BRIDGE

Number Ninety-four April 2009

Cruise from Malaysia to Mauritius on board mv Discovery

Selected by Mr Bridge as his personal cruise of the year
See overleaf for details
 FEATURES

BRIDGE 3 Bidding Quiz

4
by Bernard Magee
45 Dave Huggett says
Return Partner’s Suit

46 Jeremy Dhondy says

BIDDING QUIZ
by Bernard Magee

Publisher and
Managing Editor
Mr Bridge
5 Cut-out Form
Add Three Points
in the Protective Seat Y ou are West in the auc-
tions below, playing
'Standard Acol' with a weak
9 Bidding Quiz Answers
47 Defence Quiz Answers no-trump (12-14 points) and
Ryden Grange by Bernard Magee
by Julian Pottage four-card majors.
Knaphill, Surrey
GU21 2TH 10 Andrew Kambites says (Answers on page 9)
Lead the Fourth ADVERTISEMENTS
( 01483 489961 Highest of your 1. Dealer West. Love All.
Longest and Strongest 2 Malaya to Mauritius
♠ A K Q 10
e-mail: on board Discovery
14 David Stevenson ♥ 5
mrbridge@mrbridge.co.uk 4 Tunisia 2009 © Q43
Answers Your Questions
® Q9854
website: 16 Julian Pottage 6 Tutorial Software &
www.mrbridge.co.uk Answers Your Questions Mail Order Form West North East South
?
19 Declarer Play Quiz 7 Charity Bridge Events
Associate Editor
by Dave Huggett 8 Eric Hill
Julian Pottage 2. Dealer East. Love All.
20 A Walk in Spring ♠ 7
12 2009/10 Winter Cruises
by Countryman ♥ KQ32
Technical Consultant On Board Discovery
© KQ86
Tony Gordon 22 Defence Quiz 15 QPlus 9.1 ® AQ94
by Julian Pottage
Bridge Consultant 17 Wychwood Park West North East South
23 Coming Soon Bridge Events 1♠ Pass
Bernard Magee by Bernard Magee ?
18 The Olde Barn Hotel
27 Historic Recollections Bridge Events
Proof Readers 3. Dealer West. Love All.
by Dick Atkinson
Danny Roth 21 Marsham Court ♠ K Q 10 6 5
Hugh Williams 28 Double Dummy Quiz Bridge Weekends ♥ 3
by Richard Wheen
Freddie North 22 Christmas 2009
© KJ
Richard Wheen 28 Two-Handed Bridge ® AK764
by George Hutter 28 Single-Suited Pens
West North East South
Software Support 29 David Gold says 31 Duplicate Bridge 1♠ Pass 3♠ Pass
( 01483 485345 Bid a Slam Rules Simplified ?
on a Finesse
32 Holiday Diary
Events & Cruises at Worst 4. Dealer West. Game All.
35 Beach Hotel ♠ AJ7
( 01483 489961 30 Saying Hy
Bridge Weekends ♥ AK2
Jessica Galt to McKenney
© Q3
Holly Cobbett by Ned Paul 36 Staverton Park
® KQ432
Rachel Everett Bridge Weekends
31 Double Dummy Answer
West North East South
by Richard Wheen 37 Blunsdon House Hotel
1® 1♥ Pass Pass
Club Directory 34 Readers’ Letters
Bridge Events
?
maggie@mrbridge.co.uk 38 Rubber/Chicago
42 Declarer Play Answers
Bridge Events 5. Dealer West. Game All.
by David Huggett
Address Changes ♠ A2
39 Denham Grove
( 01483 485342 43 Bernard Magee says
Bridge Weekends
♥ KQ6
Ruff as High © AJ65
as you can Afford 40 Global Travel Insurance ® 8432
All correspondence should
be addressed to Mr Bridge. 44 Julian Pottage says 48 Mediterranean Cruise West North East South
Please make sure that all Quality Counts on board Discovery 1NT Pass 2©1 Pass
letters, e-mails and faxes 2♥ Pass 2NT Pass
carry full postal addresses ?
and telephone numbers. The views expressed in this publication are not
1
necessarily those of the publisher or its Managing Editor. Transfer (showing 5+ hearts)

Page 3

AT THE
ROYAL KENZ
TUNISIA 2009
Two-week
Half-board
Duplicate
Holidays
1-15 November £699*
Tony & Jan Richards
15-29 November £749*
Bernard Magee
29 Nov-13 Dec £699*
Crombie McNeil
*per person half-board sharing a
twin-bedded room and is
inclusive of bridge fees. Single
supplement £5 per night. These
prices are based on air travel
from Gatwick to Monastir.
Flights from other UK airports
are available at a supplement.
All prices are firm until 31
January 2009. Prices for seven-
night stays are available on
application.
Pay £70 per fortnight per
person extra and have a pool-
facing room, tea & coffee
making facilities, bath robe
and a bowl of seasonal fruit.
These holidays have been organised for
by Tunisia First Limited, ATOL
5933, working in association with Thomas
Cook Tour Operations Limited, ATOL 1179.
DETAILS & BOOKINGS
( 01483 489961
BIRTHDAY CRUISE
Ï are successful. The current
Readers will no doubt be
delighted to learn that my
birthday cruise was a great
success. Having looked
forward to it for so long, it
could have easily turned into
a huge anti-climax, but I am
already looking forward to
next year. Malaysia to the
Maldives, see front cover
and page 2. Very different.
BORING
While away, I realised that
those browsing these
columns must be tired of
reading that QPlus is the
very best Acol-playing
software on the market, and
that it has the best user
interface, whatever that is.
It is also user-friendly and
has a useful support line.
( 01483 485345.
REMEDY
Knowing how you all like
competitions, I have decided
that the best way to make my
marketing more interesting,
and ask those of you out
there who are currently
enjoying using QPlus to write
in and tell me what makes
the software so good for you.
Please, no exaggeration or
false claims, just the truth. A
weekend for two at any one
of our bridge event venues
for every published letter.
Entries close 30 June 2009.
PERVERSE
It would appear the agency
that governs financial
services requires me to make
it plain that I do not endorse
any of Global Travel’s
policies. Make up your own
mind about travel insurance.
Page 4
SUCCESS
Re-organisations can be
quite traumatic even if they
trade-in offer for QPlus is a
good example.
I now have lots of second-
hand QPlus series 8. While
stocks last, I will send a
copy to buyers of any one of
the Bernard Magee tutorials,
COMPLETELY FREE.
Please tell your friends about
this offer and help me to
make it another great success.
J UST DUPLICATES
These events continue the
success of last year’s Gentle
Duplicates. They will,
however, be split into two
sections, social but
competitive and gentle.
In this way, we should be
able to suit almost everyone.
£150 covers full board (all
meals and accommodation)
as well as six duplicate
sessions. Please make
payment in full, at the time
of booking, by cheque or
debit card.
DENHAM
Denham Grove is an
excellent Conference Centre
in Uxbridge. Close to
London, yet set in forty acres
of rolling Buckinghamshire
countryside, it has all the
facilities needed for
successful bridge weekends.
In addition to many regular
tutorial events with
supervised play, we will be
hosting Just Duplicate and
Gentle Duplicate parties on
the same dates.
There are ground and first
floor bedrooms, with the
restaurant and bridge rooms
all nearby. Be assured, there
are no long indoor walks nor
maps needed at this venue.
NAGGING AGAIN
On the facing page is space
for those of you who have
yet to re-register. There are
also slots for your bridge
club or teachers details for
inclusion in the forthcoming
directory. Please use the
comments box to raise issues
you would like discussed in
this publication and please
mention Mr Bridge when
talking to our advertisers.
POSTAGE SAVINGS
Even after Christmas, postal
savings are always welcome.
Please support Clive Goff’s
unusual service.
( 0208 4224906
clive.goff@londonrugby.com
Unused postage stamps with
full gum at a discount.
2010 DIARIES
Send £5.95 now and receive
a 2009 diary now. 2010 will
be sent as soon as it is ready.
SKY ARTS 2
In the centrefold of this
issue, Bernard Magee tells
us about an imminent
television programme. He is
confident it will excite
people sufficiently to want
to learn to play.
Do encourage your non-
bridge playing friends to
watch and please watch it
yourself and let me know
what you think. Feedback
really is important.
ERIC HILL
The success he enjoyed in
the Christmas issue of
BRIDGE, has prompted him
to take a full page advert, see
page 8. Please mention
Mr Bridge when you write
or ring to place an order.
 If you have not contacted us in the last two years, please
✄
enter your details in the box below to re-register:

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Please complete all or part this form and return to

, Ryden Grange, Knaphill, Surrey, GU21 2TH.
✄

BR94
 ( 01483 489961 TUTORIAL
PLAY SOFTWARE
QPlus 9.1 £80.00 .......
SOFTWARE
Trade-in any previous QPlus
Book & Disk and just send ONLY £32.00 .......
with Bernard Magee
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QPlus 7.8 (second hand) £32.00 ....... ACOL BIDDING DECLARER PLAY
TUTORIAL SOFTWARE l Opening Bids and l Suit Establishment
Acol Bidding £60.00 ....... Responses in No-trumps
More Acol Bidding £90.00 .......
l Slams and Strong l Suit Establishment in
Declarer Play £70.00 .......
Openings Suits
Advanced Declarer Play £75.00 .......
l Support for Partner l Hold-ups
BOOKS
Duplicate Bridge Rules Simplified £5.95 .......
£70
l Pre-empting l Ruffing for
Club Offer 10 for only £35.00 ....... Extra Tricks
Hand Evaluation £14.00 ....... l Overcalls
£60 l Entries in No-trumps
2009 DIARIES / 2010 DIARIES l No-trump
Send £5.95 now and receive 2009 diary now. Openings l Delaying
2010 will be sent as soon as they are ready. and Responses Drawing Trumps
Standard
l Opener’s and l Using the Lead
Ivory ..... Maroon ..... Cambridge Blue .....
Responder’s Rebids
Navy ..... Green ..... Tan ..... £5.95 ....... l Trump Control
Club Offer 10 for only £35.00 ....... l Minors and Misfits
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(Spade,
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Club) l Basics l Making Overtricks
in No-trumps
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l Defence to Weak l Avoidance
£75
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Twos
Life’s a game, but bridge is serious £5.95 ....... l Wrong Contract
Recipe for a happy marriage £5.95 ....... l Defence to 1NT
l Simple Squeezes
All prices are fully inclusive. I enclose a cheque for £.............
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, Ryden Grange, Knaphill, Surrey GU21 2TH.
www.mrbridge.co.uk
System Requirements: Windows XP or Vista, 8mb RAM, CD-ROM
 CLUB INSURANCE
Moore Stephens offer
insurance for clubs needing
cover from April.
Their Bridge Club Insurance
scheme runs for 12 months
from 1st November each
year. Those Bridge Clubs
who would like to join the
scheme in April will pay
just £39.30 until 31st
October provided they have
less than 100 members and
meet no more than twice per
week. The charge is based
on an annual premium for
this year of £63.50.
Provided the membership
and meeting numbers and
the standard cover is
sufficient for your bridge
club, please complete the
form on my web site and
send it to them with a
cheque for £39.30. For clubs
with more than 100
members or meeting more
than twice weekly, call
Moore Stephens on
( 020 7515 5270.
BERNARD’S EXTRA
In addition to his short
cruise on Discovery from
Harwich to the Riviera,
seven nights from £549 pp,
Bernard has found time to
host a two-week cruise. It
leaves 19 July on a round
trip from Harwich up to the
top of northern Russia and
back. Lots of days at sea,
means lots of bridge tuition,
lots of duplicate, just the
way lots of you like it.
REDUCE THE COST OF YOUR POSTAGE
Postage stamps for sale at 90% of face-value,
all mint with full gum. Quotations for
commercial quantities available on request.
Values supplied in 100s, higher values available as
well as 1st and 2nd class (eg 1st class: 100x35p+100x1p)
(/Fax 020 8422 4906 e-mail: clive.goff@londonrugby.com
WORTHWHILE
I am sponsoring a bridge
day out, this time in joint
support of Christians in Iraq,
who will share the proceeds
with Little Voice. Bernard
Magee will host the event
and give the seminars.
Wednesday 15 April 2009
The Jubilee Hall,
Little Shore Lane,
Bishops Waltham,
Southampton, SO32 1ED.
Reception (coffee/tea)
10.30 to 11.15
Overcalls with Ber nar d
Bufffet Lunch
12.45 to 2.15
Discards with Bernard
Tea and Cakes
approx 4pm
followed by
Any Questions
Tickets £30 per per son.
( 023 8069 4959
The entire proceeds will be
shared by Christians in Iraq
and Little Voice – two really
worthwhile causes.
USED STAMPS
Please continue collecting
the used stamps that come
to you on your post. I will
tell you what to do with
them in a later issue.
Little Voice has received
another £200 bringing the
total for 2008 to over £400.
Those coming along to
Bernard’s Day Out should
bring any they have so far
collected with them and put
them in the box provided.
Page 7
CHARITY BRIDGE EVENTS
APRIL 2009
3 CHARITY BRIDGE DRIVE
IN AID OF THE NATIONAL TRUST
Little Hallingbury Village Hall
1.30pm-4.30pm. £7 per ticket
Maggie Sheils ( 01279 758414
3 CHARITY BRIDGE SUPPER IN AID
OF RIDING FOR THE DISABLED
Tyrrells Wood Golf Club,
Leatherhead. 7pm £12.50 pp
Yvonne Warren ( 01372 375611
15 JOINT APPEAL CHRISTIANS
IN IRAQ LITTLE VOICE
Bishop Waltham 11am–5pm
includes buffet lunch and two
seminars from Bernard Magee
£30 per person.
Margaret Cochrane
( 023 8069 4959
15 FRIENDS OF HITCHAM CHURCH
Hitcham Village Hall
2.15 for 2.30pm. Chicago.
£8pp which includes tea.
Marie Bull ( 01449 740358
Christopher Rivington
( 01449 740078
18 SWINDON CARES BRIDGE DRIVE
Arkells Brewery Swindon. £15pp.
Lunch at the Kingsdown Inn,
Margaret Bracher
( 01793 823026
22 PRINCESS ALICE HOSPICE
Dryburgh Hall, Putney.
10.30am for 11am £62
per table, including lunch.
Pam Turner ( 020 8995 2270
24 HOLYWELL CHURCH
Village Hall, Hemingford Abbots
10am for 10.30am £13.50.
Pauline Baily ( 01480 462879
26 HOSPISCARE
Exeter Golf & Country Club.
11am. Swiss Teams. Includes
salad platter, tea, coffee
& biscuits. £48 per team.
Carol Horgan ( 01392 875513
MAY 2009
1 CHESHIRE HOMES
Village Hall, Hartford, Hunts,
10am for 10.30am. £13.50.
Malcolm Howarth
( 01480 212910
8 CHARITY BRIDGE AT KIMBOLTON
To be advised.
27 DUPLICATE OR CHICAGO IN AID
OF TAPPING HOUSE HOSPICE
Town Hall Downham Market.
1.30-5pm, afternoon tea £5 pp.
Ann Taylor ( 01366 388408
Pat Roberts ( 01366 382947
29 RFET. Hunts & Fens Regional
College, Huntingdon.
10am for 10.30am. £13.50.
Malcolm Howarth
( 01480 212910
30 CHARITY BRIDGE NIGHT
IN AID OF MACMILLAN NURSES
Harold Wood Neighbourhood
Centre. 6pm for 6.30pm £10pp
includes fish/chicken & chips.
Ron Lockhart ( 01708 523513
JUNE 2009
12-14 SWANSEA BRIDGE CONGRESS
IN AID OF ALZHEIMER’S SOCIETY
Swansea Bridge Club.
Pairs Fri & Sat. Swiss Teams Sun.
Diana Panniers( 01792 297081
19 ST MARY’S CHURCH
EATON SOCON, ST NEOTS.
10am for 10.30am. £13.00.
Malcolm Howarth
( 01480 212910
JULY 2009
16 SAMARITANS CHESTER BRANCH
Annual Bridge Drive and tea.
Mollie McBride ( 01244 675108
SEPTEMBER 2009
2 GYDA. Corn Exchange, Faringdon,
Oxon. 10.30am for 11am-4pm.
£15 includes lunch.
Steve Braithwaite
( 01367 240929
18 ST MARY’S CHURCH, EATON
SOCON, ST NEOTS
10am for 10.30am. £13.00.
Malcolm Howarth
( 01480 212910
30 PRINCESS ALICE HOSPICE
Dryburgh Hall, Putney.
10.30am for 11am.
£62 per table, including lunch
Pam Turner ( 020 8995 2270
OCTOBER 2009
3 RNLI. Cheltenham Bridge Club
11am-4pm. £14pp includes lunch.
Margaret Beverley
( 01242 510193
9 RIDING FOR THE DISABLED
WOODHUST GROUP
Hemingford Abbots Village Hall.
2-5pm includes afternoon tea.
Sally Pinnock ( 01223 874508
23 CHESHIRE HOMES
Village Hall, Hartford, Hunts.
10am for 10.30am. £13.50.
Malcolm Howarth
( 01480 212910
Page 8
 ANSWERS TO THE BIDDING QUIZ ON
PAGE 3 by BERNARD MAGEE
1. Dealer West. Love All.
♠ A K Q 10 ♠ J7
♥ 5 N ♥ AK42
W E
© Q43 S
© 9876
® Q9854 ® J 10 3
West North East South
? than 2© or 2♥ because it leaves more room for
1®. An easy question to start with, which you
should have come across in your first lesson
on bidding: length is strength. You do not
necessarily open your strongest suit, but you
do open your longest suit. The reasoning is
simple: the more trumps you have the more
control you have. Playing with spades as
trumps on this hand would require you to play
them all out to draw the opponents trumps,
leaving you wide open to attack with no
‘trump control’. In clubs, you can knock out
the high trumps and remain in control –
making your four spade tricks after drawing
trumps. It is no good changing your mind
later in the bidding: if you start with spades
and go back to clubs, you will be promising
five cards in the first suit (spades). You must
open 1® and plan to rebid 1♠. The complete
auction might be: 1®-1♥-1♠-2®.
2. Dealer East. Love All.
♠ 7 ♠ KQ852
N a finesse. The only problem is that, if he has no
♥ KQ32 W E
♥ AJ4
© KQ86 S © A2
® AQ94 ® K 10 2
West North East South
1♠ Pass
? 2♥
2®. There are two main types of hand with
which you should make a jump-shift
response to an opening suit bid:
(i) a hand with 16+ points and a strong six-
card suit; (ii) a game-going hand with support
for partner’s suit and a strong five-card suit.
Your hand fits neither of these descriptions
and so you should make a simple response;
do not forget that your partner cannot pass a
change of suit, so you will get another bid.
The problem with jumping with a hand like
this is that you take up a lot of bidding space
before you know which suit you want to play
in – you lose the accuracy of the auction. Over
a jump shift (e.g. 3®), a no-trump bid from
opener could be ambiguous, but over a
simple response of 2®, 2NT from opener
shows a strong balanced hand (minimum 15
points). Now you can bid your hand
accurately, by inviting slam in no-trumps:
using a quantitative 4NT. Since partner has a
maximum, he will go on to 6NT. The complete
auction is: 1♠-2®-2NT-4NT-6NT. 2® is better
partner to show a second suit if he has one.
3. Dealer West. Love All.
♠ K Q 10 6 5 ♠ A982
♥ 3 N ♥ J764
W E
© KJ S © A843
® AK764 ® 2
West North East South
1♠ Pass 3♠ Pass
? game, but aiming to find the best contract. If
4®. After your 1♠ opening, your partner has
raised to 3♠. What is that likely to show? It
should be about 10-12 points with four-card
spade support. Adding these points to yours,
game is surely on – remember your two five-
card suits and the singleton. In fact, I think
there might be a chance of more than a game.
Give your partner two aces and surely slam is
quite likely – if not a certainty then, at least, on
aces at all, we might not be able to make more
than 4♠; so ideally we would like to make a
slam-try without bidding 4NT. 4® is the answer,
but it is not Gerber: it is a cue-bid, showing the
ace of clubs. Now, if partner is suitable, he will
show an ace of his own; if he does not have an
ace in either of the red suits, he would bid 4♠
and we would stop safely in 4♠.
Here, he would bid 4© and that is enough to
send you to Blackwood – the final auction
being: 1♠-3♠-4®-4©-4NT-5♥-6♠. It was
unlikely that 5♠ would go down, but it is better
to be safe – using cue-bids to keep the
auction low and then using Blackwood is a
clever tactic.
4. Dealer West. Game All.
♠ AJ7 ♠ 9842
N
♥ AK2 W E
♥ 43
© Q3 S © J9654
® KQ432 ® J 10
Page 9
West North East South
1® 1♥ Pass Pass
?
1NT. Your intended rebid was 2NT and, in fact,
some of you would want to rebid 3NT (in old-
fashioned Acol, the 3NT rebid shows 19 points).
However, this is not a normal rebid here
because your partner has not responded; he
might have no points at all. This is so important,
because your whole system of rebids revolves
around the fact that your partner shows 6+
points by responding. If your partner has just 1
or 2 points, as here, it is certainly not safe to
rebid too high; if you are not cautious, you
might find yourself doubled and down. When
your partner has passed and you get a second
bid, courtesy of an overcall, then any no-trump
bid by you shows great strength – enough to
play no-trumps opposite 0 to 5 points. With
15-16 points you would pass, but with 17-19 you
should rebid 1NT: not expecting any chance of
your partner does have 6 points, he can raise
you; more often than not, he will be very weak
and you will be glad to be in just 1NT. You should
scrape home in 1NT for a great score (or even
2© if East makes a weak take-out). Meanwhile
2NT and 3NT will score badly and, if doubled,
they may score very badly indeed.
5. Dealer West. Game All.
♠ A2 ♠ 543
♥ KQ6 N ♥ J 10 9 7 4
W E
© AJ65 S © KQ2
® 8432 ® AJ
West North East South
1NT Pass 2©1 Pass
Pass 2NT Pass
? 1
Transfer (showing 5+ hearts)
4♥. Your partner has shown five hearts and
then rebid 2NT – this shows an invitational
hand 10-12 points. You need to consider two
questions: (1) Do you want to play in game –
or, put another way – do you have a
maximum hand? (2) Do you want to play in
hearts or no-trumps? You have 14 points with
a little shape so you should certainly go for
game; with excellent heart support alongside
a doubleton, you should choose hearts; this
all means that the correct bid is a jump to 4♥.
There are ten easy winners in 4♥, so you
should score +620; meanwhile, in 3NT, a
spade lead would probably defeat you. ■

his maxim is a real golden oldie:
T Against no-trumps especially,
lead the fourth highest card from
your longest and strongest suit. Like
other maxims, you need to understand it
rather than just adhere to it slavishly.
In the layouts below, please assume
that the contract is 3NT and that you
want to lead from the longest suit with
some honour cards.
I shall examine each of the three
components of this maxim in turn.
1 Why should you lead a
low card rather than
an honour?
If you lead a low card, you are usually
hoping that partner has an honour. If
he can, he will play ‘third hand high’
and return your suit.
Layout A
♠ 852
N
♠ KJ643 W E ♠ Q9
S
♠ A 10 7
In layout A, West leads the four and East
plays the queen. The defenders will
persevere with spades to knock out the
ace and set up four tricks in the suit.
Layout B
♠ 852
N
♠ KJ643 W E ♠ 97
S the ace and queen.
♠ A Q 10
The downside comes when partner has
Andrew Kambites Says
Lead the
Fourth Highest of Your
Longest and Strongest
nothing in the suit. In layout B, West’s
four lead gives away a trick. Still, the
trick may come back with interest if East
gains the lead and returns a spade,
setting up three spade tricks for West.
2 If you lead a low
card, why should it be
precisely your fourth
highest?
The answer is that it gives partner
useful information.
In deal C, North has raised South’s 1NT
opening to 3NT.
Deal C
♠ Q76
♥ 643
© KQJ
® KQ52
♠ A5
N
♠2 led W E ♥ J 10 9 8
S © 852
® 10 9 4 3
West leads the two of spades. Dummy
plays the six and you win with the ace.
Do you return spades or switch to the
inviting jack of hearts?
The two of spades tells you that
partner started with exactly four spades
– he cannot have any more than four if
his fourth highest is the two. This means
that South has four spades also. It seems
that there is little future in spades, so
your best chance is to switch to the jack
of hearts. If you are lucky, declarer will
have the king and your partner will have
Suppose the lead had been the three of
spades instead of the two. The decision
now would not be so clear-cut. To find
out how many spades your partner
started with, you would look closely for
Page 10
the two. If declarer plays it at trick one
under your ace, then you know partner
started with exactly four spades. If the
two is missing, then maybe partner
started with five spades and it would be
sensible to return his suit. Note that, if
partner has the two of spades, he will try
to play it as soon as is reasonably
possible to clear up how many spades he
started with.
3 Why should you lead
your longest suit
against no-trumps?
You lead your longest suit because it
has the potential to set up more tricks.
In our next example, North has again
raised South’s 1NT opening to 3NT. You
hold:
♠ Q 10 4 3 2
♥ Q 10 4 3
© A4
® 65
Suppose you lead a spade and it turns
out well. Partner wins with the ace and
returns the six. The spade layout is as
follows:
♠ 987
N
♠ Q 10 4 3 2 W E ♠ A6
S
♠ KJ5
You take four spade tricks and the ace of
diamonds, enough to defeat 3NT.
Now suppose you lead a heart and it
works well. Partner wins with the ace and
returns the six. The heart layout is:
 Lead the Fourth Highest continued West leads the eight of spades and
dummy plays the king, taken by your
ace, as declarer follows with the two.
Could the eight be fourth highest?
If you apply the rule of eleven you
♥ 987 Layout F might conclude that partner has all the
♠ J5 spades bigger than the eight, However,
N
♥ Q 10 4 3 W E ♥ A62 the rule of eleven applies only if the lead
S N
♠ K Q 10 4 3 W E ♠ 862 is a fourth highest and you should not
S assume that it is. If the eight is a fourth
♥ KJ5 highest then your partner has led from
♠ A97 ♠Q-J-9-8 – unlikely as he would have
led the queen from this holding.
The defenders take only three heart tricks In fact, partner has led second highest
and a diamond – not enough. In layout F, West leads the king and then from ♠9-8-5-4-3. Declarer has two
the queen to squash the jack, and the ten spade stoppers and your best chance of
4 Why lead your becomes good. defeating 3NT will be to switch to your
strongest suit? queen of hearts.
You can often get some idea of the
Take layouts D and E below. Each time Layout G type of a lead just by looking at its size.
you find partner with the queen of your ♠ 10 8 6 In general, the lead of a low card
suit, but the outcome is very different. suggests a fourth highest card headed by
N
♠ KQ543 W E ♠ J2 at least one honour. The lead of a high
S spot card (e.g. an eight) suggests a suit
Layout D without an honour. To interpret the
© 10 9 5 ♠ A97 significance of a five or six you need to
examine carefully which other cards you
N
© KJ432 W E © Q6 can see. The more cards you can see
S In layout G, leading the king is very higher than the card led, the more likely
unlikely to squash all the intermediate it is to be a second-highest lead from a
© A87 spades. West leads a fourth highest four bad suit.
in order to avoid blocking the suit. Does fourth highest of your longest
The difference between layouts F and and strongest apply in suit contracts? It
In layout D, you lead the three and G is instructive. In F, you might not need can, though now you do not expect to set
partner plays the queen. Declarer has partner’s help so you try to do the job (of up and cash long cards. Normally you
only one diamond stopper and, if you knocking out the ace) yourself. In layout are just trying to set up one or two high
have an outside entry, you will take four G, with two honours rather than three, card tricks before declarer can discard
diamond tricks to defeat 3NT. you do need help. By leading a low card, them on another suit.
you are trying to play the high card from
the shorter holding first.
Layout E A second exception to leading fourth Layout J
® K 10 9 highest comes if you lead from a bad ♠ 865
suit. Suppose you lead from a suit
N N
® J6432 W E
® Q5 without any picture card (jack or ♠ Q 10 4 3 W E ♠ K72
S
higher). Partner will want to know this S

when deciding whether to return your

® A87
In layout E, you lead the three and partner
plays the queen. Declarer has three club
stoppers. Your lead has given declarer an
extra trick and is unlikely ever to set up
winners for your side.
5 When do you not lead
fourth highest?
With a sequence of touching honours, if
leading high gives a real chance of
squashing any missing high cards even
if partner has nothing, lead the honour.
suit. It is sensible to lead the second ♠ AJ9
highest card from a suit without a
picture. Consider deal H. South’s 1NT
has been raised to 3NT. You lead the three of spades in layout J;
partner can put up the king and set up
two tricks for you if he gains the lead.
Deal H You need to be aware that leading
♠ K6 away from any honour carries risk, and
♥ 943 that the potential gains against a suit
© AQ32 contract tend to be less than against no-
® A432 trumps. Why is this? If you succeed in
♠ A 10 setting up length winners, declarer can
♠8 led N ♥ Q J 10 8 probably just trump them.
W E
S
© 765 Overall, you tend to defend more
® 10 8 6 5 passively against a suit contract than no-
trumps, not leading away from aces. ■

Page 11

Q
On board one, the
cards were
transposed North
for South and East for
West, presumably because
the board was back to
front on the table when
the cards were last
replaced. The players at
the next table detected
this, when they checked
their curtain cards. They
could not play the board
as the players had seen
their partner’s cards. How
do you score the second
table and should the
director penalise just
North-South at first table
as North is responsible for
the boards?
Maggie Demuth by e-mail.
A
The primary
responsibility may
be North’s, but
everyone is responsible for
their own hand. While it is
rare to penalise people
playing in clubs, you should
do so when their infraction
means a table cannot play a
board. So I would penalise
both sides 10% of a top at
the original table.
Incidentally, the way the
transposition happens is that
they have taken the board
off the table. I would have a
word with them about this.
The board must stay on the
table. If the table is very
small or if declarer has
eyesight problems, it is
DAVID STEVENSON answers questions on Bridge Laws
Cards
Transposed
in a Board
permissible to put it
somewhere else on the table
apart from the centre, e.g.
under a bidding box, but
never remove it from the
table nor rotate it.
At the second table, you
award average plus to both
sides because they could
not play the board through
no fault of their own. In
other words, you usually
just give them 60% on
the board.
®©♥♠
Q
The following
happened at a
table at my
local club.
West North East South
2©1 Pass 2♥2 Pass
3© 3
Pass Pass4 Pass
Pass 5
Dbl End
1
17-20 points and a 4441 shape.
2
Relay, asking for the singleton.
3
Singleton diamond.
4
Originally East put down 2NT.
South did not accept the bid.
Director explained the options
and East changed the call to a
pass.
5
Believing he had to keep
passing. It is the fourth pass.
Declarer managed to get
out for one down in 3©
doubled with a singleton
king of trumps facing
A-x-x-x but -200
vulnerable was a bottom.
Page 14
I think he would have been
down whatever the lead.
The director ruled the
result should stand.
Mr Provan, Frazerburgh.
A
The last pass and
the last double are
cancelled. The first
time South is on lead
declarer may pick a suit
and forbid South from
leading it for as long as
he retains the lead.
This is just a ‘book’ ruling
and I find it hard to believe
that the director did not read
direct from his law book in
a situation as rare as this.
®©♥♠
Q
I understand that
players should bid
in tempo.
However, can a player
stop to think about his bid
for some time? While I
realise it is wrong if
partner takes
unauthorised information
from the delay, if partner’s
hand supports his
subsequent action then am
I right that nothing
improper has happened?
Stephen Hanslip,
Wakefield Bridge Club.
A
You are quite
correct – thinking
about your bid is
perfectly acceptable. True,
it does provide unauthorised
information to partner, but
he will just have to deal
with it, bending over
backwards to take no
advantage.
Of course, bridge is a
timed mind sport, so a delay
is only acceptable if within
reason. For example, I
would expect to penalise a
player in a club who took
too long, thus upsetting the
other players. In some
tournaments, time penalties
have actually changed the
results of matches.
®©♥♠
Q
At duplicate, why
should players
shuffle the cards
before returning them to
their board slots? Sorting
into suits would be more
helpful for the next table.
Steve Parr, Portstewart,
Northern Ireland by e-mail.
A
The law-makers
decided that any
contact between
tables was a poor idea and
felt any distribution of hands
apart from a randomisation,
i.e. a shuffle, was not a
good idea.
E-mail your questions
on bridge laws to:
davidstevenson@
mrbridge.co.uk.

Ask David continued
Q
My partner in
3NT had won a
trick in dummy
and said ‘run the
diamonds.’ The defenders
said that as he had not said
‘from the top’, I (dummy)
should play the lowest
diamond next. We called
the director, who
confirmed this. The
contract duly went down.
Was the ruling correct?
Gordon Southgate,
Gravesend.
A
In general, it is
difficult to say a
director is wrong
when he gives a judgement
ruling. Nevertheless, it
sounds as if he was wrong.
When you make an
incomplete designation, such
as saying ‘spade’ instead of
‘ace of spades’, there are
rules for which card is
played. If you name a suit
but not a rank, the lowest
card is deemed played
‘unless declarer’s different
intention is incontrovertible’.
However, when he is running
a long suit and he calls for
that suit, most directors
would say that his intention
is incontrovertibly to play
the top one first. Whether his
intention is incontrovertible
is a judgement decision.
This case seems a little
different from that. ‘Run the
diamonds’ is a clear
instruction (though the law-
makers do not like it and
have said so). So long as this
was what declarer said, the
director was wrong: ‘Run
the diamonds’ is always
understood to mean from
the top.
®©™´
Q
After the auction
below, my partner
and I considered
our cards and the bidding:
Q PLUS 9.1
West North East South
1© Double 2©
3® Pass 4® Pass
5® End
At this point, East had
bidding cards of 1® and The very best
4® in front of him. On the
strength of this, forgetting
Acol-playing Software available
North’s 1© and East’s now
invisible double, we
concluded that it was my
lead (South). I led, face
down, and my partner said
‘No questions’; I then
faced the opening lead.
Our opponents then
claimed an ‘opening lead
out of turn’, which the
director confirmed.
Two questions arise:
1. Are we expected to
remember the bidding? FEATURES
2. Can opponents who put
away their bidding cards l The Usual Friendly Interface (see above)
before the opening lead
ever claim an ‘opening l Hint and Help Buttons – always at hand
lead out of turn’?
John Barley, Norwich. l Easy Windows Installation
l Comprehensive Manual
A
1. No, not until the
opening lead is face l Rubber, Duplicate and Teams Scoring
up. Bidding cards
should always stay on the l Instant results playing in teams mode
table until the opening lead
is face up. You could always l 2,500 pre-played hands for teams
ask for a review, or even
l 2,000 pre-played hands for
demand they put the cards
match-pointed pairs including 1,000 new hands
out again.
2. Every case depends on its W Check your pairs percentage and ranking
NE
merits. Generally, if you lead
out of turn, it is your fault. W Systems include: several versions of Acol, including
NE
However, in the actual case, Bernard Magee’s system, Standard American or
if the 1® bid was showing, create your own.
the director would not
usually treat this as a lead SYSTEM
out of turn.
You might ask your l 8mb RAM
director if he can remind the l CD-ROM
pair concerned of the correct
procedure. n l
l
Pentium or
equivalent
Windows XP or Vista
£80 including postage
David Stevenson answers
all queries based on the
facts supplied. Neither
Make your cheque payable to
Mr Bridge nor David
and send to: Ryden Grange,
Stevenson has any way of
Knaphill, Surrey GU21 2TH
knowing whether those
facts are correct or ( 01483 489961
complete. www.mrbridge.co.uk/mrbridge-shop
Page 15

Q
Playing Stayman,
transfers and
Gerber, my
partner opens 1NT (12-14).
What should I bid with:
´ Void
™ AKJ7
© A8
® Q J 10 9 6 4 3
Chris Dicker, Tavistock.
A
You say that you
play transfers. I
assume you mean
red-suit transfers (for the
majors only). Playing four-
suit transfers, you could start
with 2´ to show clubs. With
four-suit transfers, it is
normal to play that the next
bid up denies support (one of
the top three honours) while
completion of the transfer
promises support (or vice
versa). That would tell you
whether partner had a fitting
club honour.
With standard methods,
you could start with 3®,
planning to rebid 4® if
partner makes a discouraging
rebid such as 3NT. After the
natural club bid, 4® would
not be Gerber.
To be honest, a direct leap
to 6® over 1NT has
something to commend it. It
would be unlucky if partner
had neither the ace nor the
king of clubs. Indeed, I ran a
Stayman
and
Transfers
quick computer simulation,
which suggested that 6®
makes about 90% of the
time facing 12-14 balanced.
®©™´
Q
What do you
think of using
Stayman and
transfers in this sequence?
West North East South
1NT Dbl Pass ? Stayman over 1NT, opener
Ian Brebner, by e-mail
A
Letting doubler’s
partner use
Stayman and
transfers is rare, for good
reason.
(i) The doubler has not
shown a balanced hand –
although North might have
a strong no-trump opener,
an unbalanced hand is
possible. If partner opens
1NT, it is right that
responder is captain – you
know far more about
partner’s hand than partner
does about yours. This is
not the case when partner
doubles a 1NT opening. You
know the minimum strength
(15 points), but that is just
about all you know.
(ii) You rarely need to have
a constructive sequence (if
you have a good hand, you
defend 1NT doubled).
Stayman especially and
transfers to an extent have
maximum value in a
Page 16
Ask Julian Pottage
constructive sequence.
Although a transfer would
conceal the doubler’s hand,
it relieves the 1NT opener
from making the opening
lead, so it is just swings and
roundabouts on that front.
®©™´
Q
Some at our club
play that, if
responder uses
rebids 2NT with 4-4 in the
majors. I am not keen on
the idea myself. What do
think of it?
Mr Woodward, by e-mail
A
The disadvantage
of allowing opener
to rebid 2NT when
holding four cards in each
major is that responder
cannot really use Stayman
on a weak hand. I cannot
see any advantage to
playing the 2NT option, so I
agree with you that it is
better not to play it. The
better way to show 4-4 in
the majors is to rebid 2™
and then, unless partner
raises hearts, show the
spades next time. It is quite
safe bidding 4´ after a
sequence like 1NT-2®-2™-
3NT – responder must have
four spades to have used
Stayman.
If you play that 1NT-2®-
2™-2NT does not promise
four spades (because you
play non-promissory
Stayman), again there is a
better solution. The thing to
do is to play that after 1NT-
2®-2™, 2´ by responder
shows four spades and 2NT
denies four spades. In all
cases, opener has no need to
bid 2NT over 2®.
®©™´
Q
My cousin in
Australia tells me
that he and his
partners play American
Acol or Precision. What
are the differences?
Christine Marquina,
Nottingham.
A
Yes, Acol as played
in Australia differs
from what you are
likely to be familiar with in
the UK. It has much in
common with Standard
American (15-17 1NT and
mainly 5-card majors),
hence the composite name,
American Acol.
Precision in Australia is,
I imagine, the same as
Precision over here and
elsewhere in the world. The
basics are: 1® strong (16+)
and artificial with 1©
negative, 1© 11-15, 2+
diamonds, 1™/1´ five-card
suit 11-15, 1NT 13-15, 2®
11-15 6 clubs or 5 clubs and
a 4-card major, 2© 11-15
3-suiter short in diamonds,
2™/2´ weak.

Ask Julian continued
Q
1. My partner
opens 1´ and the
next hand passes.
What should I bid with
four points and a 2-7-2-2
shape?
2. As West, I have 13
points, five clubs, four
spades and one diamond.  have bid on the
West North East South
1©
2® Pass Pass 2©
2´ Pass 3™ End
3™ went down. I thought I
was asking for preference,
but my partner said that
my 2´ was forcing,
obliging her to bid. Is
this correct?
Shirley Rose,
Camberley, Surrey.
A A
1. With only four
points, you ought to
pass. If there is any
further bidding, you can
bid your hearts without fear
that partner will put you
with more values than you
have.
2. With a 4-3-1-5 shape and
1© opened on your right, it
is usually better to double
than to bid 2®. Your hand is
playable in three suits. Only
if all the strength is in the
black suits and the clubs are
good, for example ´K-J-x-x
and ®A-K-Q-x-x, would I
consider a 2® overcall.
Even then, I think you
should double on the second
round rather than bid 2´ and
this would still be for
takeout as your partner has
not bid.
In your actual sequence,
2´ is not forcing. Bids are
rarely forcing when only
one member of the
partnership has bid.
With your undisclosed
3-card heart support, it
sounds as if hearts was the
best trump suit – but
perhaps you should have
been in 2™ rather than 3™.
Presumably you would have
reached 2™ if you had
doubled at either your first
or second turn. Whether the
opponents would have let
you play there or competed
to 3© is another matter.
®©™´
Q
What should I
hand below after
the hand on my right
opened 1´? I bid 2´ and
we ended up in 5®,
making all thirteen tricks.
´ Void
™ A74
© AQ4
® AKQJ753
Tilly Howard, Edgware.
If you play 2´ the
old-fashioned way,
showing a very
strong hand, it seems fair.
The snag is that, if partner
bids 3© or 3™, you will be
unable to show the club suit
below the four level.
These days many play 2´
as showing a two-suited
hand, ruling out that option.
What else can you bid? The
hand is too strong to bid 3®
(even if you play that as
strong) or for a pre-emptive
5®. You could try 3´, asking
partner to bid 3NT if holding
a spade stopper. You risk
missing a slam, yes, but you
would not expect partner to
have many values given the
opening bid on your right. If
you do not bid 3´, you start
with a double. Most likely,
you will bid 3® at your next
turn, though even that does
not fully express your
values. To be honest, it is a
hard hand to bid. At pairs, I
would probably overcall 3´.
At rubber bridge (when
honours count), I would be
more inclined to look for a
club contract.
Page 17
AT WYCHWOOD PARK
Weston, Crewe, Cheshire, CW2 5GP
Duplicate Weekends 2009
3-5 April (£199) 23-25 October (£199)
Leads & Defence Signals & Discards
John Wootton John Wootton
17-19 April (£215) 20-22 November (£199)
Game Tries Improvers*
Bernard Magee Stayman & Transfers
John Wootton
16-18 October (£199)
Hand Evaluation 27-29 November (£199)
Alan Lamb Doubles – Alan Lamb
*Improvers’ Weekends are aimed at the novice player
and/or those picking up the game after a long break.
© Full-board © All rooms with
en-suite facilities
© No single supplement
© Venue non-smoking
© Use of jacuzzi, sauna,
steam room and gym © Bidding quiz & two seminars
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ BOOKING FORM _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Please book me for ..... places,
Single ..... Double ..... Twin .....
at the Wychwood Park weekends of .................................
Mr/Mrs/Miss .....................................................................
Address...............................................................................
............................................................................................
Postcode ............................................................................
( ......................................................................................
Special requirements (these cannot be guaranteed,
but we will do our best to oblige)
..........................................................................................
Please send a non-returnable deposit of £50 per person per
place by cheque, payable to Mr Bridge. An invoice for the bal-
ance will be sent with your booking confirmation. On receipt of
your 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 con-
tact your own insurance broker.
, Ryden Grange, Knaphill, Surrey GU21 2TH
( 01483 489961 Fax 01483 797302
e-mail: jessica@mrbridge.co.uk
website: www.holidaybridge.com
 West North East South
Ask Julian continued
1™ Dbl Pass 1´
2® 4´ Dbl End
AT THE OLDE BARN
Q
On the last deal of 4´ doubled went four
Toll Bar Road, Marston, Lincolnshire, NG32 2HT
the night, my down vulnerable for 1100.
partner and I Clive Hutchinson, Crewe.
Duplicate Weekends 2009/10 needed to get game to

A
make rubber. We had: Double is fine but
9-11 Oct (£235) 13-15 Nov (£199) not 4´. When
Leads & Defence Hand Evaluation partner has to bid,
Bernard Magee Ray Hutchinson ´ K Q J 10 6 as here, the rule is to raise to
™ 73 a level lower than if
16-18 Oct (£199) 27-29 Nov (£199) © 86 partner’s bid were a response
Doubles Signals & Discards ® KQ83 to a one-level opening.
Alison Nicolson Ray Hutchinson
Using the losing trick count,
N
W
S
E a raise of the forced 1´ bid
30 Oct - 1 Nov (£199) 1-3 Jan (£199) thus shows the following:
Declarer Play TBA
´ A73 2´ six-loser hand
Ray Hutchinson
™ A 10 5 2 3´ five-loser hand
© K7 4´ four-loser hand
*Improvers’ Weekends are aimed at the novice player
and/or those picking up the game after a long break. ® A 10 5 2 North has a five or five and a
half loser hand (it depends
© Full-board © All rooms with
en-suite facilities upon whether you count
© No single supplement The bidding was 1´-3NT. A-J-10 as one loser or one
© Use of swimming © Room upgrades available
Our opponents said our and a half losers), so 3´ is
pool and fitness suite © Bidding quiz & two seminars bidding was poor and we the value bid. 4´ is a clear
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ BOOKING FORM _ _ _ _ _ _ _ were lucky that 3NT made. overbid.
How should we have bid?
Please book me for ..... places, Richard Smith, Hampshire.  ®©™´

A Q
Single ..... Double ..... Twin ..... 3NT, played by the Partner opens
hand with the king 1NT (12-14). The
at the Olde Barn weekends of ........................................... of diamonds, has next hand doubles.
nine certain tricks. This With one point, can I re-
Mr/Mrs/Miss ..................................................................... makes it a very good double to find the best fit?
contract! Since you ask, the Margaret Stewart,
Address............................................................................... textbook sequence is Buckhurst Hill, Essex.
1´-2®-3®-4´. By jumping
............................................................................................

to 3NT one risks missing a
better contract in a suit,
Postcode ............................................................................ possibly a slam. Had there
not been nine top tricks, 3NT
( ...................................................................................... might fail on a diamond
Special requirements (these cannot be guaranteed, lead; even so, with 15 points
but we will do our best to oblige) facing an opening bid, it is
likely to have some chance
.......................................................................................... whatever opener has.
Please send a non-returnable deposit of £50 per person per
place by cheque, payable to Mr Bridge. An invoice for the bal- ®©™´
ance will be sent with your booking confirmation. On receipt of
A
At a low level a
redouble is often a
rescue move,
sometimes called an SOS
redouble or Koch-Werner
redouble. However, after
partner opens 1NT and the
next hand doubles, a
redouble is usually for
business. If you redouble and
have not discussed the matter,
partner will assume you hold

Q
your final payment, 28 days before the event, a programme and What do you think at least 9 or 10 points (6 or 7
full details will be sent together with a map. Cancellations are of North’s bidding if 1NT was strong) – enough
not refundable. Should you require insurance, you should con- below? It is game to think your side has the
tact your own insurance broker. all and pairs. balance of power!
Even if you and your
, Ryden Grange, Knaphill, Surrey GU21 2TH partner agreed to play the
( 01483 489961 Fax 01483 797302 ´ K 10 8 2 redouble of 1NT as an
™ K5 escape mechanism, it is
e-mail: jessica@mrbridge.co.uk © A J 10 2 unwise to play it as a general
website: www.holidaybridge.com ® AQ7 rescue. You can hardly have
support for all four suits.

Page 18

Ask Julian continued
Q
A new partner has
suggested playing
a discard system
whereby a message is
passed depending on
whether the discard is an
odd or an even card. Please
can you explain?
Betty Anne Henderson,
Woodcote, Oxfordshire.
you do not want the suit
after all. 
The other method I know
is DODD discards. These DECLARER
are easier to remember but
rather less popular. They
are similar, but now even
PLAY
QUIZ
cards encourage and odd
cards are off-putting
(discouraging).
The way I know DODD
discards, there is no suit- by David Huggett
preference element – the odd
(Answers on page 42)
cards ask for the other suit
of the same colour.

A
I know of two For more details, see
ou are South as declarer playing teams or rubber bridge.
methods of this
type.
www.mrbridge.co.uk/library/
Suit_preference_discards.pdf Y In each case, what is your play strategy?
With odd even discards,
the discard of an odd card ®©™´
(3, 5 etc) encourages the suit 1. 3.

Q
discarded, while the discard In a friendly ´ KQ74 ´ 762
of an even card (2, 8 etc) rubber game, I ™ A6 ™ K76
discourages that suit but was dealer and © 10 9 6 3 © 82
shows suit preference when I looked at my hand ® A75 ® A9864
between the other two. For was amazed to see that all N N
example, on a spade lead, the cards were in the exact W E W
S
E
S
the three of hearts (an odd position I would have
card) asks for hearts, the two placed them myself. ´ A3 ´ KQ3
of hearts (even and low) asks I had spades on the left, ™ Q43 ™ AQ8
for clubs while the eight of followed by hearts, clubs © AQJ74 © AK63
hearts (even and high) asks and finishing with ® J93 ® Q J 10
for diamonds. diamonds, all going down
If you have the right from the highest to the
cards, odd even discards lowest. How do I work out West North East South You open 2NT and North
work well. The main the odds for this? Pass 1NT raises to 3NT. West leads
advantage is that if (as often Name and address supplied. Pass 2® Pass 2© the ´5 and East follows
happens) you can only Pass 3NT End with the ´10. How do you
plan the play?

A
afford to discard one suit, The chance that the
West leads the ®6. What
you have a way of asking for first card you pick
is your plan?
any suit. What is the down- up is the card you
side? You do not always would place first is 1 in 13,
have the right cards! If, in the chance the second is 1 2. 4.
my example, you had Q-10- in 12 and so on. The chance ´ K73 ´ AJ6
8-5-3 of hearts, you would they are all the same place is ™ AQ82 ™ A2
not be able to ask for a club thus 1 in 13*12*11...3*2*1 © A76 © J 10 9 6 5
by discarding a heart. Indeed (13!) or 1 in 6,227,020,800. ® 864 ® K73
(if you could spare only a By the way, I recommend
N N
heart), you could find that you do not always sort W E W E
S S
yourself forced to signal for your suits in the same order.
one of the red suits. If you With the way you suggest, ´ Q2 ´ K752
get the chance to make two certain holdings risk being ™ KJ965 ™ 10 9 6 5
discards, you can sometimes rather obvious, for example, © QJ5 © KQ3
cancel an unintended a singleton two of spades ® AQJ ® A5
message – I play that a high- or a singleton ace of
low with odd cards means diamonds. n
You are declarer in 4™ You open 1NT and North
and West leads the ©2. raises to 3NT. West leads
How do you plan the the ™4. How do you plan
E-mail your questions for Julian to: play? the play?
julianpottage@mrbridge.co.uk

Page 19
 Seasonal Walks with Countryman
A Walk in Spring
T
his little piece of England special to the doggy world; at any rate,
where the birds are singing, the there is little doubt that Cindy is full of
sun shining and the air approval.
seriously intoxicating – it is all too easy Before we continue our walk, here is
to fall under its magic spell and dream a hand you might like to consider.
on, contentedly…
To most of us, lucky enough to
experience it, spring in the country is the Dealer South. Love All.
most exciting time of the year. So much ´ K6
that might have seemed gloomy, ™ 763
downtrodden and to all intents and © A K Q J 10
purposes dead and finished, is gradually ® Q52
bursting forth with a new vibrant
N
enthusiasm that is a joy to behold. W E
S
Whereas only a few weeks ago
everything lay covered with a thick ´ A Q 10 9 8 5
blanket of snow and contrasting colours ™ 842
were non-existent, the scene now is – oh © 3
so different! Blues and greens, pinks and ® AK6
yellows combine in exquisite harmony
so that even the most casual observer
could hardly fail to be impressed. As for West North East South
the would-be modern-day Constables, 1´
the scene is set for something to drool 2™ 3© Pass 3´
over at the prospect of what their Pass 4´ End
canvasses might portray.
West cashes three top hearts, East
The End of Winter following to the first and then
discarding a small diamond and a small
Yes, winter has truly shed her overcoat club. West now switches to the jack of
and revealed a glimpse of the magical clubs. What are your plans for making
metamorphosis that is slowly taking the remainder of the tricks?
place. As we walk across the fields heading
Cindy, my beautiful golden Retriever, for the marshy grounds some way
has joined me for our usual daily beyond, yellow seems to be the
walkies and, although our visual predominant flower colour. Primroses
delights may not be the same, she is and cowslips are scattered here and
clearly in high spirits. She is prancing there while buttercups are everywhere.
backwards and forwards, nose close to As soon as we reach softer ground, we
the ground, enjoying the country smells. shall come across the marsh marigolds
Perhaps spring offers something extra to complete the yellow carpet.
Page 20
The marshes are popular with many
birds, lapwing, snipe and redshank in
particular. In fact, Cindy has just
disturbed a snipe that zigzags off in its
own inimitable style accompanied by a
loud harsh screech of complaint. Quite
unabashed, Cindy looks very pleased
with herself and looks round as if to say,
‘This is fun!’ In the distance, I see what
appears to be an inanimate stick-like
object protruding from the ground. As
we get nearer, I recognise what it really
is – a heron, standing motionless on one
leg, no doubt waiting to pounce on
some unsuspecting prey. These birds
have lightning reflexes that give their
chosen meal, which varies from fish and
frogs to beetles and water voles, little
chance of escape once the heron has
sussed them.
Now, let us go back to our hand. This
is the full deal.
´ K6
™ 763
© A K Q J 10
® Q52
´ 3 ´ J742
™ A K Q J 10 5 N ™ 9
W E
© 875 S
© 9642
® J 10 9 ® 8743
´ A Q 10 9 8 5
™ 842
© 3
® AK6
South is in 4´. West leads three top
hearts and then switches to the jack of
clubs.
 Spring continued
If not given as a problem, you
might be tempted, after
winning the ace of clubs, to
play off two rounds of trumps
before cursing your luck at the
unfortunate break. Without
the technical knowledge
required to deal with this sort
of situation, you might cash
the king of spades and then
take an inspired view by
finessing the ten of spades on
the next round. This is
successful in the event, but
disastrous whenever West then
holds the jack.
The Correct Play
The correct approach is this.
Since the most likely snag –
if there is one at all – is for
East to hold ´J-x-x-x,
declarer should prepare the
ground for just such an
eventuality. He takes the ace
of clubs, cashes the ace of
spades, the ace of diamonds
and ruffs a diamond! The
king of spades now exposes
the position so he ruffs a
second diamond. His spade
holding is now the queen, ten
over East’s jack, seven.
It remains only to enter
dummy with the queen of
clubs and continue playing
winning diamonds until East
ruffs and declarer overruffs.
This position becomes
possible only if declarer
reduces his trumps to the same
number as East. So, declarer
lands the game instead of
scoring minus fifty.
When we get home, I say to
Cindy, ‘You see, my gorgeous
one, it can be necessary –
indeed vital – to waste one’s
trumps by ruffing actual
winners. Seems crazy, but
when needs must. Funny old
game, is it not?’ She wags her
tail and looks up at me giving
a very fair impression of
sympathetic understanding.
What a dog! n
2009
AT MARSHAM COURT
East Cliff, Bournemouth, BH1 3AB
Duplicate Bridge Breaks 2009
© Full-board
© All rooms with
en-suite facilities
© Venue non-smoking
© No single supplement
26-28 Apr £150 © Sea View Option
(Sun-Tue) © Tuition with Supervised
Just Duplicate Play, bidding quiz and two
Crombie McNeil
seminars except on Just
Duplicate events
1-3 Jun £199
(Mon-Wed) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BOOKING FORM _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Doubles
Gary Conrad
Please book me for ..... places, Day Guests (£115pp) ......
2-4 Jul £150
(Thu-Sat) Single ..... Double ..... Twin ..... Sea View* .....
Just Duplicate
at the Marsham Court date(s) of .......................................
17-19 Jul £199
(Fri-Sun) Mr/Mrs/Miss .....................................................................
Stayman and Transfers
Ned Paul
Address...............................................................................
22-24 Jul £199
............................................................................................
(Wed-Fri)
Signals and Discards
Alison Nicolson ............................................................................................
Postcode ............................................................................
23-25 Sep £150
(Wed-Fri)
( ......................................................................................
Just Duplicate
Crombie McNeil Special requirements (these cannot be guaranteed,
but we will do our best to oblige)
30 Oct-1 Nov £235
(Fri-Sun) ..........................................................................................
Bernard Magee
Please send a non-returnable deposit of £50 per person per
place by cheque, payable to Mr Bridge. An invoice for the bal-
ance will be sent with your booking confirmation. On receipt of
your 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 con-
tact your own insurance broker. *£30 supplement per room.
, Ryden Grange, Knaphill, Surrey GU21 2TH
( 01483 489961 Fax 01483 797302
e-mail: jessica@mrbridge.co.uk
website: www.holidaybridge.com
Page 21
 CHRISTMAS and
NEW YEAR 2009
DEFENCE
© Full-board © All rooms with
en-suite facilities
QUIZ
© No single supplement
© Room upgrades available
© Use of swimming by Julian Pottage
pool and fitness suite © Extra Quizzes and Games (Answers on page 47)

Extra nights available on request ou are West in the defensive positions below. It is your
Y turn to play.

THE OLDE BARN

1. ´ J87 3. ´ A762
Toll Bar Road, Marston, Lincolnshire, NG32 2HT ™ AJ2 ™ J7
© AJ982 © Q J 10 6 2
24-27 December ® Q7 ® Q2
from £395 ´ 95 ´ K85
N N
™ 8743 W E ™ A84 W E
27-29 December © K74 S
© K7 S

from £199 ® J 10 9 6 ® J 10 9 6 4

29-31 December
West North East South
from £199 2NT West North East South
Pass 6NT End 1´
Pass 3´ Pass 4´
DENHAM GROVE You lead the ®J, covered End
all around. Declarer now
Tilehouse Lane, Denham, Buckinghamshire, UB9 5DU leads the ©Q. What do You lead the ®J, covered
you do? all around. Declarer now
24-27 December leads the ´J. What do you
from £395 do?

27-29 December 2. ´ K7
from £199 ™ 972 4. ´ Q 10 4
© AJ862 ™ J6
29 Dec-1 Jan ® Q72 © A J 10 9 6 4
´ J5 ® J9
from £355 N
™ Q84 ´ 532
W E N
© K74 S ™ 54 W E
Eight executive rooms*. S
® J 10 9 6 3 © K852
Half the bedrooms are on the ground floor.
® 10 8 7 4
Please advise if you require a ground-floor room.
West North East South
Please send a non-returnable deposit of £50 per person per 1´
place by cheque, payable to Mr Bridge. An invoice for the bal- Pass 2© Pass 2™ West North East South
ance will be sent with your booking confirmation. On receipt of Pass 2´ Pass 3NT 1™ 1NT
your final payment, 28 days before the event, a programme and End Pass 3NT End
full details will be sent together with a map. Cancellations are
not refundable. Should you require insurance, you should con- You lead the ®J: two, five, You lead the ™5. Partner
tact your own insurance broker. *£50 supplement per room.
ace. Declarer now leads wins with the nine, cashes
the ©10. What do you do? the ´K and reverts to
, Ryden Grange, Knaphill, Surrey GU21 2TH hearts, leading the king.
( 01483 489961 Fax 01483 797302 Declarer wins and leads
e-mail: jessica@mrbridge.co.uk the ©Q. What do you do?

website: www.holidaybridge.com

Page 22
Coming Soon by Bernard
Magee

B
ridge has had various appreciate the action by
1. Love All. Dealer North. forays into television, having BRIDGE on your lap. 5. N/S Game. Dealer North.
´ K3 but none quite like The programmes are ´ 7654
™ A75 Celebrity Grand Slam compered by Clive ™ AK9
© QJ1092 Bridge on Sky Arts 2. Anderson who played © QJ765
® 632 Eight celebrities compete bridge at University, but ® 9
´ 76 ´ AJ952 with each other to win who was very glad not to be ´ AQJ98 ´ K1032
™ QJ4 N
W E
™ K82 money for their chosen under scrutiny at the table! ™ Q65 N
W E
™ 874
© A843 S
© K7 charity. The focus is not on These, for the most part, © 10 S
© 2
® KJ97 ® AQ5 brilliant bridge, nor even on inexperienced players are ® A863 ® QJ1072
´ Q1084 the hands at all, but on the very brave for volunteering: ´ Void
™ 10963 ™ J1032
enjoyment and fascination allowing yourself to be
© 65 © AK9843
of our wonderful game. filmed making mistakes is
® 1084 ® K54
People often ask me how courageous in itself. The
you can get more people variable standard of the
2. N/S Game. Dealer East. 6. E/W Game. Dealer East.
´ Q873
playing the game: well show bridge makes it all the more ´ KQJ107
™ 8
them this show and surely watchable – it is what most ™ 1043
© KJ108 © 82
® J1053 ® K87
´ J64 ´ AK952 ´ A652 ´ 4
™ AQ74 W N E ™ J109652 ™ AQ N
W E ™ K762
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© 97 © Void © AKQJ © 7643
® Q974 ® K8 ® AQ5 ® 6432
´ 10 ´ 983
™ K3 ™ J985
© AQ65432 © 1095
® A62 ® J109

3. E/W Game. Dealer South. 7. Game All. Dealer South.

´ 10 ´ K76
™ Q104 ™ A432
© Q98 they will be encouraged to bridge is like – and it shows © AKQ3
® Q109754 start. It emphasizes the best how people can enjoy bridge ® J3
´ AQ653 ´ 987 elements of bridge: social, at whatever level they play. ´ AJ2 ´ 1098543
™ 6 N ™ K7532 ™ KQ109 W N E ™ 86
W E competitive, enjoyable, There are almost no
© A7 S
© J104 © 42 S
© 87
challenging and a great way conventions in sight and
® AKJ62 ® 83 ® A765 ® 984
to raise money for charity. certainly no alert cards.
´ KJ42 ´ Q
The players vary hugely
™ AJ98 ™ J75
© K6532
in standard, in fact they WHO WILL YOU © J10965
® Void
include a beginner Kay SUPPORT? ® KQ102
Burley, the Sky News
4. Game All. Dealer West. Anchor, who has had just Part of the fun of this show 8. Love All. Dealer West.
´ AQ53 three weeks of lessons. is following a particular ´ J632
™ 4 However, the story is not personality and hoping that ™ J94
© AJ7 about the quality of play or they will win – the group of © 2
® A9543 bidding, but how the players eight come from all sorts of ® AQ742
´ 9742 ´ K1086 interact and how the walks of life and play bridge ´ Q1097 ´ AK8
™ 6 N ™ 8753 enjoyment of the game in all sorts of ways. Do you ™ A32 N ™ Void
W E W E
© 8652 S © KQ3 comes across. support the better bridge © AK763 S © Q954
® Q1082 ® J7 You see the bidding, but players, the better-looking ® 5 ® KJ10986
´ J see little of the play, and no players, the best talkers, the ´ 54
™ AKQJ1092 hands layouts are shown. quietest... make your choice ™ KQ108765
© 1094 However, we have printed and then hope the results go © J108
® K6 the deals in this magazine your way! The eight players ® 3
for you: so you can are shown overleaf. p26

Page 23
 Watch
Sky A

r ts 2
The Eight Br
Mike Gatting Dave Rowntree
9. E/W Game. Dealer North. 13. Game All. Dealer North.
´ Void ´ J1082
™ Q986 ™ 1062
© A1052 © K862
® KQJ95 ® J7
´ KJ96542 ´ AQ1087 ´ K765 ´ A
™ 32 W E ™ AK1074
N
™ AQ74 W N E ™ J53
S S
© 73 © Q4 © Q9 © A53
® A8 ® 3 ® 953 ® K108642
´ 3 ´ Q943
™ J5 ™ K98
© KJ986 © J1074
Former England and Drummer with the
® 107642 ® AQ
Middlesex cricket pop group Blur.
captain and now a The youngest player by
10. Game All. Dealer East. 14. Love All. Dealer East.
´ 6
commentator some margin, he played the ´ 10
™ Q
on the sport. game in the back of tour ™ 10432
© K105432 He played a lot of bridge in buses all around the world. © AQ106
® J10743 pavilions, but would be By his own admission, he is ® 7532
´ Q432 ´ 10875 more of a social player – quieter at the table than he ´ 765 ´ AJ942
™ J10732 W N E ™ A middle of the pack! is with his drums. ™ 865 N
W E ™ K7
© 9
S
© QJ86 Chosen charity: Lords Chosen charity: Amicus- © J
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® AK5 ® Q862 Taverners – raising money alj – aims to help provide ® KQ10984 ® A6
´ AKJ9 to give young people, legal representation for ´ KQ83
™ K98654 particularly those with those awaiting capital trial ™ AQJ9
© A7 special needs, a sporting and punishment in the US © K873
® 9 chance. and raise awareness of ® J
potential abuses of their
11. Love All. Dealer South. Susan Hampshire rights. 15. N/S Game. Dealer South.
´ AQ ´ Q53
™ AQ984 Pattie Boyd ™ AK109743
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® 5 ® 3
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Actress, famous for
12. N/S Game. Dealer West. her role as Fleur in 16. E/W Game. Dealer West.
´ 10975 ‘The Forsyte Saga’. Photographer and writer, ´ QJ1097
™ 1072 A quiet style at the bridge former wife of George ™ AJ9
© 83 table may help her – being Harrison and of © 843
® J1087 easy to play with is so Eric Clapton. ® 106
´ K432 ´ A86 important and you are She shows some aggressive ´ Void ´ AK2
™ 643 N
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™ AQ8 unlikely to find a nicer bidding and card play and ™ K82 N
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™ Q4
© K76 S © A54 partner. might be one to follow. © AK1095 S © QJ762
® Q42 ® AK93 Chosen charity: National Chosen charity: Action ® K7542 ® AJ3
´ QJ Osteoporosis Society – on Addiction – aims to ´ 86543
™ KJ95 dedicated to improving the disarm addiction, through ™ 107653
© QJ1092 diagnosis, prevention and research, treatment, family © Void
® 65 treatment of osteoporosis in support, education and ® Q98
the UK. training.

Page 24
ridge Players
20 Ap
ril t
26 Ap o
r
from il
7pm

James Mates Sue Lawley

17. Love All. Dealer North. 21. N/S Game. Dealer North.
´ 93 ´ 98
™ AJ10 ™ KQ52
© 9432 © KJ4
® 10843 ® KJ102
´ QJ106 ´ AK84 ´ A3 ´ KJ107652
N N
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™ 86432 ™ 98764
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ITN journalist Radio and TV presenter,
® QJ9 ® AQ
and broadcaster. host of Desert Island
Another keen bridge player, Discs for 18 years.
18. N/S Game. Dealer East. 22. E/W Game. Dealer East.
´ Q76
and possibly the most A keen bridge player and ´ QJ86
™ Void
competitive of the group – would be one of the better ™ K4
© A954 he would have to start out players on show. © 9732
® A108732 as the favourite, but perhaps Chosen charity: Budleigh ® QJ5
´ 1032 ´ Void the other players will Salterton Literary Festival – ´ A7432 ´ K95
™ AQJ106 W N E ™ 98743 be nervous playing with this Devon town is hosting ™ 1087 N
W E ™ AQ965
S S
© K862 © 1073 him? its first Literary Festival © AKQ6 © J104
® Q ® KJ954 Chosen charity: The in 2009. ® 7 ® 32
´ AKJ9854 Rory Peck Trust offers ´ 10
™ K52 discretionary grants to the Kay Burley ™ J32
© QJ families of freelance news- © 85
® 6 gatherers killed whilst on ® AK109864
assignment.
19. E/W Game. Dealer South. 23. Game All. Dealer South.
´ J6 Val McDermid ´ KJ3
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Sky News Anchor.
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How cruel to throw a
™ 763 ™ 109
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beginner to the lions! © 10983
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However, what is so good ® 972
about the show, is that there
20. Game All. Dealer West. Best-selling author of are no lions at all and 24. Love All. Dealer West.
´ K64 crime thrillers including although very nervous, Kay ´ AK8543
™ K76 ‘Wire in the Blood’. is seen to bid better than ™ AQ96
© Q542 Another player who is very many of the other players © A43
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© J986
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´ AJ2 (The Poppy Project) progresses. ´ QJ2
™ 52 provides accommodation Chosen charity: ™ K
© A1076 and support to women who MacMillan Cancer Support © K1052
® K842 have been trafficked into – improves the lives of those ® KQ1042
prostitution. affected by Cancer.

Page 25
 FORMAT Liggins and Andrew ‘Tosh’
25. E/W Game. Dealer North. McIntosh. They try to 29. Game All. Dealer North.
´ 2 The game is played with explain what went wrong ´ K109
™ AQ10 Chicago scoring, with the on some hands and suggest ™ KJ732
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® A98765 ® 1042 ® 10652 ® AQ7
that they have been playing first one, there is an
´ 9653 ´ 8765
the same deal, but that is interview with one of the
™ 754 ™ A
what makes it interesting. players. They talk about their
© AQ754 © AQ872
The emphasis is on watch- interest in bridge: how it
® 3 ® 943
ing the players’ reactions at started and how it continues
26. Game All. Dealer East.
their turn to bid and hearing now. These work well 30. Love All. Dealer East.
´ A4 the comments they make. helping us to get to know ´ Q
™ AKJ8642 Each player partners the players and making it ™ A109873
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PRIZES
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comfortable with your through because there is a
27. Love All. Dealer South. partner allows you to play £20,000 charity pot! 31. N/S Game. Dealer South.
´ KJ985 so much better. Quite often £10,000 will go to the ´ 96
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´ 4 ´ Q72 ´ AJ8754 ´ KQ1032
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® Q753 ® J6 ® Q107642 ® K953
´ A1063
gentle’ may well overcome as a fund-raiser. So many ´ Void
™ 1085
‘confident and loud’! This is events are run across the ™ AKQJ642
© 4 just one other element to country for this purpose. © Q1086
® A9842 bear in mind when picking ® J8
which player to support. CONCLUSION
28. N/S Game. Dealer West. At the end of each 32. E/W Game. Dealer West.
´ J7 programme Clive Anderson This is an excellent ´ 84
™ QJ10 shows us the scoreboard and production, which I ™ 743
© 86542 you see how your player has recommend you to watch, © 1082
® K42 progressed. The eighth and but more importantly get ® 98632
´ KQ1043 ´ 9652 final episode has a special your non-playing friends to ´ AKQ9652 ´ J107
™ 865 N
W E
™ 2 twist in it, which we will watch – I hope that ™ 8 N
W E
™ AJ652
© AJ S
© K1093 have to wait to see! Celebrity Grand Slam © A75 S
© 963
® J109 ® Q653 Bridge will encourage a new ® 104 ® QJ
´ A8 BRIDGE wave of bridge players to ´ 3
™ AK9743 take up the game. If it is ™ KQ109
© Q7 Although the bridge element successful, the hope is that © KQJ4
® A87 is small, there are two bridge the production team will ® AK75
experts on hand: Glyn make more programmes. n

Please do watch Celebrity Grand Slam Bridge starting Monday 20 April at 7pm on Sky Arts 2
and even more importantly, encourage your non bridge-playing friends to watch too.
How to find Sky Arts on your TV: www.skyarts.co.uk/watch

Page 26

M
y uncle, the seventh Baron
von Münchausen, is always
ready with helpful advice for
a less skilful adversary. Sadly, not all
opponents accept his advice with good
grace. This deal was a case in point,
from a high-stakes rubber played about
seventy years ago.
Exclusive Bridge Circle
My uncle was invited to make up a four
in a particularly exclusive circle, thanks
to his well-known discretion, or so he
told me. His partner was Mussolini.
North was Stalin, and South Hitler,
though that partnership broke up, oddly
enough, shortly after this encounter.
Hitler dealt himself:
´ K Q J 10 9 8 7
™ AKQ
© AKQ
® Void
At favourable vulnerability, he chose
the natural opening of 6´, trusting
partner to give him seven with the ace of
trumps.
Doubled Contract
My uncle, his left-hand opponent,
doubled. Had the double come from the
fourth hand, it would have signalled the
ability to ruff some suit; but after the
second-hand double Herr Hitler re-
doubled with considerable confidence.
Presumably Uncle Leo held the two
black aces, and would receive his just
deserts when the opening lead was
ruffed.
Historic
Recollections
by Dick Atkinson
Sure enough, the ace of clubs was led, ill luck, but my uncle felt there were
and dummy was revealed to be: important lessons to be learned.
Helpful Advice Offered
´ Void
™ J 10 8 7 5 4 ‘Your bidding, like your play, was so
© J 10 8 7 5 4 reasonable at first sight, yet it turned out
® Q to be frankly impetuous. You have pre-
empted your partner out of a solid slam
in either red suit.’
The declarer ruffed and set about the It was all too true.
trumps. Il Duce, however, discarded a Struggling to save face among the
small club on the very first round, and ruins of their joint endeavour, Stalin
despite the most Arctic of glares, was announced: ‘Nevertheless, we would
unable to replace it with a trump. have lost much the same amount if you
had overcalled with 7® – a contract you
Forcing Game might well have reached had my partner
not pre-empted so high.’
In with the ace of spades, my uncle Such superficial analysis could not go
continued his forcing game, and the unchallenged. With an indulgent laugh,
declarer ended up with just six tricks, the Baron replied: ‘Far be it from me to
only half his contract, for a swingeing criticise your philosophical objection to
penalty of 2200. ‘Piquant,’ remarked kings and queens; but I fear you would
the Baron. ‘You are confident of making be foolish in the extreme to allow that
your slam, and yet it is I who make prejudice to extend to your choice of
1´!’ opening lead.’
This was the big picture: The queen of clubs would indeed
have limited my uncle to twelve tricks.
‘Of course, Herr Hitler is physically
´ Void unable to lead a club, so that my partner
™ J 10 8 7 5 4 could make 7® on any lead, by ruffing
© J 10 8 7 5 4 all my little spades before drawing
® Q trumps – provided that he does not
´ A65432 ´ Void attempt too many ruffs in the red suit
™ Void N ™ 9632 you choose to discard. But then, he can
W E
© Void S © 9632 hardly call it. It would, in any case, be
® A J 10 9 8 7 6 ® K5432 rather a courageous bid.’
´ K Q J 10 9 8 7 The Italian was cut to the quick,
™ AKQ
© AKQ
® Void This article was published in
BRIDGE 41. Reprinted to satisfy
popular demand.
Hitler seemed inclined to rail against his
Page 27
 Historic
Recollections
con tinu ed
well knowing that this was
an oblique allusion to his
failure to leave in one of my
uncle’s more imaginative
penalty doubles in the
previous rubber.
Courageous or
Fatuous?
‘Courageous? Fatuous! Why,
such a stupid call might have
tempted the Führer into
offering his partner a second
suit at the seven level,
leading to a Grand Slam
making their way! Indeed,
your double itself gave him
the opportunity to –’
‘Benito, Benito . . . Am I
the only person at this table
capable of leading a club?
Declarer would find it
impossible to return to the
long trump hand without
promoting your nine of
trumps.
‘And, speaking of trumps,’
he continued, ‘so many
declarers touch them too
early. If Herr Hitler, for
example, had trusted my
double, he would have
visualised the lie of the cards
and tackled the side suits
first. That would have saved
400 . . .’ n your opponent’s bidding.
Single-Suited Design Pens
Boxed Set of Four £19.95
Available from Ryden Grange, Knaphill GU21 2TH
( 01483 489961 www.mrbridge.co.uk/mrbridge-shop
DOUBLE
Two Handed
DUMMY Bridge
PROBLEM by George Hutter
T
here are a number of
ways to play bridge
with only two players.
In each, the two players play
at right angles to each other.
Unless specified otherwise,
by Richard W heen the procedures relating to
(Answer on page 31)
normal bridge apply as far as
it is possible for them to do
so, but it takes only one pass
to end the auction.
´ K 10 9
™ Void Double Dummy
© Void
® A32 Deal four hands, two of them
´ J4 ´ Q65 face down. Players bid on
™ Void N ™ Void what they can see in their
W E
© Void S
© 2 own hands. After the auction,
® K Q J 10 ® 98 the dummy opposite each
´ A872 player is turned face up.
™ Void
Each player plays alternately
from his own hand and from
© A
his dummy’s.
® 4
For the players, the play is
like normal bridge but there
is no need to guess anything
outh, playing in a
S spade contract, needs
to make all six remaining
as both know the position of
all 52 cards. The bidding,
however, is more hit and
tricks, with North to lead. In miss than at normal bridge:
view of the apparent trump your only clues to your
partner’s hand are the cards
loser, how is this possible?
that you can see yourself and
An alternative is to have
the dummies not open to
both players. Instead, after
the bidding, each places his
own dummy in such a
position that he can see it but
his opponent cannot. To do
this, you could use the type
of racks designed for players
unable to hold their cards.
For declarer, the play with
this variation is even more
similar to normal bridge,
except you know the
defenders will find your
weak points without giving
each other any signals. For
the non-declarer, the key
difference is that the second
hand you can see is your
Page 28
partner’s rather than the
opposing dummy – it feels
rather like being declarer,
except you will often have an
inadequate trump suit.
Draw & Discard
Shuffle the cards thoroughly
and place them, face down,
in a single pile. Starting with
the non-shuffler, each in turn
draws the top card from the
pile, looks at it, and either (a)
keeps it, ending his turn, or
(b) discards it, face down,
and draws the next, which he
must then keep. As soon as a
player has 13 cards, he stops
drawing. When both have 13,
they bid (last player to get 13
cards bids first) and play in
normal bridge/whist fashion.
The rejected cards have no
part to play in the game.
A variation is that, if a
player decides to keep the
drawn card, he looks at the
next card in the pile, which he
must then discard. This way
each player sees 26 cards
during the drawing process.
In the drawing process, as
well as trying to collect high
cards, it can be wise to try to
build up length in one suit.
The more playing strength
you have, the higher you can
afford to bid and the more
likely you are to make your
contract. In the play, you can
guess that the other player
will have most of the high
cards you have not seen. It
can be a good tactic to lead
your solid or weak suits,
waiting for the other player
to lead into your tenaces. In
this and other versions of
two-handed bridge in which
the play takes place with 26
cards rather than 52, it can be
quite hard to bid and make
game on a single deal. n
 David Gold Says

Bid a Slam on
a Finesse
at Worst
laying rubber bridge, you pick up

P a promising collection, eighteen

points and a solid suit:
b ♠
♥
♦
653
63
763
2 ♠
♥
♦
J742
10 3
A 10
♣ AQ984 ♣ KQJ98
♠ K4
♥ AKQJ542
♦ A The above hand is not even enough for a Partner does not have the heart king, but
♣ J 10 2 positive – yet the slam relies only on the slam is still almost a certainty.
club finesse.
The point is this: if you can work out
You Partner that slam will be on a finesse at worst, 3 ♠ A 10 4 2
2♥ 3♣ you are getting good odds. ♥ 10 3
4NT 5♦ In the worse scenario (hand b), you ♦ Q63
? get 50/50 and you may get much better ♣ KQJ4
odds (hand a).
You open a good old-fashioned 2♥ Still playing rubber bridge, you pick
(strong) and partner responds 3♣ up another fine collection: Partner has neither the king of hearts nor
promising a good suit and some values. a fifth club, but the slam is still cold! (If
You decide to take control and bid 4NT the opponents take the diamond ace at
(simple Blackwood), and partner shows ♠ KQ983 trick one, you have three discards for the
one ace. What do you do now? ♥ AQJ4 hearts. On a non-diamond lead, you can
You are missing an ace, so a grand ♦ K2 discard two diamonds and afford to lose
slam is obviously impossible – but what ♣ A3 a heart).
about the small slam?
Partner has promised a good club suit.
K-Q-9-x-x-(x) or A-Q-9-x-x-(x) are You Partner 4 ♠ AJ42
likely. Opposite the former, partner must 1♠ 2♣ ♥ 653
have the ace of spades, making the slam 2♥ 4♠ ♦ Q 10
good (only down if the opponents have a 4NT 5♦ ♣ KQJ4
club ruff). Opposite the latter, slam will ?
be on a finesse if partner turns up with
nothing else of use. So trusting my You open 1♠ and partner responds 2♣. Hand 4 is disappointing, with no heart
maxim, you try 6♥. You rebid 2♥ (forcing) and partner bids king, fifth club or much diamond help,
Partner’s hand on this occasion: 4♠, a delayed game raise. Again, you try yet 6♠ requires only the heart finesse.
4NT (Blackwood) and partner shows Occasionally, the opponents will not lead
one ace. a diamond; then the slam makes, no
a ♠ Q53 Why should you try 6♠? matter who has the king of hearts.
♥ 10 Some possible hands follow:
♦ KQ5 Be Optimistic
♣ AQ9864
1 ♠ A 10 4 2 It pays to be optimistic in these types of
♥ K3 situations. Sometimes partner turns up
The slam makes easily on a diamond ♦ Q 10 9 with a worse hand than you even
lead as you can discard your losing clubs ♣ KJ64 considered, but the opponents find the
on the king-queen of diamonds. wrong lead or misdefend anyway. So
Of course, on a terrible day partner my advice is definitely: ‘Bid a slam that
might have this instead: Nothing special, but the slam is cold. will be on a finesse at worst.’ ■

Page 29
 Conventions and Conventioners with Ned Paul

Saying Hy to
McKenney
How Hy Lavinthal’s Suit Preference
Idea Became McKenney

E
ach partnership at bridge starts
with 26 cards, but the playing
field is uneven. As soon as the
opening lead appears, declarer has the
advantage of seeing dummy. At this
point, declarer can (and should!) start
making plans on how best to use the
combined assets of the two hands. The
defenders, by contrast, do not have this
luxury. To be sure, you can see dummy,
but rarely can you be certain what your
partner holds.
This is the reason why one needs
defensive signals. The defenders can
play their otherwise insignificant cards in
such an order as to send messages to
partner about the rest of their hand.
There are three basic signalling
manoeuvres we learn: we can tell partner
whether we like the suit led or would
prefer a switch (‘attitude’); we can tell
partner how many of a particular suit we
hold (‘length’ or ‘count’); and sometimes
we can tell partner which suit we would
like led next (‘suit preference’).
In Britain, suit preference signals
generally go by the name of McKenney.
This name comes from the bridge author
and columnist, William E McKenney.
McKenney (1891-1950) was a noted
bridge administrator and newspaper
columnist and ran the American Contract
Bridge League as executive secretary
from its formation until 1948. Now a
surprise – he did not devise McKenney
signals! As the Bridge Players’
Encyclopedia puts it, ‘McKenney’s
support through his newspaper column
contributed greatly to the success of
several bridge authors and authorities; in
the case of the Suit Preference Signal, it
caused the convention to be called, in
European countries, the McKenney
convention instead of being attributed to
its inventor, Hy Lavinthal’.
Hy Lavinthal (1894-1972) was a shop
manager from Trenton, New Jersey, in
America. He became active in bridge in
the golden era of bridge in the 1930s.
Lavinthal had a talent for the game and
became an innovative bridge teacher. He
also wrote many articles for bridge
periodicals, coming to the attention of
America’s bridge guru Ely Culbertson
and becoming an associate editor of
Culbertson’s magazine, The Bridge
World. His enduring idea, though, was
the suit preference signal, which he was
using as early as 1933. Here is an early
example of suit preference in action:
♠ K83
♥ 10 5 4
♦ Q9
♣ AQ764
♠ 10 6 4 ♠ J975
N
♥ K72 W E
♥ AQJ9
♦ K6 S ♦
♣ J 10 9 8 2 ♣ Void
♠ AQ2
♥ 863
♦ A J 10 2
♣ K53
West North East
Pass 2♣ Pass
Pass 3NT End
Hy Lavinthal defended this deal playing
with his wife. Albert H. Morehead
reported it in his column in the New York
Times in 1935. The suit preference idea
of using the first discard to show
preference for one of the two remaining
suits helped them defeat the contract.
West led the jack of clubs, won in
dummy with the queen. On this trick,
East discarded the three of diamonds.
This was a low diamond (and West
could interpret it as such).
The suit preference method is that you
exclude the suit on which you are
discarding and exclude also the suit of
the card played. The size of the card
played tells partner which of the other
two suits you like. On this deal,
therefore, the low three of diamonds,
discarded on a club, asks for the lower of
the two other suits, hearts, while the
high eight of diamonds would have
asked for the higher suit, spades.
Declarer South, seeing that clubs
would not run, led dummy’s queen of
diamonds for a finesse. On winning with
the king, West switched to a heart and
the defenders then took four tricks in
hearts to defeat the contract.
Before suit preference signals, the three
of diamonds would simply have dis-
couraged diamonds, leaving partner to
guess which major suit to lead. Playing
87543 standard attitude signals, East could have
encouraged hearts by playing the nine of
hearts but this would have been at the cost
of the vital fourth heart trick; the five of
spades would also be no good as (a) it is
unclear that it is a low card and (b) South
might have held ♠A-Q-x-x.
Here is another deal on which suit
South preference could have saved the day:
1♦
2NT
♠ K6
♥ Q 10 8 6 5
♦ 10 9 4
♣ Q J 10
♠ A 10 9 7 3 2 ♠ J854
♥ Void N ♥ 2
W E
♦ 8652 S ♦ K7
♣ 987 ♣ A65432
♠ Q
♥ AKJ9743
♦ AQJ3
♣ K

Page 30
 Conventions continued
West North East South
1♥
1♠ 2♥ 2♠ 6♥
End
Eschewing science, South
plunged into a slam. West led
the ace of spades and was then
in a quandary. West thought
for a while and finally led a
diamond, allowing South to
make the contract by discard-
ing the king of clubs on the
king of spades. Had West been
able to interpret East’s four of
spades as a suit preference
signal, the switch to the lower
of the minor suits would have
been easy and the defenders
would have prevailed.
The suit preference idea can
apply to many situations. The
classic one we all learn first is
returning a suit for partner to
ruff, but you can use it in a
variety of lead situations, in
discarding and sometimes
even while following suit.
Lavinthal’s ideas finally
appeared in book form in
1963 in the self-publication
Defense Tricks. By this time,
the method was already well
known. The reprint specialists,
Dover Publications, published
the book again in the 1990s.
Lavinthal was at pains to
point out that suit preference
signalling was supplemental
to, and did not displace, stan-
dard attitude and count sig-
nalling. There is a tendency
among players who first learn
the system to overuse it so it
comes with the usual bridge
health warnings. As with any
system, you should not fol-
low it blindly. There is no
substitute, I am afraid, for
both partners continuing to
work together to give each
other the information
required in the context of
each situation on each deal.
William McKenney, who
publicized Lavinthal’s idea,
also led an interesting life.
His early career was in the
tyre industry. He joined the
American Auction Bridge
League in the 1920s, as a DOUBLE DUMMY SOLUTION
statistician, and became
executive secretary in 1928. by Richard Wheen
He continued as secretary of (Problem on page 28)
its successor organisations,
the American Bridge League
on earth was he up to? He now
and the American Contract ♠ K 10 9 led his ace of diamonds, on
Bridge League, until 1948. ♥ Void which West discarded a club.
He was a prolific bridge ♦ Void Livingstone ruffed this low in
journalist, and he founded a ♣ A32 dummy (surely he knew better
bridge supply firm, inventing ♠ J4 ♠ Q65 than to trump his own
the oblong duplicate bridge ♥ Void N
W E
♥ Void winners?) and led dummy’s last
board. When the firm, Bridge ♦ S
Void ♦ 2 club. East, as I now saw (having
Supplies, Inc., became prof- ♣ K Q J 10 ♣ 98 looked at his hand) was in a
itable, he gave it to the ♠ A872 dilemma. Since he had only
ACBL. ♥ Void trumps left he had to ruff. If he
He founded America’s ♦ A ruffed low, declarer would
National Laws Commission ♣ 4 overruff and win the last two
in 1932, which worked with
tricks with the ace and king. If
other bodies such as
instead East ruffed with the
England’s Portland Club to
unify the worldwide Laws of
Bridge, and introduced
S o there we were, Dr
Livingstone and I, lost in
the African jungle, suffering
queen, declarer would overruff
with the ace and finesse
against West’s jack to make the
ACBL charity activities,
from dehydration, flu and remaining tricks.
endowing the Children’s
frostbite and with tigers and As Dr Livingstone explained
Cancer Ward in Memorial
bears roaring close to our to me later, playing to drop the
Hospital, New York City. He
camp all night. After phoning queen-jack bare would have
contributed generously from
the local bridge club, we had been simpler, but so much less
his private income to this and
acquired the services of two elegant, even though his play
other causes and devoted
bridge-playing porters. On that would have failed against
nearly all his time to the
fateful evening, they were most distributions other than
interests of the ACBL. To
East/West and Livingstone, the actual one.
some extent, this was a fault
South, had reached the above We congratulated him on this
as, to a degree, he acquired a
position in a spade contract, fine play, which we christened
spirit of proprietary interest
needing to make the rest of the the voodoo coup (sadly, I am
in the ACBL. In 1948,
tricks. As dummy, I became told, renamed the devil’s coup
according to official sources,
duty guard and I walked round by later generations), because
‘he was deposed in favour of
behind the great man, rifle in it seems to involve depriving the
democratic control’, and
hand, to watch him play the defenders of a certain trump
died an early death in 1950,
cards. I saw immediately that trick as if by black magic. Who
presumably – whatever the
he had a trump loser unless should then appear at the
exact medical cause – of a
one defender held queen-jack entrance to the camp but
broken heart.
doubleton, so I was fully Mr Stanley. Mistaking him for a
By all accounts, McKenney
expecting him to plonk down tiger in the twilight, I fired at him
was no great technical player,
the ace-king hoping for the – fortunately, I missed or history
although he became a Life
best. No – he led the ace of would have been very different
Master. He gave a trophy for
clubs from dummy, then a low and you would not be reading
the American player who won
club, ruffed low in hand. What this. ■
most master points each year,
and this went by the name of
the McKenney Trophy from
1937 to 1981. In 1982, the
competition expanded to DUPLICAT EBRIDGE only
reward the leading 500 play- RULESSIMPLIFIED £595
ers and its name changed to
the Top 500. It is now the (otherwiseknownastheYellowBook)
Barry Crane Top 500, after by John Rumbelow and revised by David Stevenson
Barry Crane, America’s most NewEdition.Includes2008LawRevisions.
successful master point win-
ner of his day. ■ Availablefrom ( 01483 489961
Page 31
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READERS’
LETTERS
TONIC
Lying in my hospital bed in
York hospital I was flipping
slowly through the latest
issue of BRIDGE, when
suddenly I saw her. The most
beautiful baby I have seen
for a very long time.
Of course, it had to be
Leonora’s. Many, many
congratulations! She is
absolutely adorable and
cheered up my dull day.
Thank you for the picture.
Please may we have some
‘follow ups’.
Audrey Walsh, York.
Your wish is my command.
Felicity Ann at three months.
RESTORE ME
Please put me back on your
mailing list for BRIDGE
magazine. I’ve had to borrow
the last two issues! They
make excellent bedtime
reading!
Mrs S. M. Bowcock, Leek.
TIME TO CHANGE
DIRECTION?
Having been heavily involved
in organising duplicate
bridge in Essex and Suffolk
for over 35 years, I am
writing this now that I am no
longer in any county
committee office. The
following views are therefore
entirely my own.
When I joined the EBU in
1970, there were roughly
25,000 members being
serviced by a small and
dedicated team in small
offices in Thame. In 2009
there are less than 24,000
members serviced from
extensive offices in Aylesbury.
I readily accept that there are
some highly dedicated staff
in the current central EBU.
The steady decline in
membership of the EBU
demands a complete re-think
about the future of duplicate
bridge administration in
England. It is essential that
such a re-think takes fully
into account the feelings of
all who play duplicate bridge.
In my own county, Suffolk,
there are 19 affiliated clubs
with a total membership of
about 1,400 with some
double counting for those
who belong to more than
one club. Of these, less than
25% are currently members
of the EBU. There are, in
addition, social and friendly
clubs, including some golf
and tennis clubs, where
several hundred people play
duplicate bridge at least
once per week.
It is perceived at club level
that the main purpose of the
current EBU board is to
attempt to continue, at any
cost, to be the central
administrative body for
duplicate bridge in England.
With reducing income but
without any serious
indication of making a
comparable reduction in
Page 34
overheads, clearly a radical
change is necessary. The
notion of P2P therefore came
into being. This demands
that each member of a
duplicate bridge club
affiliated to the EBU will be
expected to pay additional
table money of 30p or more
for each session played or
the bridge club finds an
equivalent method of raising
such finance. The proceeds
will be collected by the EBU
for basic finance of the
central administration at
Aylesbury and for various
promotions of national teams.
In 2008 a number of clubs
indicated that they would be
prepared to support this
initiative. However, the EBU
has dithered and P2P will not
be operating until April 2010.
This delay, in itself, has
caused interest at the
essential grass-roots to
dwindle.
In the early days of P2P
proposals, there were a
number, like me, who
consider that any initiative
was better than seeing the
current EBU structure
continue to crumble. There
were and are some who are
sceptical about the ability of
the EBU to manage
successfully any new major
concept and to gain support
from the majority of clubs
and members. I have heard
the questions raised ‘where
are the real successful
business brains in the EBU?’
and ‘In a normal business
environment would the
current EBU management be
likely to survive?’
The key questions appear
to be: (a) can P2P succeed?
and if not (b) is there an
alternative path?
I now have serious
misgivings about whether or
not P2P will succeed. I have
spoken to many club players,
many of who do not belong
to the EBU nor ever wish to
be. They would prefer to be
left alone to enjoy their
weekly duplicate club
evening. I can foresee this
attitude escalating if P2P
goes ahead.
However, of importance,
there is an emerging view
that clubs would be far more
responsive in supporting their
counties especially those
who have hard-working
officers who are prepared to
support clubs and members.
I have gained a clear
impression that those clubs
which are threatening to
abandon the EBU would
prefer to consider their future
as being part of a county-
based structure. This may not
be beneficial to a central EBU
administration but it is
possible that this is a
possible and viable
alternative path to P2P. Most
county committees are
structured to cover
membership, county events,
newsletters and general
support. Officers of such
county committees normally
give their services free of
charge. Such committees
need financial support in
order to promote county
events. I believe the majority
of clubs would be willing to
make a sensible financial
contribution for this cause.
I see the future of duplicate
bridge in England being
founded on a county-basis. It
is not clear how any national
body could emerge from
such roots but I believe any
future English central body
must be kept small and,
more importantly, not
allowed to grow out of all
proportion.
Claude Stokes,
Ex-Chairman, Suffolk CBA.
BOXED BRIDGE
Suggest Bernard runs a
bridge session – or just
seminars – on T.V.
V Bomer.
See centrefold spread
in this issue.
READERS’ LETTERS
continued
QPLUS QUIZ
I entered the ‘New Quiz’ in
Issue 91 page 8 with keen
anticipation.
I awaited the postman--
disappointment, so I awaited
Issue 92 for the results’, more
disappointment, page 6
stated results would be
published in the next issue.
Perhaps I still had a chance
of winning.
Issue 93 arrived today, but
nowhere I have looked
seems to have the result or
the names of the winners.
Have I somehow missed
something? I obviously
missed winning, as I have
not had a package from the
postman. Do I still have a
chance?
David Boobier, Plymouth.
The winners were notified
before the publication of
BRIDGE 92 so that QPLUS
could be deleted from their
Christmas present list. Here
is the quiz again.
Playing Acol (12-14 no-
trump) not vulnerable, what
would QPlus 9.1 open with on
the following hand?
♠ J
♥ AK8
♦ AQ75
♣ AQJ93
and for the record, the five
winners were: Mr A Hobday,
Solihull; Mrs Nattrass, Pinner;
Mrs A Thomas, Taunton;
Mr P Hayward, Manchester
and Mrs M Miners, Glasgow.
Answer: 1♣.
HARD WORK
'Honeymoon Bridge' is
played by each player taking
a card from a shuffled pack
and deciding whether or not
to keep it. If he/she keeps it
he must discard his second
card, if he/she rejects the first
card, then the second card is
kept. Having worked through
the pack each player will
have thirteen cards and bids AT THE BEACH HOTEL
in the normal way, but as Worthing, West Sussex, BN11 3QJ
high as possible. Cards are
lead and played in the Duplicate Events 2009/2010
normal way, but tricks will with Bernard Magee
consist of only two cards.
You will find that one 5-7 Jun (£235) Splinters & Cue Bids
rubber is more than enough
12-14 Jun (£235) Overcalls
before retiring to enjoy your
honeymoon in other ways. 2-4 Oct (£235) Stayman & Transfers
Paul Fox, Folkestone, Kent. with Improver section
16-18 Oct (£235) Hand Evaluation
MORE HARD WORK 4-6 Dec (£235) Signals & Discards
In response to the letter
about 'honeymoon bridge', I
29 Dec-1 Jan (£395) NEW YEAR
would hesitate to give that 1-3 Jan (£235) TBA
name to the version of two-
handed bridge we played as ♦ Full-board ♦ All rooms with
kids as it was vicious even in Friday to Sunday en-suite facilities
the context of sibling rivalry. ♦ No single supplement ♦ Venue non-smoking
You dealt four hands, the
♦ Tuition with Supervised Play, bidding quiz and two seminars
hand opposite dealer was an
exposed dummy and the
hand opposite the other _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BOOKING FORM _ _ _ _ _ _ _
player was hidden. Dealer
elected to bid with either the
Please book me for ..... places,
exposed or closed dummy
and the opponent had to bid Single ..... Double ..... Twin ..... Sea View* .....
with the same dummy. If you
chose the open dummy, at the Beach Hotel weekend(s) of ......................................
whilst you were bidding on
full knowledge of both the Mr/Mrs/Miss .....................................................................
declaring hands, you ran the
risk of your opponent having Address...............................................................................
an even better fit. If on the
other hand the exposed
............................................................................................
dummy was strong and you
Postcode ............................................................................
were weak, you could bid
with the closed dummy ( ......................................................................................
knowing that if you were out-
bid you would have a Special requirements (these cannot be guaranteed)
reasonable defence. It was
..........................................................................................
very good training for judging
hands and weighing up the Please send a non-returnable deposit of £50 per person per
odds, but as I say, not to be place by cheque, payable to Mr Bridge. An invoice for the bal-
ance will be sent with your booking confirmation. On receipt of
recommended for a
your final payment, 28 days before the event, a programme and
Honeymoon. full details will be sent together with a map. Cancellations are
David Parkinson, not refundable. Should you require insurance, you should con-
Ferndown, Dorset. tact your own insurance broker. *£30 supplement per room.
WORKING ON IT , Ryden Grange, Knaphill, Surrey GU21 2TH
I wonder how many of your
readers, like me, miss your
( 01483 489961 Fax 01483 797302
mail-order service. e-mail: jessica@mrbridge.co.uk
Mrs B Ford, website: www.holidaybridge.com
Nr Ashbourne, Derbyshire.
Page 35
 READERS’ LETTERS
continued
AT STAVERTON PARK DIFFERENT MEAT
Staverton, Daventry, Northants, NN11 6JT Claiming points for honours
should be outlawed – it’s
3-5 Apr Further into the Auction - Ned Paul £199
quite ridiculous.
25-27 Sep Declarer Play - Ray Hutchinson £199 Mrs S Brent,
Chew Magna, Bristol.
16-18 Oct Take-out Doubles* - Alex Davoud £199 Scoring honours is an
important part of rubber
30 Oct-1 Nov PICK AND MIX WEEKEND from £199
bridge.
13-15 Nov Game Tries - Crombie McNeil £199
JUST DUPLICATE
27-29 Nov Overcalls - Ned Paul £199 I have checked on the HMRC
website, and although not
*Improvers’ Weekends are aimed at the novice player and/or those
picking up the game after a long break. specific in saying that
reductions in VAT have to be
passed on to customers-the
♦ Full-board ♦ All rooms with
Friday to Sunday en-suite facilities government recommends
♦ No single supplement that they should be. I have
♦ Venue non-smoking
worked in accounts all my
♦ Use of swimming ♦ Bidding quiz and
life and my understanding of
pool and fitness suite two seminars
the position of companies
charging VAT is that they
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ BOOKING FORM _ _ _ _ _ _ _
collect VAT on behalf of the
government (at the correct
Please book me for .... places, Single .... Double .... Twin ....
rate) which is passed back to
the government (having
for the 2009 Staverton Park weekend(s) of .......................
deducted their own VAT costs
first). So in effect, by not
............................................................................................
reducing the VAT on an item
(when the business has paid
Mr/Mrs/Miss .....................................................................
a reduced VAT rate on it) the
business is in effect
Address...............................................................................
increasing their profit on an
item-this is not what the
............................................................................................ government intended by
cutting the VAT rate. Although
Postcode ..................................( .................................... the weekend we booked in
January was at a special rate
Special requirements (these cannot be guaranteed)
(which you were obviously
........................................................................................... happy to supply) by not
reducing the VAT charged,
Please give the name(s) of all those covered by this booking
you would be making more
........................................................................................... money on the weekend than
the amount you were
Please send a non-returnable deposit of £50 per person per place
by cheque, payable to Mr Bridge. An invoice for the balance originally happy to make-
will be sent with your booking confirmation. On receipt of your how is this justified?
final payment, 28 days before the event, a programme and full Mrs Christine Merrett,
details will be sent together with a map. Cancellations are not Wimborne, Dorset.
refundable. Should you require insurance, you should contact
The event is subsidised, so
your own insurance broker.
the reduction reduces the
, Ryden Grange, Knaphill, Surrey GU21 2TH subsidy.
( 01483 489961 Fax 01483 797302
SUGGESTIONS
e-mail: jessica@mrbridge.co.uk Having attended, and
website: www.holidaybridge.com enjoyed, two or three of your
weekend bridge events, and
Page 36
having perused the list of
available subjects, it seems
to me that there are two
topics which are not covered
but which would, I am sure,
be hugely popular.
These are ‘Bridge and the
Internet’ and ‘Bridge
Software’. The latter would
also, no doubt, have the
added attraction to Mr Bridge
of helping to generate
additional income. Perhaps
you should do a little market
research on the likely
popularity of these topics.
Mr John Turner,
Colliers Wood, London.
I will wait for the competition
to try out these ideas.
BIG VOICE
To whomsoever initiated and
organized this fundraiser:
thank you so much for the
help you are giving to Little
Voice. I have been to a few of
the fundraising dinners here
in Toronto, and know Jenna
personally – your approach
gets people involved.
Lance D. Morrison, Toronto.
IS IT JUNK?
My daughter saw an Auto-
bridge board at a car boot
sale and bought it for me. It
came with 22 advanced
hands and four sample
deals. The hands are edited
and signed by Ely Culberton
and played by several leading
players. The Autobridge
boards are copyright 1938.
Please can you tell me
anything about these boards.
Are they a rarity or fairly
common? Do collectors buy
them? Is there an internet site
for bridge memorabilia?
Mr B Easter,
Sawbridgeworth, Herts.
If anyone can help please
call ( 01279 724294.
P2P GIVING UP
How does anyone resign
from the EBU.
Name and address supplied.
By phone.
READERS’ LETTERS
continued
SERVICE
I have only received three
copies so far but do you
produce a ‘yearly index’ to
the past year’s magazines
main articles on conventions
etc – it makes ‘finding’ useful
articles a lot easier.
Mrs K Wells,
Sidmouth, Devon.
Only viable when funded by
a subscription, though article
titles and authors for issues
87 onwards can be searched
in my web library.
www.mrbridge.co.uk/library
FREE
Since David Stevenson
referenced my PairsScorer
Software in a recent issue of
BRIDGE, I have had a number
of your readers asking for
further details. The Scorers
are entirely free and may be
downloaded from the
website at:
http://homepages.nildram.co
.uk/~jasmith
Thanks for doing an
excellent magazine.
Mr J Smith,
Prestwich, Manchester.
RUBBER BRIDGE
I have always considered the
EBU to be the ultimate
authority for all bridge played
in England. But now, under
its new constitution and
financial arrangements, it is
returning to a pre – 1938
position by limiting itself to
duplicate bridge, and
abandoning rubber and
chicago. See the document
‘Bidding for the future 2008 –
2013’ just issued by the EBU.
In these circumstances, it is
even more important that
your magazine continues to
deal with issues (bidding and
the laws especially) of rubber
bridge which is
predominately the game
played at home, and in some
clubs – and needs just four
people. Also, particularly
when played for reasonable
stakes, it is still a better, more
competitive game than the
duplicate version, and lots
more fun.
Mr Victor Parry, Twickenham. Duplicate Weekends 2009
with Bernard Magee (£235 per person)
WAY AHEAD
Last Thursday evening I
played in a local bridge 19-21 June
competition .
Suit
The winning partnership,
incidentally the only pair with Establishment
a positive score, were 4,000
ahead of the second pair. 6-8 November
I do not recall in a one Game
evening competition ever
hearing of such a margin Tries
and I wondered if it might be
some sort of record and if so, ♦ Full-board ♦ All rooms with
I would be pleased to let Friday to Sunday en-suite facilities
those involved know. ♦ No single supplement ♦ Nine hole golf course
Mr Simon Cussons, Chester. ♦ Tuition with Supervised Play, bidding quiz and two seminars
NOT SO GOOD?
Having seen you promoting BOOKING FORM
Global Travel insurance in
many issues of BRIDGE, Please book me for ..... places at Blunsdon House Hotel,
I feel I must write to tell you The Ridge, Blunsdon, Swindon, SN26 7AS.
of our experience.
weekend(s) .........................................................................
My 78 year old husband
was denied cover after going
Single ..... Double ..... Twin .....
through the medical
assessment where he Mr/Mrs/Miss .....................................................................
declared his pre-existing
illnesses. Address...............................................................................
These are – he had a very
mild heart attack 25 years ............................................................................................
ago (with no problems since);
and had a very small, non- Postcode ............................................................................
aggresive, prostate cancer
( ......................................................................................
diagnosed 4/5 years ago. He
is having no treatment, but is Special requirements (these cannot be guaranteed)
on a 'watch and wait'
programme with regular ..........................................................................................
blood tests. Please send a non-returnable deposit of £50 per person per
So, despite him being well place by cheque, payable to Mr Bridge. An invoice for the bal-
and active, from our ance will be sent with your booking confirmation. On receipt of
experience, it does not your final payment, 28 days before the event, a programme and
full details will be sent together with a map. Cancellations are
seem that Global Travel suits
not refundable. Should you require insurance, you should con-
'those who are ill but whose tact your own insurance broker.
symptoms are under control'
at all. , Ryden Grange, Knaphill, Surrey GU21 2TH
Angela Bradford, Tavistock.
I guess they have decided
( 01483 489961 Fax 01483 797302
that the symptoms are not e-mail: jessica@mrbridge.co.uk
under control – which is website: www.holidaybridge.com
their right.
Page 37
 READERS’ LETTERS
continued
RUBBER / CHICAGO 2009
WEST LONDON
Hosted by Diana Holland RUBBER
If you like social rubber
1-3 April (Wed-Fri) Marsham Court £199 bridge and have time to
spare on a Tuesday evening
24-26 April (Fri-Sun) The Beach Hotel £199 then the Riverside bridge club
is for you!
11-13 Sep (Fri-Sun) The Beach Hotel £199
We would like to welcome
30 Sep-2 Oct (Wed-Fri) Marsham Court £199 any west London bridge
players of all levels to our
Full-board – No Single Supplement new venue in Chiswick, West
London. Whilst there are
Please note there are no seminars or set hands on these weekends
many duplicate clubs on
offer in London there is a
dearth of social rubber
bridge clubs where players
can improve from helpful
tutorials and supervised play.
For complete newcomers, a
“Start from Basics” course will
be starting shortly. Chicago
Marsham Court The Beach Hotel evenings are run on the first
East Cliff, Bournemouth, BH1 3AB Worthing, BN11 3QJ
Tuesday of the month. So if
you live in West London and
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ BOOKING FORM _ _ _ _ _ _ _
want to enjoy one of the
most fashionable games in a
Please book me for .... places, Single .... Double .... Twin ....
relaxed environment with
for the Rubber/Chicago weekend(s) of good company and
subsidised drinks, then come
............................................................................................ along to: The Riverside Bridge
Club, 13 Chiswick High Road,
Mr/Mrs/Miss ..................................................................... London W4 2ND.
www.riversidebridgeclub.co.uk
Address...............................................................................
All levels are welcome and
if you would like more
............................................................................................
information about what we
Postcode ............................................................................ offer then please call me.
Malcolm Mearns
( ...................................................................................... ( 07957 577810.
Special requirements (these cannot be guaranteed) NO SALE
Why is there no longer a
...........................................................................................
section in BRIDGE for articles
Please send a non-returnable deposit of £50 per person per place relating to bridge for sale,
by cheque, payable to Mr Bridge. An invoice for the balance
ie cards, tables, etc?
will be sent with your booking confirmation. On receipt of your
final payment, 28 days before the event, a programme and full Mrs G. Sinclair,
details will be sent together with a map. Cancellations are not Horsham, West Sussex.
refundable. Should you require insurance, you should contact The full mail order service
your own insurance broker. could not be provided
without a substantial subsidy.
, Ryden Grange, Knaphill, Surrey GU21 2TH
( 01483 489961 Fax 01483 797302 DAYTIME BRIDGE
I have just started a new
e-mail: jessica@mrbridge.co.uk
weekly duplicate game in
website: www.holidaybridge.com Balham, South London. We
play every Tuesday at
Page 38
Harrison’s, a local restaurant.
It’s a daytime game starting
at 11am and including lunch.
Starting this new game
came about in strange
circumstances. Harrison’s is a
large restaurant situated in
an area without many offices
so although they have a
lunchtime trade it does not fill
the restaurant. The owner
Sam Harrison’s mother plays
bridge, so Sam thought it
might be a good idea to
have bridge players come
and help fill the place. I run
the nearest club, Putney
Bridge Club, so he found my
website and got in touch.
We started in January with
four tables and I am hoping
to build it up from there. The
playing area is very pleasant
and so are Sam’s bridge
lunches. We are very close to
Balham station so it’s easily
accessible from most parts of
London. There are buses as
well so most of our players
use public transport. Readers
of BRIDGE would be very
welcome. We have a website
www.bridgeatharrisons.co.uk
It is not the first time I have
started a bridge group in a
restaurant. I run a number of
weekly supervised play
groups that use cafes, bars
or pubs. If everyone in the
group buys coffee and cake -
or a beer or two - the venue
is usually very happy to host
a couple of tables of bridge
players without charging any
formal rent. Using this model
any BRIDGE reader could
start a social bridge practice
group with very little outlay.
Or a teacher could start such
a group, charge a modest
fee for the teaching, and still
make a bit of money. Only
when the group grows will
you need to look for a formal
venue like a church hall
where you will have to pay
rent. If anyone needs advice,
do get in touch.
Ned Paul. ( 020 8892 9429
ned@nedpaul.com
READERS’ LETTERS
continued
THUMBS UP FOR EBU
Mrs Barnett (letters February
2009 issue) wonders why her
club pays a subscription to
the EBU. I believe that most
duplicate players are
competitive and treat bridge
as more than a parlour
game. Serious play is still fun
if approached with a
generous spirit. In any sport,
the primary role of the
national body is to oversee
the rules of the game (which
are constantly fine-tuned)
and to be a final authority in
matters of discipline. These
may not be obvious benefits
on the regular club evening,
but without them bridge
would be diminished and
potentially chaotic.
It is accepted in
other games that players
make a small contribution to
the national body. The lads in
weekend football leagues
contribute part of their match
fee to the Football
Association; bowls players
fund Bowls England through
their club and county
subscriptions; chess
players indirectly pay a game
fee to the English Chess
Federation whenever they
play in congresses, county
matches and local club
competitions.
Even if the EBU did
nothing more than the above
it would be worth supporting,
but of course it has other
roles which are well
publicised. Here I would
highlight the attempt to
Write to Mr Bridge at:
Ryden Grange, Knaphill, Surrey GU21 2TH
or e-mail letters@mrbridge.co.uk
E-mail correspondents are asked to include their
name, full postal address and telephone number,
and to send no attachments.
Letters may be edited for length and clarity.
develop interest in bridge
through an education
programme, the regular
publication of an excellent
magazine (at no extra
charge to members) and the
awarding of masterpoints,
which may soon be
supplemented by a National
Grading Scheme. Incidentally
chess players regard grading
as one of the most useful
functions of the English Chess
Federation.
As for P2P it is difficult to
understand what the fuss is
about. On an individual basis
we are talking about tiny
sums of money. Before P2P I
am paying the EBU £30 p.a.,
comprising £22 subscription
(inc. £5 county element) plus
£8 (element of my club
subscription for
masterpoints). After P2P
remember that these
charges will be scrapped.
Instead I will probably be
paying approx. 35p (29p
EBU/6p County) per play. I
can thus play 85 times at an
EBU-affiliated club before
exceeding my current
expenditure. Compare that
with what I'm spending in
petrol to get to and from the
venue, or even with what I
spend on a cup of tea, and
you must agree that bridge is
excellent value.
Non-EBU duplicate
club members do benefit
from the structure provided
by the EBU, and in future they
should not resent paying
such a small amount for it.
Anyway, the more that join,
the cheaper it will be. It
works in other countries.
Paul Habershon, Bedford. ■
Page 39
DENHAM GROVE
Tilehouse Lane, Denham, Uxbridge, Bucks UB9 5DU
Duplicate Weekends 2009
15-17 May £199 21-23 Aug £199
Leads & Defence – Alex Davoud Doubles – Alex Davoud
19-21 June £199 13-15 Nov £199
Signals & Discards – Ned Paul Hand Evaluation – Ned Paul
10-12 July £199 27-29 Nov £199
Overcalls – Alex Davoud Stayman & Transfers
24-26 July £199 Alex Davoud
Declarer Play – Alex Davoud 4-6 Dec £199
7-9 Aug £150 Endplay & Avoidance
*Just Duplicate – Alan Lamb Alex Davoud
Eight executive rooms: £50 supplement per event. Half the bedrooms are
on the ground floor. Please advise if you require a ground-floor room.
*Please note, there are no seminars or set hands on these weekends.
♦ Full-board ♦ All rooms with
Friday to Sunday en-suite facilities
♦ No single supplement ♦ Venue non-smoking
♦ Use of swimming ♦ Room upgrades
pool and fitness suite available
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ BOOKING FORM _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Please book me for ..... places,
Single ..... Double ..... Twin ..... Executive* .....
at the Beach Hotel weekend(s) of ......................................
Mr/Mrs/Miss .....................................................................
Address...............................................................................
............................................................................................
Postcode ............................................................................
( ......................................................................................
Special requirements ..........................................................
Please send a non-returnable deposit of £50 per person per
place by cheque, payable to Mr Bridge. An invoice for the bal-
ance will be sent with your booking confirmation. On receipt of
your 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 con-
tact your own insurance broker. *£50 supplement per room.
, Ryden Grange, Knaphill, Surrey GU21 2TH
( 01483 489961 Fax 01483 797302
e-mail: jessica@mrbridge.co.uk
website: www.holidaybridge.com
 GLOBAL TRAVEL INSURANCE
Amelia House, Crescent Road, Worthing West Sussex, BN11 1RL. ( 01903 203933 Fax 01903 211106
Email enquiries@globaltravelinsurance.co.uk Website www.globaltravelinsurance.co.uk
SUMMARY OF COVER
The following represent the Significant and Key Features of the policy
including Exclusions and Limitations that apply per person.
A full copy of the policy document is available on request.
CANCELLATION & CURTAILMENT up to £1,500
If you have to cancel or cut short your trip due to illness, injury, redundancy, jury service, the police
requiring you to remain at or return to your home due to serious damage to your home, you are
covered against loss of travel and accommodation costs.
Policy Excess
Standard Policy Excess £50.
For persons aged 61 to 70 years the excess is increased to £100.
For persons aged 71 to 90 years the excess is increased to £150.
See section headed Increased Excess for Pre Existing Medical Conditions for increased excesses
applicable to claims arising from pre-existing medical conditions.
PERSONAL ACCIDENT up to £15,000
A cash sum for accidental injury resulting in death, loss of sight, loss of limb or permanent total
disablement. No Policy Excess.
MEDICAL AND OTHER EXPENSES up to £5,000,000
Including LIFELINE 24 HOUR WORLDWIDE MEDICAL EMERGENCY SERVICE
(a) The cost of hospital and other emergency medical expenses incurred abroad, including
additional accommodation and repatriation expenses. Limit £250 for emergency dental treatment
and £5,000 burial/cremation/transfer of remains. Limit £1,000 for transfer of remains to your home if
you die in the UK.
Policy Excess £75 unless travelling within North or Central America or the Caribbean when
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 ANSWERS TO THE DECLARER PLAY QUIZ
ON PAGE 19 by DAVID HUGGETT
You are declarer in 4♥ and West leads the ♦2. go down. The answer is that you have to duck
1. ♠ KQ74 How do you plan the play? the ten of spades. This way, either East does
♥ A6 not have a spade to lead when in with the
It looks all too easy to duck the opening lead
♦ 10 9 6 3 club or the spade suit breaks 4-3, which is not
in dummy in an effort to win the first trick in
♣ A75 a problem. Since no switch is dangerous, it
hand. Now consider what might happen if
♠ 10 5 ♠ J9862 would be clear to duck if you had the ace of
N West has led a singleton. On a bad day, East
♥ J95 W E ♥ K 10 8 7 2 spades; somehow, holding the king and
S
would win with the king, return a diamond for
♦ K52 ♦ 8 queen, it seems less obvious.
his partner to ruff, regain the lead with the ace
♣ K 10 8 6 2 ♣ Q4
of spades and give his partner another ruff for
♠ A3
a one-trick set. The defenders would have
♥ Q43
taken the first four tricks and you would be 4. ♠ AJ6
♦ AQJ74
down even with the club finesse right! Stop to ♥ A2
♣ J93
count the number of tricks available and you ♦ J 10 9 6 5
will find that you have one spade for sure, five ♣ K73
hearts, two diamonds and two clubs giving ♠ 83 ♠ Q 10 9 4
You are declarer in 3NT and West leads the
you ten tricks and your contract. Ducking the ♥ KJ743 N ♥ Q8
♣6. How do you plan the play?
first lead was unnecessary and, in any case, ♦ A2 W E ♦ 874
S
A quick tally of the tricks available shows it achieves precisely nothing. Even if West had ♣ J982 ♣ Q 10 6 4
three spades, one heart, one diamond and a led away from the king, you would expect to ♠ K752
club. You thus need only three more diamond lose a diamond later. Ducking the first trick is ♥ 10 9 6 5
tricks to fulfil your contract. a kneejerk reaction and could be fatal. ♦ KQ3
♣ A5
Obviously, you can achieve this regardless of
whether the diamond finesse works. What is
3. ♠ 762
the problem? If the danger suit – clubs –
♥ K76 You are declarer in 3NT and West leads the
breaks 5-2 then the defenders might be able
♦ 82 ♥4. How do you plan the play?
to take four club tricks together with the
♣ A9864
diamond king. Clearly, there is no problem if If you solved problem 1, you will have
♠ AJ954 ♠ 10 8
clubs break 4-3. To cater for the 5-2 break, probably solved this one too. You can be sure
♥ 92 N ♥ J 10 5 4 3
you should rise with the ace at trick one, W E of making four diamond tricks once the ace
♦ J975 ♦ Q 10 4
hoping to block the suit if East started with a S has gone. Those four tricks, together with two
♣ 73 ♣ K52
doubleton king or queen. spades, one heart and two clubs, will give you
♠ KQ3
enough to make your contract. The danger, of
While it is true that ducking would work better ♥ AQ8
course, is that hearts might break 5-2 and
if West started with both the king and queen ♦ AK63
you lose not only the ace of diamonds but
of clubs, he is twice as likely to hold either ♣ Q J 10
four hearts as well. Do you want to hold up
K-10-x-x-x or Q-10-x-x-x as K-Q-x-x-x. This
the ace of hearts in case West holds five
makes the blocking play of rising with the ace
hearts and East the ace of diamonds?
a clear favourite. You are declarer in 3NT. West leads the ♠5
and East follows with the ♠10. How do you Think about West’s likely five-card heart suit.
plan the play? He cannot have K-Q-J-x-x or he would have
started with the king, a normal ‘top of
2. ♠ K73 You deduce from the lead and the Rule of
sequence’ lead, which means that any
♥ AQ82 Eleven that West started with four or five
doubleton for East must include an honour
♦ A76 spades and that East has two spades higher
(possibly two honours.) In any case, by
♣ 864 than the five. A count of winners tells you that
playing the ace from dummy at trick one you
♠ J9854 ♠ A 10 6 you can afford to lose a club because with
can guarantee to block the suit if the lead is
♥ 73 N ♥ 10 4 one spade, three hearts and two diamonds
W E from a five-card suit – it will not matter who
♦ 2 S
♦ K 10 9 8 4 3 you need only three clubs for your contract.
holds the ace of diamonds. If, instead, the
♣ K 10 7 3 2 ♣ 95 The club finesse might work, of course, in
hearts break 4-3, the only tricks you can lose
♠ Q2 which case you will make a load of tricks, but
are three hearts and a diamond.
♥ KJ965 you have to be a bit careful in case it loses.
♦ QJ5 Suppose you win the first spade, lose the club All the hands in this issue relate to making the
♣ AQJ finesse to East and get a spade back. Then, if right move at trick one, the time where so
West had started with five spades, you would many people go wrong. ■

Page 42

e careful when ruffing as declarer
B – you would prefer not to suffer
an overruff, so ruff as high as you
can afford. If you have five or six high
trumps and plan only one ruff, you ruff
high because you will still have enough
high trumps to draw trumps.
♠ KQ97
♥ J 10
♦ J 10 6 4 3
♣ K3
♠ J 10 6 ♠ 8542
N
♥ 985 W E ♥ 3
S
♦ A ♦ KQ9875
♣ 10 9 8 6 5 4 ♣ AQ
♠ A3
♥ AKQ7642
♦ 2
♣ J72
Contract: 4♥. Lead: ♦A.
West leads the ace of diamonds and
switches to the ten of clubs. You decide
to play the king from dummy. East takes
the ace, cashes the queen and leads the
king of diamonds. Of course, with the
warning title and preliminary paragraph,
you should not go wrong, but I am sure
that some would. They would ruff the
diamond lazily with a small trump and
complain of the awful distribution when
West overruffed.
The distribution is strange, but that is
no excuse to go down. You have five top
trumps and there are only four trumps
out, so you have at least one spare. You
ruff the fourth trick with the ace
(flamboyant!) and lead a trump to the
jack. When all follow, you can overtake
the ten with your king before drawing
the third and final missing trump with
the queen. You make an easy ten tricks
instead of a lazy nine tricks if you get
overruffed.
Bernard Magee Says
Ruff as High as
You Can Afford
Here is another example:
♠ A94
♥ 32
♦ 10 9 8 7 5
♣ Q64
♠ 32 ♠ 875
♥ Q J 10 7 6 N ♥ 98
W E
♦ K6 S ♦ QJ32
♣ A983 ♣ K J 10 7
♠ K Q J 10 6
♥ AK54
♦ A4
♣ 52
Contract: 4♠. Lead: ♥Q.
You have three losers in the minors, so
you need to avoid losing any major-suit
tricks. This means you need to ruff two
hearts in dummy: eight top tricks and
two ruffs comes to ten. You have four
top trumps in hand that are surely
enough to draw trumps with, so you
should make sure that you ruff your two
heart losers with top trumps (the nine
and ace) to avoid any overruffs.
You win the first trick with the ace of
hearts and continue with the king and
then a third heart. You ruff this with the
nine of spades and cross back to the ace
of diamonds. Then you ruff your last
heart with the ace of spades, finally
drawing trumps to claim your ten tricks.
If you make the lazy mistake of ruffing
the third heart with the four, East will
overruff and your contract will be
defeated.
So, whether the opponents force you
to ruff or you make your own plan to
ruff, you must take care when ruffing.
Bear in mind the advice: ‘ruff as high as
you can afford’. You need to think
carefully about the card you use to ruff –
it is not always right to ruff with your
highest card.
Page 43
♠
♥
♦
Q83
K84
J764
♣ AKQ
♠ 75 ♠ J 10 6
♥ Q6 N ♥ AJ9753
W E
♦ A852 S ♦ 93
♣ J9862 ♣ 10 7
♠ AK942
♥ 10 2
♦ K Q 10
♣ 543
Contract: 4♠. Lead: ♥Q.
West leads the queen of hearts. You
cover with dummy’s king, but East wins
with his ace, cashes the jack and
continues with the nine. Things are not
looking good: you have lost two hearts
and have to lose the ace of diamonds
too. West must be out of hearts, but if
you ruff high you will surely also have a
trump loser, so what should you do?
You ruff as high as you can afford.
Since ruffing with the ace or king gives
away a trump trick unless someone has
J-10 bare, you cannot afford to ruff that
high. Instead, you should ruff with the
nine of spades. On a lucky day, East
holds the jack and ten of spades. In this
case, your nine is high enough to win the
trick and allows you to draw trumps and
claim your contract. You lose just two
hearts and the ace of diamonds.
Conclusion
When taking ruffs as declarer, be careful
to avoid overruffs. Whether ruffing
yourself or being forced to ruff, it is vital
to ruff as high as you can afford. By
making an early plan you should be able
to work out how many high trumps you
require for drawing trumps and therefore
how high you can afford to ruff. ■

ength is strength – true – but it is
L not the be all and end all. On
many hands, suit quality counts.
The better your suit, the more likely it
will make a good trump suit – and the
more likely you are to bid it. How do
you feel about playing with a six-card
‘fit’? The idea does not appeal, does it?
Now suppose I tell you that the six
trumps are A-K-Q-J-10-x facing a void.
You surely feel differently about that.
You may know that quality counts for
overcalls and pre-emptive actions. It
should also count for other actions.
Culbertson made famous the idea of a
biddable suit. Yes – ‘some suits are more
equal than others’.
Hand A Hand B
♠ 93 ♠ AJ
♥ 85 ♥ K 10
♦ AQ985 ♦ Q8652
♣ AK72 ♣ K743
Hand A: you open 1♦, planning to rebid
2♣. You are happy to play in a minor
suit and to let partner, who may have
tenaces in the majors, play no-trumps.
Hand B: playing a weak no-trump, you
open 1NT. While the shape is the same as
in A, the honour location and suit quality
is very different. With over half your
points in the majors, opening 1NT is a
lesser lie than bidding both minors.
Hand C Hand D
♠ AKJ9 ♠ Q743
♥ K5 ♥ K 10
♦ Q985 ♦ AKJ5
♣ Q82 ♣ K74
Some say that, with a four-card major
and a four-card minor, you should open
the major. I think this is awful.
Julian Pottage Says
Quality
Counts
With a balanced hand (out of range for a
1NT opening), you open one of a suit
intending to rebid no-trumps at the
appropriate level. If you bid only one
suit, make it your best suit. With C, you
open 1♠. If you want to open 1♦, you
may as well give up playing four-card
majors! With D, you open 1♦.
Trying to open one of a major only
when you have a good suit is crucial to
finding 5-3 fits – if you open on bad
suits, partner will hesitate to raise
without four trumps. The benefits of
opening your better suit include:
1 You will find far more good 5-3 fits
than you would otherwise.
2 If partner is on lead and leads your
suit, it is likely to work well.
3 If you play in a 4-3 fit, it is likely to
be a good one.
4 If you miss a 4-4 fit, it is likely to be
a bad one.
Hand E Hand F
♠ Q7432 ♠ KQJ93
♥ A J 10 ♥ 64
♦ QJ5 ♦ QJ5
♣ K 10 ♣ A62
Sometimes you do not even open a five-
card major. If the suit is poor, as in E,
and you are in range for 1NT, open 1NT.
This describes your values and hand
type. With F, of course, you open 1♠.
You are happy to rebid the spades if
need be or for partner to lead the suit or
to regard spade length as an asset.
Hand G Hand H
♠ AKQJ93 ♠ AJ7432
♥ A8 ♥ A 10
♦ J752 ♦ KQJ5
♣ 6 ♣ 10
Page 44
What do you rebid on these hands if you
open 1♠ and partner responds 2♣? On
G, you jump to 3♠, showing the extra
values and extra spade length, and
ignoring the diamond ‘suit’. As Reese
said, ‘don’t bid bad suits on good
hands.’ With H, rebid 2♦. You might
want to play in diamonds with H or, at
any rate, let your partner know that you
have the suit well held.
Likewise, if partner opened 1♣, you
jump to 2♠ on G but bid a simple 1♠
on H. With G, you know spades is a
playable trump suit and that you are
most unlikely to belong in diamonds.
With H, far more options remain open.
For competitive decisions, the Rule of
Total Tricks is a good guide. Even so, on
many marginal hands, quality counts.
Hand J Hand K
♠ J743 ♠ J743
♥ K Q 10 4 ♥ 10 7 6 4
♦ 765 ♦ QJ5
♣ J 10 ♣ K 10
West North East South
1♥ Pass
2♥ 3♦ Pass Pass
?
With J, bid 3♥. Your hand appears
useless defensively. If 3♥ goes down, 3♦
is surely making. You will often have a
5-4 fit (or a 4-4 fit in both majors) if
partner knows not to rush into opening a
poor four-card major.
By contrast, with K, you should pass.
Your diamond holding may well be
worth a trick against 3♦ but is of dubious
value to your partner in 3♥. Moreover,
your weak hearts increase the risk of
trump losers in 3♥ and increase the
chance that your fit is only 4-4. 3♦ and
3♥ are unlikely both to be making.
Quality counts. ■
 Dave Huggett Says

Return
Partner’s Suit
o maxim should be too hard and Secondly, declarer probably has only two This all tells you the lead just has to be a

N fast, but the fact remains that

you should consider returning
partner’s suit (i.e. playing back the suit
spades or he would have held up a round.
Thirdly, a count of the points (North: 14,
East: 10, South 12-14) reveals that West
singleton. So East wins and returns the
lowly four of hearts to ask for the lower
of the other two suits, clubs, to be led
partner led initially) almost all the time. can have no more than four points. With when West ruffs. This way, the
The premise is that the person who leads the queen of spades, he cannot have a top defenders engineer the first four tricks.
the suit must have some idea as to how heart. So East should return the nine of It is easy to get too ‘busy’, to ill effect,
the defence might go. So, unless there is spades and declarer will have no chance. when a passive defence would give
strong contrary evidence, it is as well to Returning partner’s suit against a suit nothing away. Consider the following:
go along with it. Take the following contract can be a good idea for many
deal: reasons. The next deal shows one:
♠ A 10 7
♥ J95
♠ A7 ♠ KQJ6 ♦ A73
♥ J52 ♥ 10 9 7 3 ♣ QJ63
♦ KJ76 ♦ 54 ♠ J83 ♠ Q654
♣ KQ75 ♣ KJ7 ♥ A64 N ♥ Q 10 8 2
W E
♠ Q 10 8 6 5 2 ♠ J93 ♠ 10 4 2 ♠ 5 ♦ J 10 9 8 S
♦ 542
♥ 96 N ♥ Q 10 8 7 4 ♥ 2 N ♥ AJ854 ♣ 10 5 2 ♣ A7
W E W E
♦ 8 S
♦ AQ3 ♦ 9876 S ♦ Q J 10 2 ♠ K 92
♣ 10 9 4 2 ♣ J8 ♣ 10 8 6 4 2 ♣ A53 ♥ K 73
♠ K4 ♠ A9873 ♦ K Q6
♥ AK3 ♥ KQ6 ♣ K 984
♦ 10 9 5 4 2 ♦ AK3
♣ A63 ♣ Q9
West North East South
1NT
West North East South West North East South Pass 3NT End
1NT 1♠
Pass 3NT End Pass 3♠ Pass 4♠ West leads the jack of diamonds,
End conventionally showing no higher
West leads the six of spades, which honour. Declarer wins with the king in
declarer wins in hand with the king over 3NT is better, but normal bidding hand and leads a club to the queen,
the jack from East. He then runs the ten reaches 4♠. West leads the two of hearts which East wins with the ace. What
of diamonds, which loses to the queen. and dummy plays low. Should East should East do now?
What should East lead now? continue the suit, assuming he wins the Knowing declarer has diamonds well
It might look rather tempting to return first trick, or switch, no doubt to the stopped it looks tempting to switch to
a low heart at this point in the hope that queen of diamonds, in the hope that another suit, but that would be an error.
West holds a high honour there. Ideally, West holds the ace? West is marked with very few high cards
West would win, return the suit – and The answer lies in examining the lead and a switch, to spades or hearts, could
then, when in with the ace of diamonds, and trying to understand what possible – and does – give away a trick.
East would have a field day. holdings West could have. He cannot Although a club return would work, it
All this is pie in the sky because East have a doubleton because he would lead is better for partnership harmony to
knows – or should know – several high-low from such a holding. Nor can return a diamond. Declarer might still
things. First, West must have the spade he really have a three-card suit: it would make his contract but he does have a
queen as the Rule of Eleven tells East have to be K-Q-2 (I assume declarer number of losing options that he would
that South has only one spade higher plays the six) and, from that holding, the not have if East had got too ‘busy’ and
than the six, which we know is the king. king would be the lead. not returned his partner’s suit. ■

Page 45
 Jeremy Dhondy Says

Add Three Points

in the
Protective Seat
hat do you do with hands A

W
West North East South West North East South
and B if an opponent opens 1♥ 1♥ Dbl Pass
1♦? A is a take-out double in Pass Pass Dbl Pass ?
any seat; B is weaker. ?

Now partner may have a good hand but ♠ KJ7

Hand A Hand B you have to cater for him to hold a ♥ 54 N
W E
♠ KQ76 ♠ QJ43 shapely nine count. This means you must ♦ AJ975 S

♥ K976 ♥ Q 10 5 4 adjust your actions. 1NT after partner’s ♣ Q98

♦ J3 ♦ 5 protective double might show about 9-12
♣ AJ5 ♣ KJ86 points, about 3 points stronger than
before. A typical example might be hand You are too good for 2♦, which you
D. If you held C with about 6-8 points, might bid with almost no values, so bid
West North East South you should bid 2♦. A bid of 1NT is too 3♦. If, however, 1♥ had been on your
1♦ Pass Pass likely to encourage partner to bid again right and, after two passes, your partner
? when no game is available. reopens with a double, you bid 2♦. You
If your right-hand opponent opened adjust down by about three points to
B is indeed weaker and worth a double 1♥ and you had a fair hand with hearts, allow for the possible lightness of the re-
only in fourth seat. If you add three you might overcall 1NT. This would opening double.
points, it becomes a minimum double in tend to be strong, perhaps 15-18 points. If partner bids a suit in fourth seat, you
second seat. Since you should double Hand E would be typical. must take care. Suppose things start:
here with A and B, you and your partner
need to work out what later bids show. West North East South
What is the minimum to protect on in Hand E Hand F 1♥
fourth seat? Many players use the ♠ K7 ♠ K7 Pass Pass 1♠ Pass
principle of the “transferred king.” What ♥ KJ85 ♥ QJ97 ?
this means is that they will bid on a king ♦ AQ43 ♦ K975
less than they would in second seat and ♣ K86 ♣ K86
expect partner to adjust accordingly. Hand G Hand H
♠ 54 ♠ AQ876
Now suppose the auction went: ♥ KJ97 ♥ 65
Hand C Hand D ♦ K43 ♦ Q72
♠ 54 ♠ 54 West North East South ♣ AK83 ♣ 10 9 4
♥ KJ97 ♥ KJ97 1♥ Pass Pass
♦ Q 10 4 3 ♦ AJ76 1NT
♣ Q98 ♣ Q98 With G, you passed over 1♥ as you were
Most people play this 1NT bid as a too weak to bid 1NT. Partner has now
weaker hand (say 12-14 points) such as F. protected so what do you do? Of course,
West North East South If you held hand E, you would be too he might hold a hand on which he would
1♥ Dbl Pass strong to bid 1NT in fourth seat and bid 1♠ in any position. Such a hand
? would double first. would make game likely opposite yours.
Partner has to allow for this and Then again, he might have hand H.
You may prefer 1NT on C to 2♦ because should have about three points more to As you do not want to be in game on
of the heart holding. Partner will expect invite game than he would need if you these hands, mentally deduct about three
about 6-9 points for this bid. If you had overcalled 1NT in second seat. points to allow for the protection and bid
made the hand a bit stronger, as in D, The same rule applies when your 2NT. Those who call 3NT are likely to
you would be too strong to bid 1NT. You side’s bid is in a suit after the double. end up (i) disappointed and (ii) with a
would bid 2NT, showing about 10-12. Suppose the auction starts like this: minus score. ■

Page 46
 ANSWERS TO THE DEFENCE QUIZ ON
PAGE 22 by JULIAN POTTAGE
You lead the ♣J: two, five, ace. Declarer now Had you played the king on the jack, there
1. ♠ J87 leads the ♦10. What do you do? would have been an almighty crash of your
♥ AJ2 king and partner’s queen under the ace. This
On the first deal, covering the queen – the
♦ AJ982 would have destroyed your side’s trump trick
card only one rank below the king – might not
♣ Q7 and allowed declarer to get home, losing just
have been so difficult. This time, declarer has
♠ 95 ♠ 10 6 4 2 one trick in each of the side suits. It is a
N led the lowlier ten. Do you want to see what
♥ 8743 W E ♥ 10 6 5 different story when you play low on the first
S happens if you duck? Partner wins with the
♦ K74 ♦ 10 6 3 trump and the queen wins (or declarer puts
queen (ducking does not help) and leads
♣ J 10 9 6 ♣ K52 up dummy’s ace and knocks out your king).
some other suit. Declarer regains the lead in
♠ AKQ3 Since the diamond finesse will lose to the
hand and plays another diamond. A finesse
♥ KQ9 king, your side scores a trick in each suit.
of the jack then picks up the suit. Your
♦ Q5
opponent makes four diamond tricks and Note that if you held Q-8-5 rather than K-8-5,
♣ A843
loses just one. Now try covering the ten with it would equally be correct not to cover. There
the king. After the ace captures the king, would then be the added reason that
partner has the Q-9 as a tenace over declarer might hold K-J-10-x-x and not
West North East South
dummy’s J-8. Whether declarer plays to the actually intend to finesse you for the queen.
2NT
eight or the jack on the second round, partner
Pass 6NT End
makes two tricks. Covering gains if partner
has Q-9-x and can never lose when South is 4. ♠ Q 10 4
You lead the ♣J, covered all around. Declarer
short in the suit. ♥ J6
now leads the ♦Q. What do you do?
♦ A J 10 9 6 4
It is easy to think, ‘the ace is over my king; my ♣ J9
king will not make it if I play it; I shall hang on 3. ♠ A762 ♠ 532 ♠ AK76
to it.’ While it is true that your king is not going ♥ J7 ♥ 54 N ♥ K Q 10 9 3
W E
to make, when you play it determines the fate ♦ Q J 10 6 2 ♦ K852 S ♦ 7
of the ten. ♣ Q2 ♣ 10 8 7 4 ♣ 632
♠ K85 ♠ Q ♠ J98
Playing your king on the queen means
♥ A84 N ♥ 10 6 5 2 ♥ A872
declarer has to use two honours to win the W E
♦ K7 S ♦ 9843 ♦ Q3
trick – the queen and ace – partner’s ten wins
♣ J 10 9 6 4 ♣ K753 ♣ AKQ5
later. If you duck, the queen wins the first
♠ J 10 9 4 3
round, the jack the second and the ace the
♥ KQ93
third – slam made.
♦ A5 West North East South
Yes, if declarer has the ten of diamonds to go ♣ A8 1♥ 1NT
with the queen, covering will not help – but Pass 3NT End
then the slam makes, whatever you do.
West North East South You lead the ♥5. Partner wins with the nine,
1♠ cashes the ♠K and reverts to hearts, leading
2. ♠ K7 Pass 3♠ Pass 4♠ the king. Declarer wins and leads the ♦Q.
♥ 972 End What do you do?
♦ AJ862
As on the previous deal, you can visualise all
♣ Q72 You lead the ♣J, covered all around. Declarer
the high spot cards in the key suit. If you cover
♠ J5 ♠ Q 10 6 2 now leads the ♠J. What do you do?
the queen with the king, you cannot promote
♥ Q84 N ♥ 10 6 5
W E You should not be covering honours just anything in your hand or partner’s.
♦ K74 S ♦ Q93
because you once heard someone say that
♣ J 10 9 6 3 ♣ K54 What you should do is duck and hope that
you should do so. The idea is that by covering
♠ A9843 partner has a diamond. With only a doubleton
you promote a lower honour or high spot
♥ AKJ3 diamond, declarer can run the queen on the
card (a ten on the first deal and a nine on the
♦ 10 5 first round and finesse once thereafter. With no
second) to trick-taking rank.
♣ A8 more diamonds to lead from hand, this is the
Here you know you cannot promote anything. end to finessing against your king. You have the
Your own eight is too lowly to promote while king well-enough guarded to ensure a stopper
West North East South partner, who must be very short in spades on – it ‘cannot be caught’. Declarer cannot afford
1♠ the bidding, cannot have anything either. You to knock out the king because you can put your
Pass 2♦ Pass 2♥ should play low. The benefit of ducking partner in with the ace of spades to run the
Pass 2♠ Pass 3NT becomes clear when partner wins with the hearts. The best your opponent can do is to
End singleton queen. cash out for down one. ■

Page 47