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THE SUN
Seattle Unit 446 Newsletter
February/March 2013
2012 Round Robin Wrap-Up by Ray Miller
Teams captained by Richard Yarington and Steve Kasner have wrapped up victories in their brackets of the 2012 Seattle Round Robin. Yarington defeated a tough Castoriano team 109-35 in the Open bracket, while Kasner defeated the Matt Schafer team 98-23 to win the 0-750 bracket.
The team of John Schermer, Ken Scholes, Kevin Bolan, Bill O’Brien, Richard Yarington, and Leo Schwartz continues to dominate the Round Robin. Online reports of the event go back to 2006 and indicate that they have won every year since then, mak-ing this at least their seventh consecutive victory! One report did contain a vague reference to the team having lost in the finals of the event at some point in the past, improbable though it may seem.
This year the perennial favorites secured the final qualifying spot by a margin of only one VP, but dominated once again in the knockout stages. The team of Joel Castoriano, Bob Richardson, Ron Tracy, and David Hildebrand won the qualifying stage and were strong throughout, losing only one match prior to the final. Tying for 3rd/4th were the Rao team (Baluso Rao, Jess Sellers, Jim Aitken, Greg Ho) and Godefroy team (Ole and Julie Godefroy, Carlyn Steiner, Emery Selymes, Roger Urbaniak).
In the new 0-750 bracket, the Kasner team lost three very close matches while capturing three big wins in the qualifying stage, but were dom-inant in the knockout stage. The Kasner team is made up of Steve Kasner, Wende Keirsey, Wally Hurst, and Greg Herman. Ben Bomber also played for the team, but didn’t play in the later stages of the event because of his studies abroad. Congratulations on a job well done. In second place was the team of Matt Schafer, Terry Graham, Dave Drischell, Marty Potter, and Jim Stick-man, who won the qualifying stage. Tying for 3rd/4th were the Lowe team (Roger Lowe, John Ellis, Larry and Myrtis Holdren, Bob and Carol Shelley) and Creech team (Leanne Creech, Bill Stewart, Bill Campbell, Ann Romeo).
We have received very positive feedback from all in the event. The biggest feedback came to me from Southern Utah, when I received a call from Bob Shelley’s sister-in-law who told me she was starting a round robin event in her club because Bob was so enthusiastic about how much fun the event is. A party was held at the Eastside Bridge Center in January for all par-ticipating teams, in which pairs from the open bracket were teamed up with pairs from the 0-750 bracket, and food and drink were enjoyed by all. Tell all your friends and recruit new players to this fun and exciting event!
Sign up for the 2013 Round Robin! We had 23 teams in 2012 — let’s go for even more this year! Registration is open now for the 2013 event. To register, send e-mail to Ray Miller at [email protected] with your team roster (4 to 6 players). Deadline for registration is March 31. Play will begin in April. We hope to have an even stronger signup for the 0-750 bracket this year. The format and matchups will depend on the number of teams entering, but will be similar to last year’s event. See http://bridgeinseattle.org for more information.
Steve Kasner, Wende Keirsey, Greg Herman, Wally Hurst
Page 2 February / March 2013
Club News
Vashon Bridge Club (VBC)
Location varies
(206) 567-5279
VBC has an open bridge game every Friday evening, except the first Friday of the month, when the game will be on the day before (Thursday). The location varies de-pending upon availability of sites, so please call James Dam ahead of time for the location of the game. Reserva-tions are appreciated.
—James Dam
Mercercrest Bridge Club (MBC)
Mercer Island Congregational Church
4545 Island Crest Way, Mercer Island
http://www.bridgeinseattle.org/mercercrest/
We meet once a week on Tuesday nights at 7:00 pm for good food, good friends, and good bridge (only the first two guaranteed). If you haven’t come already, we hope you’ll join us! Our games are always stratified so newer players have a chance to play against the best, and still compete among themselves. It's a delightful game, and the competition is excellent. Our game cost will be $8 for all games that don't require an additional $1 (most games) effective February 1st. We have two mailing lists, one for infrequent an-nouncements and another for weekly game results. If you’d like to be on either list, please drop us a line at [email protected]. We have several upcoming special games with an opportunity to earn extra masterpoints:
Feb. 5: Junior Fund game ($1 extra) Feb. 26: Club Membership game
Mar. 12: ACBL-wide Charity game ($1 extra) Mar. 26: Unit game
The 2nd Tuesday of each month we have a larger than usual crowd as many nice players from Rainbow Bridge Club join us. November top masterpoint winners were Kim Eng (3.66), Brian Zaugg (3.14), Jeff Ford (2.82), Phyllis Gravitz (1.90), and Mike Bovarnick (1.90). December winners: Joel Fuhrman and Scott Martin won our special holiday party game! Aaron Mohrman-Theresa Venhuis and Shawn Abernethy-Jingsong Liu won our STAC game. Regular game winners were David Bin-ney-James Sherman and Mike Christensen-Mike Ring. We play in the lower level of the Mercer Island Con-gregational Church and there is parking just outside the door. Our boards are premade with hand records (!), and results are posted at our web site shortly after the game ends. We are incredibly blessed: an extremely generous anonymous patron has provided us with Bridgemates to use, so scoring is quicker than ever! This was a wonderful act by a wonderful person. Players of all levels are welcome! For more infor-mation, please call Brian at 206-453-8326 or contact us at [email protected]. We look forward to see-ing you!
—Brian Zaugg
Des Moines Bridge Club (DMBC)
2045 S 216th St
(206) 824-1192
We welcome all players. Our stratified pairs game, Friday at 10:30 am, is only $5.00 and we have a potluck buffet. Bringing food is not mandatory, but if you par-take, it’s nice to contribute something. Please arrive by 10:15 a.m. Plenty of free parking. My prayer is that everyone that comes to the club has fun and does their best. Hope to see you!
—Yvonne Kirkland
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Page 3 SEATTLE UNIT NEWSLETTER
Club News
Seattle Bridge Center (SBC)
1539 NE 145th, Seattle
(206) 282-6414
http://seattlebridgecenter.tripod.com
Mark and Patti are in Mexico and Nick Tipton will be directing all sessions in February. Thank you, Nick, for allowing us to get away for some warm weather and total relaxation. These vacations are our lifeline to sanity. THE TOP MASTERPOINT AWARD FOR 2012 goes to Joe Ulrich. Other high masterpoint winners were Rose Bolson, Corrine Joinette, Terry Chinn, and Mary McCune. A plaque hangs on the wall of SBC with Joe’s name engraved on it in honor of our dear friend Lorraine Leach. Joe has also been awarded an individual trophy. For those of you who not aware, Lorraine fell and broke her hip before Christmas and is slowly recuperating. We hope to have her back at the bridge table some day soon. WE WOULD LIKE TO UPDATE OUR E-MAIL LIST so everyone is aware of special events at SBC. If you would like to receive occasional e-mails concerning monthly unit games etc., please send us your e-mail ad-dress. We are very protective of all your personal infor-mation including e-mail addresses. HALF-PRICED ENTRY FOR STUDENTS: It has been a policy for many years at SBC that all full-time stu-dents will be charged half the normal entry fee or $3.50 per game plus any additional charge for special events. CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES every session Friday, February 1 through Thursday, February 7. SBC WILL BE CLOSED February 15-17 for the Sweetheart Sectional and again on March 31 for Easter. THE ACBL-WIDE SENIOR GAME is Monday, March 4 at 10:30 am. THE MONTHLY UNIT GAME will be at SBC Sunday, March 17 at 1:00 pm. Reservations please.
BRIDGE CLASSES: Nick Tipton, the director of Rainbow Bridge Club and Alki Bridge Club, is teaching an introduction to bridge with classes on Monday eve-nings at 7:00 pm and intermediate classes on Saturday mornings. Both classes keep adding more students. Please contact Nick by e-mail at [email protected]. HALF PRICE GAMES ($3.50) Wednesday morn-ings at 10:30 am and Sunday afternoons at 1:00 pm. UNLIMITED FREE PARKING with handicap ac-cess. Please park in the lot east of the club. A PARTNER IS ALWAYS AVAILABLE. NOVEMBER TOP CLUB MASTERPOINT WIN-NERS: Rose Bolson, Suzanne Sax, Joe Ulrich, and Frank Brewer. DECEMBER TOP CLUB MASTERPOINT WINNERS: Rose Bolson, Mary McCune, Pete Pitell, and Joe Ulrich.
—Patti McCallum
Eastside Bridge Center (ESBC)
8151 164th Ave NE, Redmond
(425) 881-6110
http://www.eastsidebridgecenter.com
Happy New Year! Eighteen teams of bridge players brought in the new year at Eastside. Chris Moore did a great job of organizing & directing this large group, and boy did we eat great food! We even had duplicated boards. Congratulations to the winners: (A) Marci Knip-schield, Steven Lewis, Michael Ring, Kathy Gilman; (B) Joel Castoriano, Kathryn Chalfan, Jim Hamilton, Billie Coopwood; (C) Susan Cothern, Ruthann Quinn, John & Michelle Kirsch.
Changes are in the works for Eastside. Our Friday morning double games (open and 0-100) have inspired us to do another daytime double game on Monday morn-ings: open and 0-300. That begins in February. Presently we also have a double game of 0-2000 and 0-200 Monday nights at 7:00 pm. More good news is we have six tables
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Page 4 February / March 2013
Club News
of beginning bridge students on Tuesday, so hopefully we will be able to start up Tuesday night again in the near future. With so many players making life master, we de-cided to change Wednesday evenings to 0-500. This has been a very popular night game.
No plans for Valentine’s Day? Come to our special Tuesday morning Valentine’s open pairs charity game. During February, Eastside will be featuring nine Junior Fund games which provide extra points (see the website calendar).
Everyone loves Grand National Team events, and we have one scheduled for February 24th at 1:00 pm (delicious potluck at 12:30). Form your teams early to practice for the Sweetheart Sectional. We will be closed February 15-17 for the Sweetheart Sectional at Vasa Park.
MARCH is PARTY TIME! We are celebrating with our 5th Anniversary Party on Saturday, March 2 at 1:00 pm. Reservations are required for this special extra point game. Don’t wait until the last minute but e-mail or call to sign up as we will definitely have a full house (usually 24 tables). Parking will be at a premium. Don’t park in the first 6 stalls marked Bahai. Remember that on big games like this one, or on Saturdays, you can park at Co-lumbia Bank directly north of us for free. March is also ACBL Membership month, which means you win lots of extra points at no extra cost. Check the website for all the scheduled games. Our last GNT Swiss Team game is scheduled for 3/24 at 1:00 pm (potluck at 12:30).
Eastside players have had some big games: Jane & Brian Andrews had a 69.79%, Bill & Michele Herman a 63.43%, Rona Visser and Kathy Lichtenberg a 62.5%, and on Saturday, January 5, with 23 tables, Craig Zastera and Greg Ho had a 64.86% game and Judy & George Slemmons had a 61% game. Sorry I can’t name everyone who did well. Way to go eastsiders!
Let’s hope for a continued mild winter! See you at the bridge table.
—Dianne Cox
Rainbow Bridge Club (RBC)
Multifaith Works
1401 E Jefferson St, Seattle
(206) 484-3303
http://rainbowbridgeclub.org
We are right in the middle of Seattle, close to every-thing! We host three games per week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7:00 pm and Saturdays at 6:00 pm. There is no game on the 2nd Tuesday of the month due to sched-uling conflicts with our host facility. The cost to play is only $6.00 even for most special games. Rainbow Bridge Club welcomes players of all levels and we make fun a priority. New to duplicate bridge? We're the club for you! The 2nd and 4th Saturdays are limited games (0-500/NLM) – ideal for newer players! All other games are open to all levels. Rainbow Bridge Club is a GLBT based group, but all friendly people are welcome! Visit our website for direc-tions, announcements, scheduled games, and posted scores. We are always looking for friendly new faces to come and join us and we aim to keep Rainbow as “the friendliest game in town!” Running late? Call (206) 484-3303 to reserve your spot in the game.
—Nick Tipton
Alki Bridge Club (ABC)
West Seattle Senior Center
4217 SW Oregon, Seattle
(206) 484-3303
http://www.bridgeinseattle.org/westseattle/
We are hitting the ground running in 2013. We've got two solid games each week, on Mondays and Wednesdays at 10:30am with a break from 12:00-12:25
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Page 5 SEATTLE UNIT NEWSLETTER
Club News
for lunch. Every game is Open and the first Monday and Wednesday of every month is a special game. We aver-age 14-15 tables each game! Get there early to ensure seating! Cost is just $6 for all games. Our new Dealing Machine provides truly random boards with hand records, even with multiple sections. We have a non-playing director to keep the game moving and scores are available immediately after the game. We are located in West Seattle for all you south-enders and Vashonites. We have an excellent facility with a spacious and bright room and a full service deli providing excel-lent soup, salads, and sandwiches for lunch. Alki Bridge Club closes for weather according to the Seattle School District. Call for verification. Call or e-mail to confirm game on February 18th (President’s Day). For directions, see website listed above. Contact Nick for partnerships or other information.
—Nick Tipton
Emerald Bridge Club (EBC)
Brooklake Community Center [note new location]
726 S 356th St, Federal Way
(253) 939-0733
http://home.comcast.net/~emudd/bridge.html
Stratified Open Pairs, Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10:00 am. Need a partner? Call Dennie Dye at (253) 939-0733. Emerald Bridge Club moved in December (make a note of our new address). We are now comfortably set-tled in at our new location. Santa Claus – our own Ed Howard – found us there and presented the Club’s gift to Dennie at our annual Christmas party. Not only is Emerald the friendliest game in town, our players are winners! In December, Robert Gerend not only made Life Master, he also earned Bronze Life Master status and received a cake to prove it [see photo, p. 15]. At the Tacoma Holiday Sectional in Fircrest, the fol-lowing pairs finished first in their events: Kenneth De
Roche-Leonard Wisbey, Jim Burbidge-Stephen Heller, and Lois Larson-Steven Larson. Congratulations to all the Emerald players who earned points! Top Emerald players in November were Leonard Wisbey (6.46), Ira Quint (6.19), Ralph Eley (5.52), Shirley Kuhlman (5.48), and Bob Gerend (5.27). Top players in December were Paul Bartron (6.54), Marge Blunt (5.21), Bud Schafer (4.83), Jerry Thorpe (4.58), and Leonard Wisbey (4.44). Wes Kuhlman, author of Bridge Maxims for Serious Bridge Players, starts off the new year with the following good advice: “Reconsider adjusting your basis for opening leads if matchpoints in defense are below average for your last three games.” And a bonus tip to keep in mind: “Failure to lead partner's bid suit must be based on judg-ment of a superior defensive sequence.” Come and join us at the Emerald Bridge Club – it’s a Gem of a game!
—Carmen Flak
Newcastle Bridge Club (NBC)
Regency Newcastle
7454 Newcastle Golf Club Rd
(425) 351-2464
http://bridgeinseattle.org/newcastle/
Newcastle Bridge Club received a wonderful Christ-mas present this year and now all games are scored by Bridgemate! As Barbara becomes more familiar with pro-gramming, the results are out almost as soon as the hand records. February will be Junior Fund Month and every game will award bonus masterpoints. March 5 will be an InterClub Championship Game. March 7 will be a Club Championship game. Both games award bonus masterpoints for the same low entry fee. December continued to be a great month for our students and players. We held a party for Larry Holdren
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Page 6 February / March 2013
District 19 competitions
The Grand National Teams is a multi-stage competition beginning at the club level (club qualifying events run through March 31, 2013) and continuing through a district final stage, wherein each of the 25 ACBL Districts selects a qualifying entrant for the National stage of the competition, concluding this year at the Summer Nationals in Atlan-ta, Georgia beginning July 30, 2013. There are four flights or brackets for this competition: OPEN – all ACBL members who reside within the District in which they are competing; FLIGHT A – players with no more than 5000 masterpoints; FLIGHT B – players with no more than 2000 masterpoints; FLIGHT C – players who have not at-tained Life Master status and who have no more than 500 masterpoints (all masterpoint totals and rank requirements as of the September 2012 cycle). The qualifying team in each of these four flights receives a stipend from the Dis-trict, both in recognition of their success and to defray some of their expenses at the national stage of this competi-tion. The District final stage has historically rotated between sites in either greater Vancouver or greater Seattle, as they are the two largest population bases for players in our District. This year we are reverting to a previously-tried approach, having the District final involving two different sites on two different weekends in an effort to increase attendance and foster greater interest in the competition. The details for this year are as follows. While players may only participate in one flight at the National level of the competition, some players desire the opportunity to com-pete in more than one level at the district stage, if/when their qualification allows them to do so (i.e., their qualifica-tion at the club level allows them to choose among several possible levels at the district stage). To both enhance the fields at the district level and to encourage growth in the event itself, the District coordinator has chosen the follow-ing sites and dates for this year’s District level competition:
The plan is to similarly rotate these brackets in 2014 with Open and B in the Seattle area and A and C in the Vancouver area. The district is not wed to this format, and players’ suggestions, comments, and general input are actively solicited. Several other districts have been experimenting with on-line competitions for this event at the Dis-trict level, and we are also considering such implementation. There are obvious advantages, disadvantages, and diffi-culties to such an approach, but if it would make the event more meaningful and enjoyable for the participants it is certainly a possibility. The first stage of the district finals will depend on the size of each of the fields, either beginning with a two-session Swiss to arrive at a semi-final knockout configuration for day 2, or beginning directly with a knockout-type format, to continue with a final or semi-final and final on the second day of the weekend.
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OPEN FLIGHT and FLIGHT B will be held at the Vancouver Bridge Centre (2776 E. Broadway, Vancou-ver, BC) on Saturday, April 6 and Sunday, April 7. Saturday’s competition will begin at 1:00 pm. FLIGHT A and FLIGHT C will be held at the IUOE Union campus (18701 120th Ave NE, Bothell, WA) on Saturday, April 20 and Sunday, April 21. Again the Saturday competition will begin at 1:00 pm.
2013 Grand National Teams by Pat Dunn
Page 7 SEATTLE UNIT NEWSLETTER
District 19 competitions
Those competitors who have not qualified at the club stage of this competition retain the opportunity to com-pete at the district stage by paying an additional $25 buy-in fee, beyond the per-session card fees for the event. No more than four members on a team can utilize this “buy-in” aspect for entry to the event. A complete Conditions of Contest for the event is available online at the District 19 website (www.d19.org) as well as the Seattle and Vancouver unit websites. Please direct any questions or comments to Pat Dunn at [email protected] or (425) 746-3930.
(Continued from page 6)
2013 North American Pairs
Seattle area pairs swept the top spots in all three flights of the District Finals of the North American Pairs, held at the Fircrest sectional in December. The top three pairs in each flight qualify to represent District 19 in the national finals at the Spring NABC (held this year in St. Louis, March 14-24). Congratulations and good luck to all participating pairs!
Test Your Play
by Dan Romm
North (dummy): A54 J43 KJ1098 A4 South (you): 2 2 AQ765 KQ10543 You reach the contract of 6D by South. West leads the ace of hearts and continues with the king, which you ruff; East follows twice. You are cold if trump are 2-1, so you test trumps by drawing one round and West shows out. Now what? Solution: You are cold if clubs are no worse than 4-1, but if you test-ed trump by cashing your ace, you have made a critical error if West started with five clubs. If you correctly led a trump to the dummy at trick three you are still cold, provided you don’t now lead more trump. Merely ruff another heart, lead a spade to the ace, ruff a spade with the ace of trump, return to dummy by overtaking the queen of trump, draw trump and claim. Note that had you played the ace of trump at trick three you would have squandered a necessary entry to the dummy. This again illustrates the importance of not playing hastily as declarer.
Flight A [Open] 1 Henry Lortz-Ken Christiansen 2 Randy Corn-John Maki 3 Dick Yarington-Ken Scholes 4 Lawrence Hicks-Dan Jacob
Flight B [0-2000] 1 Patrick White-Chris Pesce 2 Brian Zaugg-Liliana Diaconescu 3 Dex Stuberg-Clifford Marx 4 Brad Kalweit-Sheila Smith
Flight C [0-500/NLM] 1 Gene Gousie-Kathy McMullen 2 Henry Hu-Hongqi Tian 3 Penny Lepp-Ray Lepp 4 Maggie Burke-Gary Wilson
Meet Me in
St. Louis! From Aaron Mohrman: “I’m organizing a happy hour for all the Seattle-area players at the St. Louis NABC. It will be on Thursday, March 21, from 5:00 to 7:00 pm. (This is the first day of the Red Ribbon Pairs and Silodor Open Pairs.) If you are going to be at the tournament, I hope you can join us. The location is still being finalized, but it will be somewhere near the playing site. Please RSVP to [email protected] and I'll share the final plans with you.”
Page 8 February / March 2013
Club NEWS
in December and in January we had Life Master Parties for Bill Campbell, Ruthann Quinn (after all her surger-ies), and Raynor Christiansen. Sholeh Winters will have her date in February. Join our classes, play at the club and you too can have a Life Master Party in your future. Lessons: Sign up now for lessons starting in March. Days and times to be determined by student majority. Two Over One – An introduction to the structure of bidding within the system. Small classes guarantee indi-vidual guidance. Each class is 1½ hours of lecture fol-lowed by 2 to 2½ hours of supervised play using the prin-ciples of the day’s lessons. 8 lessons $200, retakes half price. Advancing Player #1 – This class teaches thought processes, counting, signaling, play of the hand, etc. There are no conventions taught in this class. 1½ hours lecture and 2 to 2½ hrs supervised play. 8 lessons $200. Advancing Player #2 – This class is intended for stu-dents who have already taken Advancing Player #1, but want to further refine their bridge skills. Lesson plans will be customized to fit the students’ needs. Singles are always welcome and accommodated. Res-ervations are appreciated, but not required. Always plen-ty of food and a relaxed environment. $8 per game; $100 for 14 game punchcard.
—Barbara Nist
Elderberry Bridge Club (EBBC)
Foundation House
32290 1st Ave S, Federal Way
(253) 939-0733
http://home.comcast.net/~emudd/elder.html
Stratified Open Pairs, Sunday at 1:00pm. Need a partner? Call Dennie Dye at (253) 939-0733. Sundays just got sunnier! Check out the new game hosted by Dennie Dye and Marge Blunt. Come join us in our pleasant surroundings. Now that the tournaments are behind us, we expect nice turnouts. See you soon!
—Carmen Flak
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A World Class Defense
by Dick Yarington
In August 2012 the World Championships were held in Lille, France. John Schermer was on the team which placed 2nd in the Seniors event. I asked him what his favorite hand from the tournament was. Out of the nearly two weeks of sessions, this hand from a qualify-ing round against an Argentinian team was his best. It was written up in the daily bulletin under the title “Don’t Mess with the Zohan (or John Schermer)”. Take his cards and see if you can find his brilliant play.
You hold 98x Kxxx xx KJ8x. RHO opens 1NT (14-16), you pass, and LHO raises to 3NT, ending the auction. What would you lead?
John rejected the lead of either of his long suits, as he felt that they might set up tricks for declarer. He decided to lead a top-of-nothing spade. In his partner-ship’s agreements, the 8 was the correct card to lead from this holding (the 9 would have been convention-al), so he led the 8 of spades. Dummy went down with KJx Jxx QJ10x Qxx. Back to you:
(Dummy) KJx Jxx QJ10x Qxx (You) 98x Kxxx xx KJ8x Declarer calls for the jack of spades at trick one, partner plays the queen, and declarer wins the ace. At trick two, declarer leads a low heart from hand to-wards dummy’s Jxx. Plan your defense.
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Page 9 SEATTLE UNIT NEWSLETTER
UNIT BOARD NEWS
A message from the outgoing Unit
Board President and SUN Editor
Jeff Ford
It's been a very busy couple of years for me in the bridge community, and I'm happy to be handing off some things to some excellent replacements. For the last two years I have served as unit board president. The board was full of smart people and hard workers, making my job pretty easy. At our most recent board meet-ing we elected Jen Chalfan as the new president. I actually work with Jen at my day job where she has to get hard-headed software developers working toward a common goal, and she does a great job of it. I think she'll be able to run the board with one hand tied behind her back. For a little over three years I've also been editing the SUN. I am grateful to all of the people who sent me contributions, especially to regu-lar writers Dick Yarington, Ann Ro-meo, Julie Godefroy, Dan Romm, and Brian Zaugg. David Wright was less prolific, but equally enjoyable to read. When he offered to take over the editing, I knew from his writing he would do a great job. And I guess this means I'm forgiven for putting the pretentious sounding title "Making the Wright Play" on his arti-cles without asking him [Yes. —Ed.]. I still have three more years on the board, so I will still have plenty to do. If there's something you think our unit could be doing better, I'd love to hear your ideas. Most im-portantly, though, the next time you see Jen or Da-vid, please tell them how much you appreciate the work they're doing.
Hospitality Corner
Ann Romeo
Thanks again for all the great treats you provided to make the Fall Sectional a success! Much appreciated. We need your help again for the upcoming Sweet-heart Sectional (again at Vasa) on February 15-17. Any
and all treats, healthy or not, are wel-comed! On Sunday, we WILL be provid-ing a lunch for $6.00 per person, probably soup and sandwich, which you will pay for when you buy your entry for Swiss. A veg-etarian option will be provided. If you must opt out, see me or Susan Cothern at the Partnership desk. Finally, I am honored to be select-ed by our SBU board to be the newest member of the District 19 board. I repre-sent YOU. Please let me know if you have any issues or concerns you would like me
to raise with D19; I’ll be happy to raise them at our Spring meeting. Thanks again, and if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me at [email protected] or (425) 615-1413.
Earn Free Plays
at Sectionals! The unit is trying to have guaran-teed partners for all events at all of our tournaments. In order to do this, we need volunteers for each day of the tournament to play with a walk-in player if needed. If you’re willing to volunteer, you’ll play free if you’re needed the day
you volunteer and you’ll also receive a free play at a fu-ture sectional event. Please contact Susan Cothern, our partnership chair, at [email protected] for more information or to volunteer.
Jeff Ford
Ann Romeo
Page 10 February / March 2013
COLUMN
Partner puts you in 6H, with no opposing bidding, on the following hands: Dummy: Kxxx Axx KQJ A8x Declarer: — KQJxxx Axx Q109x LHO leads a trump. You win the ace in dummy, RHO following, and play another round to your hand on which RHO shows out. The contract obviously depends on not losing two club tricks. What play offers the best chance in clubs? And is there any reason not to draw the last trump before turning your attention to that question? Many players are familiar with a form of play that arises in a suit holding AJ10 opposite xxx: you can take a “double finesse” (low to the 10, then low to the J, or vice versa), winning two tricks if one (either one) or both of the missing honors are onside – a 75% chance, all else being equal. Similarly, with AQ10 opposite xxx, the double finesse (low to the 10, then low to the Q) has a 75% chance of winning at least two tricks: two tricks if one honor (either one) is onside (50%), and three tricks if both honors are onside (25%). In the layout above, the possession of the high club spots (10, 9, 8) between the two hands gives you a simi-lar double finesse position in that suit. You can lead the queen or ten from hand (towards the ace) on the first round, and if that loses, lead the other card from hand on the next round, with a 75% chance of finding at least one of the missing honors on your left. Even better, you avoid the torture of trying to guess what to do if you play ace and another club from dummy and RHO follows low on the second round. (Better the 75% play you know than the 100% play you don’t!) However, a problem arises on this layout because you are leading towards the hand with shorter clubs. If LHO has four or more clubs to an honor, and inconveniently
refuses to cover when you lead through him, your fourth club will be a slow loser. (Say you first run the 10 and lose to the J. You win the return, and can either run the club Q or play low to dummy’s 8, winning the trick – but when the K fails to fall under dummy’s A on the third round, you are left with a second loser in your hand.) You can get around this by starting your play of the club suit at trick three, keeping dummy’s last trump to ruff the fourth round with if necessary. But LHO will still have a trump while all this is going on — doesn’t this risk running into a ruff? Actually, no! Because LHO (not RHO) has the re-maining trump, and given that you are playing LHO for at least one club honor (a 75% chance), it is totally safe! If LHO has one or two clubs, his honor will appear in time for you to win the ace, draw the last trump, knock out the other club honor if you haven’t already, and claim. If LHO has three clubs, he will follow as you play three rounds of the suit and your fourth club will be good. If LHO has four or more clubs, he will have to follow all the way (no doubt gnashing his teeth in frustration) while you ruff your club loser in dummy, and then you can re-turn to hand to draw the last trump. Once RHO shows out of trumps, it is completely safe to double-finesse in the seven-card side suit with a trump still out. (Well…if RHO has KJxx of clubs, you might go down two instead of one this way – he can give LHO a ruff after the second finesse loses – but since go-ing down two instead of one in a slam rarely makes much difference to your result at any form of scoring, the re-ward is far greater than the risk.) At the table LHO turned up with Kxxx of clubs, so spotting this extra chance play was the key to making the slam. Ironically, possession of BOTH the annoying fourth club AND the bothersome third trump was more of a hindrance to LHO than a help — but only if you played carefully!
Making the Wright Play
by David Wright
Page 11 SEATTLE UNIT NEWSLETTER
Membership news
Initial Analysis: Was this lead effective? It is clear that partner has at least four spades, but who has the 10 of spades? Declarer must have the 10 of spades, because if he didn’t, he wouldn’t waste the jack of spades at trick one. Playing the jack would assist the defense, enabling them to attack spades from either side when they gain the lead.
Brilliancy Moment: Why is declarer attacking hearts? He must have good hearts, he has three tricks in spades, and he probably has four tricks in diamonds. This adds up to nine tricks. The only hope for the defense is to take four clubs along with the king of hearts.
The Master Stroke: How does the defense get four club tricks? Clearly, partner must have the ace of clubs to
give the defense a chance, but what if declarer has the 10 of clubs? Dummy’s queen is in the way. John found the only play that neutralized this card by leading the jack of clubs at trick three. If partner has Axxx of clubs and declarer has 10x, leading the king followed by the jack would also work, but if partner has A9x and declarer has 10xx, lead-ing the jack on the first round is the only winning play.
Aftermath: Declarer had A10x AQxx Axxx 10x. No matter how he squirmed, he was finished after the jack of clubs switch as the defense successfully cashed four club tricks. This hand was played about 50 times in the Open, Women’s, and Seniors team events. Not all pairs got to 3NT, but most pairs took 9 tricks. John se-cured the only plus score in his direction. Truly, a well deserved score for a world class play.
(Continued from page 8)
We extend a hearty welcome to our new members! Don’t forget to bring your younger friends out, as our entry fees are only $1 for teens at the tournaments! Seattle Bridge Unit #446 is run by volunteers. We invite all our members to participate and support Unit #446.
NEW Life Masters (300/500 MPs):
Janet Brown, Peter Brown, James Dam, Larry Holdren, Beverly Little, Marilyn Philips
Bronze Life Master (500 MPs):
Muhunthan Sivapragasam
Silver Life Master (1000 MPs):
Lee Silvas
Gold Life Masters (2500 MPs):
Emily Bone, Helene Fornia, Leo Schwartz
Complete membership and rank advancement
information was not available for this issue. See the next issue for more achievements!
FE
BR
UA
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2
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Sun
Mo
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Tue
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Thu
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2
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Mo
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Title
Page 15 SEATTLE UNIT NEWSLETTER
Club Schedules and Locations
Locations: Ronald Methodist Church 17839 Aurora Ave N (entrance on Linden, not Aurora) Margaret Marshall, (206) 363-5484 (206) 972-1941 (cell) LeEtta King Bridge Club Central Area Senior Center 500 30th Ave S (206) 226-9732 University of Washington Bridge Club Christ Episcopal Church 1305 NE 47th St (206) 692-1501 See “Club News” starting on page 2 for other club information.
Sunday 1:00 pm Seattle Bridge Center Elderberry Bridge Club Monday 10:00 am Eastside Bridge Center Open/0-300 10:30 am Alki Bridge Club Seattle Bridge Center 7:00 pm Eastside Bridge Center 0-2000/0-200 Seattle Bridge Center Lessons + Play Tuesday 10:00 am Eastside Bridge Center Emerald Bridge Club 10:30 am Seattle Bridge Center 11:00 am Newcastle Bridge Club 7:00 pm Mercercrest Bridge Club Rainbow Bridge Club (except 2nd Tuesday) Wednesday 10:00 am Eastside Bridge Center 10:30 am Seattle Bridge Center Alki Bridge Club Noon Ronald Methodist Church Senior, 0-2000 7:00 pm Eastside Bridge Center 0-500
Thursday 10:00 am Eastside Bridge Center Emerald Bridge Club 10:30 am Seattle Bridge Center Free Lunch 7:00 pm LeEtta King Bridge Club Rainbow Bridge Club Newcastle Bridge Club Eastside Bridge Center 0-2000 Friday 10:00 am Eastside Bridge Center Open/0-100 10:30 am Des Moines Bridge Club Seattle Bridge Center 6:30 pm Vashon Bridge Club (except first Fridays;
time varies, call first) 7:00 pm UW Bridge Club (school year only) 7:30 pm Seattle Bridge Center Saturday 9:30 am Eastside Bridge Center 0-20 “Fun Bridge” Noon Seattle Bridge Center 1:00 pm Eastside Bridge Center 6:00 pm Rainbow Bridge Club 0-300 1st/3rd Open others
All games are open unless otherwise specified.
Bronze Life Master Robert Gerend celebrates at the Emerald Bridge Club.
Seattle Unit Newsletter
Published every other month, in February,
April, June, August, October, and December.
We love to get contributions from unit mem-
bers. Please email any recent bridge accom-
plishments, milestones, rants, raves, or correc-
tions to [email protected]. The
deadline for articles is the 10th of each odd
numbered month. All submissions may be edit-
ed for length and content.
The newsletter is edited by David Wright.
Seattle Unit ACBL Membership: Julie Godefroy 1210 101st Pl NE Bellevue, WA 98004-3534
February 8-10 Bellingham Sectional
Spokane Sectional
15-17 Bellevue Sectional
18-24 VANCOUVER, WA REGIONAL
March 1-3 Moses Lake Sectional
9-10 Bothell I/N [0-500/NLM] Sectional
14-24 ST. LOUIS, MO NABC
22-24 Arlington (Everett) Sectional
Tournament Trail
Check out www.acbl.org for most current information
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The SUN is delivered to all unit members who provide an email
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