national and international database of directors rulings. A key reference book is The Laws of Duplicate Bridge, 2007 published by the EBU. If you feel you would like to take the opportunity to take up the role of director please contact Ron Stevenson, Tel

5 Alerting doubles Guidance provided by James Vickers Are you alerting your partner s doubles correctly? The rules for alerting in England underwent a major change nearly nine years ago when announcements were introduced, and although the new rules caught on fairly quickly, many players still struggle with the alerting of doubles, even though the change was to a much simpler rule. The alerting of doubles of no trump bids doesn t cause much confusion, so I m going to concentrate on doubles of suit bids. Try the following quiz before reading on, to see how well you understand the regulations. Write down which of the following meanings should be alerted, then check the answers on Page 8: Q Bidding Possible meanings for the X 1 3 (1) X (i) penalties (ii) takeout (iii) general values ( optional ) 1) Pre-emptive P 1 - X (i) penalties (ii) takeout (clubs and hearts) X (i) penalties (ii) takeout (iii) showing four hearts 4 1NT P 2 (1) X (i) penalties (values) (ii) showing a club suit 1) Stayman 5 1NT 2 (1) X (i) penalties (ii) takeout of hearts 1) hearts and a minor 6 1NT 2 (1) X hearts and (i) penalties (values) (ii) takeout of hearts (iii) showing clubs another suit 7 1 P 1 1 X (i) penalties (ii) takeout (iii) support (showing three hearts) X (i) penalties (ii) takeout (iii) showing four spades (1) X spades and clubs (i) penalties (ii) heart support (iii) negative (takeout of spades) 10 2 (1) X (i) pts balanced (ii) showing diamonds 1) multi The relevant regulations can be found in section 4 of the Blue Book. The rules for alerting doubles are: (a) suit bids that show the suit bid alert, unless the double is for takeout [...] (d) suit bids that do not show the suit bid alert, unless the double shows the suit bid. (BB4B2) An expanded version of this quiz will soon be available on the club website (in the TD corner) with more difficult situations that tournament players may encounter. James Vickers 5

6 Tips For Improving Your Play Captain s Tip: Discards Your first discard sends the strongest message, so make it count Do not tell partner something they already know e. g If dummy is very strong in a suit do not tell your partner you do not want that suit led; he can work that out for himself. Or, if defending NT s you have led small from your longest suit do not tell partner this is the suit to lead, tell him where your entry is, if you have one, you know partner will return your original lead at the first opportunity. Sometimes you cannot afford to signal with a card in the suit you want so you have to discourage in another suit that partner might lead. Try to delay winning a card to give partner a chance to signal. Remember declarer is watching too, if you do not think your partner will win the lead again keep your assets hidden. and make sure you and your partner fully understand whatever discard system you are playing. Roy s Tip Opening Leads Opening leads when defending NT contracts are probably the hardest part of bridge. The basic idea is not to give a trick away at the very start. If your partner has bid, then leading his suit gets you off the hook; otherwise you need to listen to the bidding for any information you can use. Leading from touching honours ie: J1096, QJ95 are usually safe leads. Top of three or small cards can work. When you have honours in three suits as well as points, you will almost certainly give a trick away if you lead away from an honour. Lets try a few leads when the opposition have bid 1NT-P-3NT-P. The information you have is: it is unlikely that the 3NT hand has a five card major, but could have a four card major with a flat hand; or only two or three cards in a major with a long minor. What would you lead from the following hands? Hand 1 Q74 K95 A Hand 2 KQ A4 J1097 Hand K92 QJ5 A10743 Check your answers on page 8. 6

7 Unusual Stayman Partner opens a weak 1NT and you have seven points including one four card major. You bid a Stayman 2. What happens if your partner bids the other four card major or 2? Wait for his wrath? Well not necessarily as this example from a recent social game will show. North was the dealer with neither side vulnerable. West J J10 AQ9532 North A94 Q965 AK5 J84 Q102 K742 Q South East K873 AJ3 943 K106 The bidding was N E S W 1NT P 2 P 2 P P P South intends to pass whatever North responds. Lucky to find the four-four heart fit? Well yes, but surely better to play in a four-three spade fit or at worst a five-two diamond fit? You can see that nine tricks are available in hearts, eight in diamonds and with seven or eight likely in spades if you give North a fourth spade on the favourable layout. Admittedly in 1NT with the normal 3 lead and a correct guess, North can run for home with two spades and five diamonds. Otherwise one off should be the result, as it will be if West doubles the conventional 2 bid to direct his partner s lead. You can imagine a more extreme example what about zero points with four spades, four hearts and five diamonds? The opposition will have a game on, but if they go for a penalty, any suit contract at the two level should limit the damage. Ian Carless Forthcoming events Please put the following key club events, to be held in the next three months, into your diary now. They are open to all members, experienced players or learners. American Supper Evenings on 18 April, 16 May and 20 June 2015; Open Teams event on Thursday, 16 April 2015; NEW PAIRS IMPROVERS SESSION begins Thursday 23 rd April, starting at 7.15 start and finishing between 10 and Everyone is welcome; partners provided if you come alone. This is aimed at getting our beginners who have just finished learning playing into a duplicate session. We will play between 18 and 21 boards. This session will run on the second and fourth Thursday of every month. We would also like some experienced players to come too. Summer 2015 Handicap Competition beginning on Wednesday 6 May and is played each Wednesday evening until 23 September; NEW Open Handicap Teams commences on Thursday, 7 May; 7

8 Summer 2015 Teams of Four Competition beginning on Thursday 21 May is played on the third Thursday of each month until 17 September; Annual General Meeting, followed by the AGM pairs competition, will be held on Sunday 17 May 2015; Solutions Alerting Doubles (Page 5) 1 Alert (i) and (iii). Takeout means that partner is expected to remove the double unless they have a particularly suitable hand for defending, so optional doubles (which are often left in) should be alerted. 2 Alert (i) only. 3 Alert (i) only. (If your double promises the unbid major only it is still considered to be for takeout as it will rarely be left in.) 4 Alert (i) only. 2 does not show the suit so if the double shows clubs it should not be alerted. 5 Alert (i) only. (Note the distinction is whether the bid shows the suit bid, not whether it carries any additional meaning such as a second suit.) 6 Alert (i) and (ii). 7 Alert (i) and (iii). 8 Alert (i) only (even though the double cannot possibly have any other meaning). 9 Alert (i) and (iii). (I ve met someone who plays method (iii), but I don t expect I ever will again.) 10 Alert (i) only. This just goes to show that non-alertable meanings are not necessarily sensible. Roy s tip 1 8 ; avoid leading from a suit holding an honour; 2 K or J are safe leads; if opponents have not bid a major, it is often safer to attack the majors straight away; 3 4, fourth highest in longest suit. Editors Note All articles, comments and questions from members are very welcome. Please do not hesitate to contact me either on Tel or by lisbarrow@aol.com 8

Cambridge University Bridge Club Beginners Lessons 2011 Lesson 1. Hand Evaluation and Minibridge

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