BRIDGE

Number One Hundred and Three

.

Winter 2010

Hand 1

Hand 2

PRIZE BIDDING QUIZ

At love all, playing Acol with a 12-14 no-trump, what would you open as dealer
on each of the above hands? Use the form on page 39 to send in your answer.
 Fjord, Norway

Ancient City of Petra, Jordan Venice, Italy Ephesus Theatre, Turkey The Giant’s Causeway, County Antrim

Summer 2011 – Exceptional Cruises aboard Minerva

At Swan Hellenic we go further and dig deeper. Our onboard Guest Speakers and excursions ashore help you gain fascinating insights.
You travel in country house-style comfort with no more than 320 like-minded passengers and dine in the restaurant of your choice with
your friends. Be assured of excellent value for money, including tailor-made shore excursions and all tips on board and ashore. Travel with
a renowned British company, established in 1954, and enjoy an experience that will live with you forever.
Mr Bridge – All passengers who have booked and registered through Mr Bridge will be eligible to partake in the exclusive late afternoon
duplicate sessions, held on days when the ship is at sea. There is no Bridge supplement as, like most of the excursions, it is included in the
price. Mr Bridge actively encourages singles to join the party and they will always be found a partner for a game.
Departs Cruise No. of days Inside from
Mar 16 ANCIENT CITIES IN THE SAND
Muscat, Sur, Salalah, Massawa, Safaga, Sharm El Sheikh, Aqaba
15 £1,330pp*
2011
Mar 30 CRUSADES OF THE LEVANT
Aqaba, El Sokhna, Suez Canal Transit, Alexandria, Beirut, Tartous, Latakia, Alanya, Antalya, Piraeus
15 £1,845pp*
FLOWERS OF THE AEGEAN
Apr 13 Piraeus, Corinth Canal Transit, Katakolon, Kalamata, Monemvasia, Aghios Nikolaos, Delos, Tinos, Symi, Rhodes, 15 £1,775pp*
Fethiye, Bodrum, Kusadasi, Dardanelles Transit, Istanbul
GREECE AND THE ADRIATIC
Apr 27 Istanbul, Santorini, Souda Bay, Nauplia, Corinth Canal Transit, Itea, Preveza, Sarande, Dubrovnik, 15 £1,895pp*
Korcula and Stari Grad, Rovinj, Venice

May 11 AN ITALIAN SERENADE 15 £1,965pp*

Venice, Ravenna, Kotor, Crotone, Palermo, Cagliari, Naples, Gaeta, Bonifacio, Civitavecchia

May 25 A MEDITERRANEAN PALETTE 15 £1,775pp*

Civitavecchia, Portovenere, Livorno, Nice, Sete, Barcelona, Alicante, Tangier, Seville, Lisbon

Jun 08 RIVERS AND VINEYARDS 15 £1,695pp*

Lisbon, Oporto, Gijon, Bilbao, Bordeaux, St. Peter Port, St. Malo, Rouen, Portsmouth
NO FLY CRUISES FROM PORTSMOUTH
FREE complimentary pre and post cruise coach transfers from London Victoria Coach Station, Southampton Airport, Bournemouth and
Poole Railway Stations. Reduced Rates on Pre cruise stay and Parking also available, see page 21 of the new Winter 2011/12 brochure for further details.
COAST OF A KINGDOM
Jun 22 Portsmouth, Leith, Kirkwall, Scrabster, Dunvegan, Tobermory, Portrush, Cobh, Pembroke, Isles of Scilly, Falmouth, 15 £1,875pp*
St. Peter Port, Portsmouth

Jul 06 EMPIRES OF THE BALTIC 16 £1,995pp*

Portsmouth, Elsinore, Karlskrona, Stockholm, Helsinki, St. Petersburg, Tallinn, Ronne, Kiel Canal Transit, Portsmouth

Jul 21 CALL OF THE ARCTIC TERN 16 £1,895pp*

Portsmouth, Dublin, St. Kilda, Reykjavik, Isafjordur, Siglufjordur, Akureyri, Torshavn, Portsmouth
Aug 05 THE NORWEGIAN FJORDS
Portsmouth, Farsund, Stavanger, Hardangerfjord, Flåm, Olden, Åndalsnes, Trondheim, Ålesund, Geiranger, Bergen, 15 £1,895pp*
Portsmouth

*Guarantee Fares – Cabin number will be allocated approximately 3 weeks prior to departure. For passengers interested in a higher grade or single cabin, please contact our friendly team who
will gladly assist with current availability and fares.

01483 489961
for brochures and bookings
Fares shown are per person based on two people sharing an inside category 12 cabin. Prices apply to new bookings only, are subject to availability, are capacity controlled and
may be withdrawn at any time. Booking terms and conditions apply. Travel insurance not included. Swan Hellenic is a trading name of All Leisure Holidays Limited ABTA
W0392 ATOL 3897. Only bookings made directly with Mr Bridge guarantee participation in the onboard Mr Bridge programme, subject to availability.
 FEATURES 6 Tunisia

BRIDGE 3 Bidding Quiz

5
by Bernard Magee
7 Egypt 2011

8 Bernard Magee’s
Bridge Quiz Book
BIDDING QUIZ
by Bernard Magee

Publisher and
Managing Editor 11 Double Dummy Quiz
by Richard Wheen
9 Credit Card Y ou are West in the auc-
tions below, playing
'Standard Acol' with a weak
Mr Bridge 10 Bernard Magee’s no-trump (12-14 points) and
Ryden Grange 15 Julian Pottage says Quiz and Puzzle Book four-card majors.
Knaphill, Surrey Raise a Forced (Answers on page 38)
11 Bernard Magee
GU21 2TH Bid Cautiously
Tips for Better Bridge
1. Dealer East. Love All.
( 01483 489961 17 David Stevenson
12 Bernard Magee ♠ QJ76
Answers Your Questions
at Haslemere Hall ™ 98
e-mail:
21 Bernard Magee says © AJ954
bridge@mrbridge.co.uk 13 Just Bridge
Bidding Two Suits ® 98
website: Shows Five Cards in 14 Bernatd Magee’s
the First West North East South
www.mrbridge.co.uk Interactive
1© Pass
Tutorial Software
22 Dave Huggett says ?
Associate Editor A Reverse Shows a 16 Voyages of Discovery
Julian Pottage Strong Hand and the Winter 2010/11 Cruises 2. Dealer East. Game All.
Right Shape ♠ AJ987
Technical Consultant 18 Duplicate Bridge ™ K42
Tony Gordon 23 Double Dummy Answer Rules Simplified © Q92
by Richard Wheen
19 Rubber/Chicago ® 98
Bridge Consultant
26 Julian Pottage Bridge Events
Bernard Magee Answers Your Questions West North East South
20 Bridge Weekends 1™ Pass
Proof Readers 29 Declarer Play Quiz with Bernard Magee 1♠ Pass 1NT Pass
Tony Richards by Dave Huggett ?
23 Christmas 2010
Danny Roth 30 Heather Dhondy says
3. Dealer East. Love All.
Hugh Williams Undertricks Matter 23 Single -Suited
♠ AJ96
Richard Wheen at Pairs Design Pens
™ 2
31 Your Questions 24 Voyages of Discovery © KQ73
Office Manager ® KJ87
and Suggestions 2011 Summer Cruises
Catrina Shackleton
33 Readers’ Letters 32 Charity Bridge Events West North East South
Events & Cruises 3™ Pass
33 Stamps
( 01483 489961 37 Defence Quiz ?
by Julian Pottage
Jessica Galt 36 Playing Cards
4. Dealer North. Love All.
Rachel Everett 38 Bidding Quiz Answers
39 Cut-out Form ♠ 964
Megan Riccio by Bernard Magee
Mail Order Form ™ AK75
Zoe Wright 43 Defence Quiz Answers © A9853
40 Global Travel Insurance
by Julian Pottage ® 2
Clubs & Charities 42
Maggie Axtell 45 Declarer Play Answers West North East South
2010/11 Bridge Breaks
by David Huggett 1♠ Dbl Pass
maggie@mrbridge.co.uk
44 Voyages of Discovery ?
46 Seven Days
Address Changes Winter 2011 Cruises
by Sally Brock
5. Dealer East. N/S Vul.
Elizabeth Bryan 47 2011 Bridge
ADVERTISEMENTS ♠ A 10 9 7 5
( 01483 485342 Players’ Diaries ™ K94
2 Summer 2011 © 2
48
All correspondence should on board mv Minerva ® J985
Luxury Folding
be addressed to Mr Bridge.
4 QPlus 9.1 Bridge Table
Please make sure that all West North East South
letters, e-mails and faxes 1™ Pass
carry full postal addresses 1♠ Pass 2© Pass
The views expressed in this publication are not
and telephone numbers. ?
necessarily those of the publisher or its Managing Editor.

Page 3
 Q PLUS 9.1
Still the very best Acol-playing Software available
FEATURES
l The Usual Friendly Interface
(see above)
l Hint and Help Buttons
– always at hand
l Easy Windows Installation
l Comprehensive Manual
l Rubber, Duplicate
and Teams Scoring
l Instant results
playing in teams mode
l 2,500 pre-played
hands for teams
l 2,000 pre-played hands
for match-pointed pairs
including 1,000 new hands
Check your pairs
W tronic friend would have
NE percentage and ranking
W Systems include: several
NE
versions of Acol, including
Bernard Magee’s system,
Standard American
or create your own.
l £84 including p&p
Make your cheque payable to
( 01483 489961
Happy BRIDGE reader,
Gill Smith of
Thames Ditton writes:
I love my QPlus Bridge. As
a learner, I always have a
faithful partner whenever
I want one. She is always
available (late at night too)
and she bids and plays
perfectly. She has never
kicked me under the table,
rolled her eyes or taken a
sharp intake of breath. If I
bid or play badly she is on
hand with sound advice yet
she doesn’t take offence
if I ignore it.
There is also a use which I
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS didn’t realise when I
l 8mb RAM l Pentium or equivalent bought the CD. It is the
facility to feed in the real
l CD-ROM l Windows XP or Vista hands that we deal, and see
how it would have bid and
played them. I have done
this on arriving home,
SECOND HAND usually cross with myself,
after a duplicate session.
OFFER My faithful friend gives me
a sensible perspective on
the matter. When playing
I still have some copies of Chicago or rubber at home,
at the end of the bidding
QPlus 8.8 that I have and playing a difficult
accepted in part exchange hand, I have opened up
my laptop and switched on
for the latest version. QPlus. With fellow learn-
ers, I have looked at hands
Excellent value at £54. and seen how our elec-
bid and played. We still
Order with absolute have lots to learn.
confidence.
I bracket my QPlus disc
together with the dish-
washer – an essential lux-
ury that I would find
difficult to live without.
and send to: Ryden Grange, Knaphill, Surrey GU21 2TH
www.mrbridge.co.uk/mrbridge-shop Fax 01483 797302
 SURPRISED
Life is full of surprises.
Certainly I never ever
expected to go into the
furniture trade. However, I
find myself awaiting delivery
of two very different types of
table, both designed and
made to my exacting and
precise specifications.
My luxury table, pictured on
the back cover, is really
lovely. Made from stained
and polished wood, it is both
stylish and solid. The
playing surface is covered
with a very hard wearing
mock-baize fabric.
Delivery of these will be in
late October but I am taking
orders now. Just ring or
email your order. As usual it
will not be processed until
we have labelled up your
table for delivery. £142
anywhere in the UK.
The club table is now in
stock. It is designed to have
a wider market than just
bridge. It is ideal for those
who need a second bridge
table when you have a party
at home. Indeed, ours serves
to extend the dining room
table when some of children
and grandchildren come for
Sunday lunch.
It has a strong metal frame,
and a padded working
surface with a good quality
black vinyl. £60 delivered
anywhere in the UK.
COMFY CHAIRS
I have perfected a chair to
match. Black metal, folding
with the same strong black
vinyl seat and back, both
padded. The seat of the
chair is higher than similar
types, and the back is more
upright and with a gentle
curve, as can be seen in the
picture below.
They are made to match the
club tables but complement
the luxury table if needs be.
The chairs will not be
available until the last week
of November. We will hold
your order before cashing
your cheque or charging
your card.
QPLUS
The QPlus bridge software
package continues to be the
Acol players’ best friend.
Not only is it the best Acol-
playing bridge software on
the market but it had great
graphics and a useful 52
page booklet. Be assured,
this incorporates most of the
technical information that
you might want.
I sell second-hand versions
of QPlus 8.8 for just £54.
This is a worthwhile saving
when buying something one
is not quite sure about.
SUPPORT
My back-up service to both
QPlus and Bernard Magee
software goes without
saying and I have trained
almost everyone in the
office to help with any
problems. Nothing is too
much trouble. If you want
help, just ask. It was all
gobbledegook to me once.
Page 5
REPLACEMENTS
If through constant use or
by accident, any of your
Bernard Magee software
CDs are damaged, return the
disc and send it with your
name and address together
with a cheque for £10. Do
not return your instructional
booklet or box in which the
CD came. You will be sent
a new disc and security
code by return.
TUTORIAL
SOFTWARE
Acol Bidding is intended for
those playing bridge but
who feel that they could
improve.
More Acol Bidding, will be
renamed next year as
Advanced Acol Bidding as it
is a much more appropriate
name. Why? Because it runs
on from Acol Bidding.
If you have to make a
choice between the two, I
suggest you start with Acol
Bidding. If you are going to
learn something, it would be
best to start at the
beginning.
Declarer Play.
Advanced Declarer Play.
Choose Declarer Play so
that you can grasped the
basic concepts fully before
buying the other discs.
Defence. This CD is about
just what it says it is. Being
by far the most neglected
part of the game, this
package will have
something of value, even for
county players.
Finally, if you could only
have one of these to
improve your game, then
your choice has to be
Defence.
All follow the same tutorial
style, with Bernard Magee’s
clarity a real boon.
COMING SOON
Begin Bridge software
with Bernard Magee.
BERNARD’S BOOKS
As you will gather, Bernard
Magee has been really busy
this year and hasn’t had time
to work on any new books.
However, there are four in
print to choose from:
Tips for Better Bridge.
65 tips to help you improve.
Bernard Magee. Quiz Book.
It is exactly what it says it is.
Quiz and Puzzle Book.
A unique publication in that
it has a whole variety of
different kinds of puzzles as
well as 80 bridge quizzes.
Hand Evaluation.
This is Bernard Magee’s
text book on bidding.
£14 each including postage
and packing. All 4 for £50.
DISCOVERY
BOOKINGS
Great news. From the start
of the next summer season,
number of inside and
outside cabins for twin
occupancy will be kept
available at the lead-in price,
to ensure that there are
sufficient numbers for the
duplicate evenings after first
sitting dinner. Those taking
up these cabins at the
special prices will be
expected to pay the bridge
supplement for one if not
both passengers and play
duplicate on some if not
every evening.
ASSURANCE
For bookings on board
Discovery, we are able to
match any advertised offer
in papers and periodicals or
by Voyages of Discovery
themselves. Please do
consult us first. Thank you.
RE-REGISTRATION
Re-registration is essential
to receive each and every
copy of BRIDGE. To extend
your registration please
telephone, email or write. It
helps to save a lot of
disappointment.
 YELLOW BOOK
Duplicate Bridge Rules
Simplified is back in print.
Hooray! This invaluable
AT THE ROYAL KENZ booklet is still only £5.95.
Club offer. 10 for £35.
TUNISIA 2010/2011 OVER SIMPLIFIED
DIRECTING
Could I please ask those of
you who are waiting for this
booklet to be patient for just
a little longer? Thank you.
JUNK MAIL
Most of us complain, at
some time or another, about
unsolicited mail. To stop
most of yours, you need to
register with:
Mailing Preference Service,
DMA. 70 Margaret Street,
London. W1W 8SS.
After three months most of it
should have dried up. You
can also do the same for
Two-week half-board telephone calls and faxes.
duplicate holidays NOT ALL BRIDGE
31 Oct – 14 Nov £749*
Tony and Jan Richards
Golf available
20 February – 6 March £749*
Bernard Magee
6 March – 20 March £749* If you have yet to try a
bridge holiday abroad, let
Chris Barrable and Ann Pearson me suggest one at the Royal
20 March – 3 April £749* Kenz, Port El Kantoui.
Chris Barrable and Ann Pearson There are several dates for
this tried and tested venue.
*per person half-board sharing a twin-bedded room and is inclusive
of bridge fees. Single supplement £6 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
the end of October 2010. 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. Golfers will find Tony and
Jan Richards, pictured
above, great company this
DETAILS & BOOKINGS coming November as they
( 01483 489961 really do enjoy both their
golf and their bridge.
Page 6
SATURDAY
My office is now open on
Saturday mornings. Readers
will be able to speak to me if
they wish, as the normal
bustle of the week is
completely absent. It is also
easier to have your cruise
and holiday questions
answered by Megan Riccio,
pictured here with her
daughter, Annabel.
BIDDING ANSWERS
Last issue, I asked what you
would open as dealer on the
following hands. Remember,
you are love all playing
Acol, 12-14 no-trump.
Hand 1
♠ A 10 9 7
™Q654
© K76
® 10 9
Answer: Pass
Hand 2
♠ AK8
™ QJ3
© 954
® K 10 7 2
Answer: 1NT
All quite straight forward.
Prizes have been sent to
most, but not all, correct
entries. Those without
legible addresses and those
sent in with no addresses at
all will not have heard for
obvious reasons.
Next time, entries by email
should include your full
postal details. The new
competition is on the front
cover. Do have a go. Entries
close 31 October 2010.
 UNAFFILIATED
There would appear to be
quite a few clubs who do not
wish to be part of the EBU
Universal Membership
scheme, so I will provide a
free notice board service for
clubs who wish to advertise.
This column will work in the
same way as the Charity
Events’ column.
MAGEE WEEKENDS
Because of his workload, the
number of his weekend
events for 2011 has been
reduced considerably. A full
list is published on page 20
together with the subjects he
plans to discuss.
...AND HIS CRUISES
Quite a change for Bernard
Magee in 2011 as he hosts
three entirely different
cruises, on Discovery, all
sailing out of Harwich. One
to magical Norway, one to St
Petersburg and another to
Lisbon. Ring for a brochure
to make your choice.
SHARM
Bernard Magee, pictured
above, really enjoyed this
year’s inaugural trip to Egypt
and is repeating it in 2011.
Price includes bridge, full
board, local wines and beer.
However old you are, you
are still young enough to
bathe in the Red Sea and
have a look at the corals and
fantastic underwater life.
SHETLAND SILVER
AT THE 5* KIROSEIZ
THREE CORNERS,
NA’AMA BAY,
EGYPT 2011
The earrings, dangly or A 5* spacious resort hotel complex with a friendly
otherwise, or the pendant atmosphere situated 3km from the resort centre of
and chain, illustrated above, Na’ama bay and a 15 minute courtesy bus ride from
or both make super the hotel’s private beach.
Christmas gifts and birthday
presents. Ring Ken Rae
on ( 01595 830275.
www.shetlandjewellery.com
QUIZ BOOK
Dealer South.
East-West Game.
Rubber Bridge.
♠ AK43
™ AK7
© J62
® 974
N
W E
S
♠ 86 Duplicate Bridge
™ Q63
© AQ75 with Bernard Magee
® AQJ3
17-31 January 2011 £1079*
South West North East All inclusive board includes: buffet-style breakfast,
1NT1 Pass 2® Pass lunch, dinner, snacks served at selected times
2© Pass 3NT All Pass between meals, ice cream served in the afternoon
1
strong no-trump (15–17) and afternoon tea. An unlimited amount of hot, soft
and alcoholic drinks (excluding international
West leads the ♠Q. brands and cocktails) served 10 am to midnight.
With a maximum of 32
The bridge itinerary consists of four seminars and
points and such uninviting
set hand sessions, a quiz with an answer session and
shape, North was happy to
a varied evening programme.
settle in an easy (?) 3NT.
Had he found an eight-card *per person full-board sharing a twin-bedded room and is inclusive
spade fit, he might have of bridge fees. Single supplement £220 per fortnight. These prices
are based on air travel from Gatwick. Flights from other airports are
looked for a slam. available at a supplement, Birmingham, Glasgow, Bristol, Cardiff,
So, 30 points, surely this Manchester and Newcastle.
is going to be easy? Seven This holiday is arranged in conjunction with Thomas Cook Holidays ATOL1179.
top tricks and plenty of
high cards in the minors.
Can we make certain of DETAILS & BOOKINGS
our contract?
(Answer on page 8.)
( 01483 489961
Page 7
 YOUR QUESTIONS TOO SLIPPERY
Bernard Magee’s This publication specialises
in providing answers. Julian
My card promotion has been
a huge success. Please see
Bridge Quiz Book Pottage is our resident expert
on bidding, play and defence.
the advertisement on page
37. The only complaint I
(Question on page 4) have had so far is that they
Send your letters or emails to:
julianpottage are too new. That is just how
@mrbridge.co.uk I like them. Indeed, they are
Dealer South. East-West Game. changed on my weekends
Rubber Bridge. On matters of the laws and
and cruises when they are
the etiquette of bridge, you
not so. However, I have
♠ AK43 should write to David
allowed a full refund on the
™ AK7 Stevenson or email him on:
return of 60 packs but that
© J62 davidstevenson
will be the last. They are
® 974 @mrbridge.co.uk
priced ultra competitively in
♠ Q J 10 9 5 ♠ 72 General matters should be order to promote the Mr
N
™ 10 8 4 2 W E
™ J95 sent to me at Ryden Grange. Bridge brand. These are the
© K9 S © 10 8 4 3 Do email me if you prefer: best quality cards on the
® K5 ® 10 8 6 2 mrbridge@mrbridge.co.uk market. When they are new,
♠ 86 but please also provide a they will be slippery. You
™ Q63 phone number. have been warned. Bar-
© AQ75 coded cards are available at
® AQJ3 the same price.

TEA TOWELS
South West North East As previously announced, I
1NT1 Pass 2® Pass no longer stock tea towels
2© Pass 3NT All Pass but with the club party
season imminent, you may
strong no-trump (15–17)
1
wish to know who does.
All matters relating to the
West leads the ♠Q.
club directory or charity You may order direct from
events should go to Maggie Art Screen Print, but do say
The only danger is a 5-2 spade break, making it possible to Axtell picture above. Email you heard it from Mr Bridge.
lose two minor suit kings and three spade tricks. So, maggie@mrbridge.co.uk ( 01287 637527. £5.95
assuming the worst (spades 5-2), we should duck the first each. Any four for only £19.
round so that East will be out of spades if we lose a minor DISCOUNTED Designs include:
suit king to his hand. STAMPS Ten Commanments
We need two extra tricks, but we must avoid West getting the If you still send greeting for Bridge Players
lead twice. That may not be easy – if West holds both minor cards and letters, do buy Life’s A Game
kings we cannot help it, but can we establish two tricks by your British postage stamps – but Bridge is Serious
losing to only one king? That is the crunch: we have to make from Clive Goff, whose
West play his king on thin air and so we need to lead up to
Traffic Signs
unusual service helps pay for for Bridge Players
an honour in dummy and the jack of diamonds is the only this publication and whose
one there.
support is much appreciated. WEAK TWOS
So win the second round of spades, cash the ace of Weak Twos and Defence to
diamonds and lead a small diamond towards dummy. If Weak Twos are being
West hops in with the king we have two more diamond tricks,
covered by our seminar
but if West ducks, we can simply switch to clubs and
programme only once in the
establish the ninth trick there. Of course, if East had held the
king of diamonds all along, he can do no harm, for he has coming year. As this
no spades left. convention is becoming
increasingly popular, even if
There are many other possible lines of play, but none of them you don’t wish to adapt your
are failsafe like the 100% method outlined above. game to include Weak Twos,
I really do recommend that
you should at least learn how
You may use these unused
Bernard Magee’s Bridge Quiz Book to defend against them.
British postage stamps to
is available at £14 including post and packing from
pay for any order under £15 Consider Weak Twos with
, Ryden Grange, Knaphill, Surrey GU21 2TH.
from our mail order list. Bernard Magee at the
( 01483 489961 www.mrbridge.co.uk ( 0208 422 4906 Chatsworth Hotel, Worthing
clive.goff@londonrugby.com 18-20 March 2011.

Page 8
 LITTLE VOICE BRIDGE WEEKLY
I appeal to all readers to save
their used stamps in support
This comes to you free every
Tuesday by email. In Credit Card
of Little Voice, a tiny charity addition to last minute
that does great work with bridge holiday opportunities,
children in Addis Ababa. you will find quiz questions,
and a tip of the week.
The seemingly worthless
pieces of paper are sold to QUIZ
stamp collectors. You and I
AND PUZZLE BOOK
play bridge; others collect
stamps. No difference really.
More details in the next issue.
Dealer South.
TALKING POINT Love All.
♠ KQ76
Slowly, the re-launch of my ™ AJ86
Credit Card gathers pace. © 75
The service provider is
MBNA. I ask you to take up
® KJ3 The Benefits
♠ A853

0%
one as a visual promotion of N
™ 72
W E for 12 months on balance transfers made
both card-playing and of S © A 10 6 in the first 90 days from the date your
Mr Bridge. It also works ® 10 9 8 2 account is opened (3% handling fee)
efficiently as a credit card as
you would expect it to.
The 2% loyalty spending
money is not provided by
MBNA but comes from my
South West North East
1NT1 Pass
2™ Pass
2® Pass
4™ All Pass
0% for 3 months* on card purchases from
the date your account is opened†

promotional budget, showing
your card will catch the eye
and provide great gossip
value, hopefully bringing
bridge to the attention of
some who had never given
the game a thought before.
Please consider taking-up
one of these. The 2% may be
put towards one of my
weekends, mail order
services or as a cheque from
me in favour of Discovery
Cruises when your final
balance is due.
15.9%APR
1
strong no-trump (15–17)
typical rate
Partner, West, leads the ♠2. (variable)
Declarer plays the ♠6 from
dummy at trick one.
One look at dummy suggests
that you will need a little Added Extras...
luck to defeat this contract – l Manage your account online
it is surprising that North did l No annual fee
not make a slam try.
l Free fraud protection and text alert service
What is partner’s lead? And l 24 hour customer helpline
where are your four tricks
l Free additional card holders for family members
going to come from?
(Answer on page 10.)
What do I need to apply?
l Personal details eg. home address

Credit Card l At least 3 years address history

l Details of your present employment
Terms and Conditions for your 2% l Details of any current borrowings
l Your bank account details
l Mr Bridge credit will be available for the value of 2% on retail spend
using your Mr Bridge credit card
l Mr Bridge reserves the right to cancel this offer at any time

l This offer applies to Mr Bridge MBNA credit cards used from 1 Jan 2010
To apply ( 0800 028 2440
l Credit statements will be sent out twice a year

l Only one credit per account

l There will be no monetary alternative to this offer
l Credit can only be used for payments made to Mr Bridge, in payment for
weekend events and/or mail order purchases
l Any credit given will be valid for 6 months only, or at the discretion
of Mr Bridge
and quote 31CVST2R
The credit card is issued by MBNA Europe Bank Limited, Registered Office: Stansfield House, Chester Business Park, Chester CH4 9QQ. Registered in
England number 2783251. Credit is available, subject to status, only to UK residents aged 18 or over. You cannot transfer balances from another MBNA
account. We will monitor or record some phone calls. MBNA’s consumer credit activities are licensed by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and our general
insurance activities are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) CP0909_SMP_MB_A
†
If you do not pay your balance in full we will use your payments to reduce lower rate balances before higher rate balances. If promotional rate balances
are the same we will repay them in the following order: first, the one with the earliest expiry date; if the expiry dates are the same then the one which
started first; if the expiry dates, and the start dates are the same then the one with the lowest standard rate. Promotional rates will no longer apply from
the beginning of any statement period during which you have breached your terms and conditions.
* From the date your account is opened.

Page 9
 WORTHING CLUB INSURANCE
Bernard Magee’s This is a litigious age and
committee members could
Quiz and Puzzle Book find themselves collectively
responsible for some
(Question on page 4)
currently unimaginable
incident, the possibility of
which is the very reason for
Dealer South. Love All.
taking out such a policy. In
these fraught days of health
♠ KQ76
and safety, we should all be
™ AJ86
alert and aware.
© 75
® KJ3 I have selected two new Every committee has a duty
♠ 2 ♠ A853 venues for 2011. The Grade to see that everyone is well
™ 10 9 5 N ™ 72 II listed Chatsworth Hotel in and truly protected, so that
W E
© J8432 S © A 10 6 The Steyne, pictured above, members do not have to feel
® Q764 ® 10 9 8 2 is the larger and Bernard embarrassed should they
♠ J 10 9 4 Magee will be hosting three have reason to sue the club
™ KQ43 events there in the course of committee for damages or
© KQ9 the year. proper compensation.
® A5 Things happen.
The subject matter of the
first event will be Weak Club members, at your next
Twos and Defence to Weak AGM, seek reassurance that
South West North East Twos in March. Even if you your committee has the club
1NT1 Pass 2® Pass
do not play Weak Twos covered, reminding them that
2™ Pass 4™ All Pass
yourself, they are becoming the terms of insurance of the
more and more popular, so it owner of the club premises,
strong no-trump (15-17)
1
is vital to grasp a few ideas will certainly not meet all
as to how to defend against the requirements of the club.
Partner leads the ♠2
this variation of basic Acol. If you already use Moore
and declarer plays the ♠6 from dummy.
Stephens, ask for your policy
to be included with the
You have very little chance of getting this contract down, with
partner having only a possible 3 points in his hand (dummy Mr Bridge group, as I hope
has 14 plus your 8 and declarer’s minimum 15 = 37). The only further to improve the terms
chance is that the lead is a singleton and you can give and conditions. However,
partner two spade ruffs. any change can only be
negotiated successfully
Win with the ♠A and play back a spade – but which one? when the group is larger.

It is very important to choose the right spade. In these
situations, the spade you play back tells partner what to lead
next – a high spade would ask for the higher non-trump suit,
a low spade would ask for the lower non-trump suit. You
Secondly, there is the cozy
have the ©A so you want him to play diamonds (the higher
suit), so you should play back the ♠8. and compact Ardington
Hotel, pictured above, which
Partner ruffs the spade and obeys your signal by returning a is opposite the Chatsworth in
diamond. You win and play back another spade for partner The Steyne.
to ruff and set the contract.
It will be used for all our
other events in Worthing
Your play at trick two (the ♠8) was a suit-preference signal;
including the rubber/Chicago
without it, partner would have been guessing and might well
weekends. Both the
have chosen a club, following the old maxim of leading
through dummy’s strength. Chatsworth and Ardington
are family owned hotels, just
like the Beach. It is my
belief that these new venues
Bernard Magee’s Quiz and Puzzle Book will enable our service to be
is available at £14 including post and packing from even better than before.
, Ryden Grange, Knaphill, Surrey GU21 2TH. Indeed, the change should be
( 01483 489961 www.mrbridge.co.uk noticeable only by way of
the perceived improvement.
The annual premium for
all bridge clubs is still only
£62.25.
Ring Moore Stephens on
( 0207 515 5270 and
please mention Mr Bridge.
TWITTER
Having started something, I
was stricken with a nasty
bug which laid me low for a
while and I failed to keep
this service going once I
had recovered.
Truth to tell, I forgot all
about it. Readers can be
assured that this failure
has now been rectified
and I have started regular
tweets albeit a little croaky-
spluttery-muttery.

Page 10
 DOUBLE DUMMY
by Richard Wheen
♠ Q32
™ 3
© 2
® 9
♠ 10 9 8 7 ♠ K65
™ J N ™ KQ
W E
S above, are great favourites
© Void © Void
® 8 ® 7
♠ AJ4
™ A2
© Void
® 6
North is on lead in a
no-trump contract and
North/South need to make
all six tricks against any
defence. How should you go
about it?
(Answer on page 23)
MINERVA
From spring 2011, there will
be a resident bridge host on
Swan Hellenic’s Minerva.
The host’s duty will be to
provide bridge, adjusted to
suit the numbers on board
who wish to play. Phone for
the Minerva brochure and
see the advert on page 2.
FIT FOR A QUEEN
Hebridian Princess, pictured
above, has been acquired by
Discovery Cruises and is
now part of their growing
fleet. It carries a maximum
of 49 passengers and was
recently chartered by HM
The Queen for her summer
hols. I shall be offering a
week onboard in 2013,
cruising round the Highlands
and Islands, from around
£1800 per person sharing.
Bernard Magee will be
hosting the onboard bridge.
Do telephone or write in to
register your interest.
BOXED PEN SETS
The ball pens, illustrated
both to give and to receive.
£19.95 per boxed set of four.
See form on page 39.
CHRISTMAS/
NEW YEAR
As the programme follows
the same format as previous
years, most of you will know
what to expect. If this is, as
yet, unknown to you, do ring
01483 489961 but if it is just
dates and timings you need,
then just turn to page 23.
CHRISTMAS
CRUISE
Once again there will be a
fair-sized group coming
together for the Christmas
cruise onboard Discovery, so
please don’t set yourself up
for a big disappointment by
leaving it too late to make a
booking. 18 days covering
both Christmas and New
Year, cruising across the
balmy Caribbean from
Havana to Barbados.
MY TIP
I am often asked to give tips
for better bridge. May I
make this suggestion. Buy
Bernard Magee’s book
Tips for Better Bridge. It is
a really readable read. Ideal
for players either for their
own enlightenment or to
give as a gift.
All 65 headings are listed on
the adjacent column. Most
make stand-alone sense, so
my tip is that you should cut
out and keep the list,
committing the headings to
memory and later on, relate
the solution to the problem
at the table when the
problem arises.
Page 11
Bernard Magee’s Tips
for Better Bridge
65 invaluable tips in 160 pages
Bidding Tips
1 Always consider bidding
spades if you can
2 Bid more aggressively
when non-vulnerable
3 Always double when the
opponents steal your deal
4 A take-out double shows
shortage in the suit doubled
5 ‘Borrow’ a king
to keep the auction open
6 After a penalty double, don’t
let the opponents escape
7 Halve the value of a singleton
honour when opening
8 Only add length-points for a
suit that might be useful
9 Isolated honours are bad
except in partner’s suit
10 Use the jump shift sparingly
11 Consider passing and letting
partner decide
12 You need two top honours
for a second-seat pre-empt
13 Put the brakes on if you have a
misfit
14 Strong and long minors work
well in no-trumps
15 One stop in the opponents’ suit
can be enough for no-trumps
16 Keep your two-level
responses up to strength
17 Use your normal methods in
response to a 1NT overcall
18 Don’t overcall just because
you have opening points
19 Overcalls can be quite weak, so
be prudent when responding
20 Weak overcalls must be based
on strong suits
21 6NT requires 33 points
not 4 aces and 4 kings
22 Raise immediately, if weak
with four-card support
23 In a competitive auction, show
support immediately
24 Bid to the level of your fit
quickly with weak hands
25 With strength and support,
use the opponents’ bid suit
Declarer-play Tips
26 When your contract depends
on a finesse, think ‘endplay’
27 Consider what a defender
might be thinking about
28 Always take your time
at trick one
29 Establish extra tricks before
cashing your winners
30 Use your opponents’
bidding to your advantage
31 Avoid the ‘baddie’
gaining the lead
32 Use the Rule of Seven when
holding up in no-trumps
£14 including postage and packing from Mr Bridge,
Ryden Grange, Knaphill, Surrey GU21 2TH. ( 01483 489961
33 A low lead usually promises
length and an honour
34 When declaring 1NT
try to be patient
35 Duck an early round when you
are short of entries
36 Lead up to your
two-honour holding
37 Do not always assume
a suit will break well
38 Drop a high card
to put off the defence
39 Play your highest card to
tempt a defender to cover
40 Draw trumps first unless you
have a good reason not to
41 Do not waste your trumps
42 Consider leaving a lone
defensive trump winner out
Defence Tips
43 Keep four-card suits intact
whenever possible
44 Give count on declarer’s leads
45 Keep the right cards
rather than signal
46 Take your time
when dummy is put down
47 High cards are for killing other
high cards
48 Do not waste
intermediate cards
49 Pick two key suits to
concentrate on during the play
50 If in doubt, cover an honour
with an honour
51 If a lead is from two honours,
it is best not to cover
52 Keep your honour to kill
dummy’s honour
53 Try to show partner
your solid honour sequences
54 Lead the normal card when
leading partner’s suit
55 Never underlead an ace at trick
one in a suit contract
56 Be wary of leading from
four cards to only one honour
57 Lead a higher card from
a suit without an honour
58 Lead through ‘beatable’
strength and up to weakness
59 Cash your winners before
trying for a trump promotion
60 Be patient when defending 1NT
61 Trump leads can be safe
throughout the play
General Tips
62 Do not put important cards
at either end of your hand
63 Avoid being declarer when
you are dummy
64 Before you lead ask for a
review of the auction
65 Enjoy the Game!
 LIVE AND UNCUT HAPPY FAMILIES
Bernard Magee will be
Bernard Magee giving a series of six self-
contained seminars over
three days at Haslemere Hall
Haslemere Hall as part of the 2011
‘Haslemere Festival’. Full
details are provided in the
adjacent advertisement.
17 – 19 May 2011 Each of these seminars is
being filmed. Try to come to
at least one. Do book well in
advance to avoid Leanora, pictured above, is
Tuesday 17 May disappointment. Haslemere
will be quite busy during the
going on maternity leave but
will continue to be involved
festival fortnight, so if you from afar with strategic
Morning Session: 11.00 – 12.30 are planning to come any planning as part of the long
Ruffing for extra tricks distance, be sure to book-up term continuity plan for the
your hotel or bed and Mr Bridge Organisation.
breakfast accommodation
Afternoon Session: 15.30 – 17.00 early. For those coming on a
Competitive auctions day trip, there are lots of
eateries around the town.

WAKE OF THE
BEAGLE
Wednesday 18 May At the end of January, I am
flying out to Buenos Aires
Morning Session: 11.00 – 12.30 with Mrs Bridge to once
Making the most of your high again join Discovery.
I look forward to seeing the
cards in play and defence Falkland Islands and sailing She is being replaced by
round Cape Horn and Catrina Shackleton, who has
Afternoon Session: 15.30 – 17.00 viewing the odd iceberg already been her understudy
while cruising through the
Finding and bidding slams Chilean Fjords. Magic.
for the past three months. I
have every confidence she
will fit in really well. You
2011 DIARIES may email her on:
Thursday 19 May catrina@mrbridge.co.uk

RUBBER BRIDGE
Morning Session: 11.00 – 12.30
Play and defence of 1NT

Afternoon Session: 15.30 – 17.00

Doubling and defence
against doubled contracts 2011 diaries are now in
stock. The standard covers
are in a choice of bright red
or navy blue. The luxury
£10 per ticket version is covered in bottle
For advanced booking, please call green or ruby red kidrell and Rubber/Chicago weekend
Haslemere Hall Box Office fitted with a useful ballpoint events for 2011 are
pen. See the order form.
( 01428 642161 CHARITY CUP DATE
advertised collectively on the
adjacent page. These are
structured for those who
Please note that all sessions will be filmed. The 2011 heats will be held enjoy the leisurely social
on Thursday, 17 March. bridge that this allows.

Page 12
HOLIDAY COVER
Do remember you need to
have holiday insurance if
you want to make a cruise
booking. So find out what
insurance is available, if any,
as well as the cost, before
getting too excited, as
obtaining cover on
reasonable terms is
becoming more and more
difficult. Global Travel
advertise in these pages.
Please mention Mr Bridge if
you use their services.
CHARITY EVENTS
On page 35 are featured all
the coming bridge events for
good causes known to me.
There must be others.
Contact me now so that
they may be included in the
2011 listings.
Do remember, I am always
happy to provide prizes, all
you have to do is ask.
Readers, please support these
events as and when you can.
DISCOVERY 2012
2012 sees Discovery visiting
the Far East and Japan,
ending up in Manila. The
next leg continues down
through the Philippines, all
the way to Sydney, where a
number of passengers on that
cruise will leave the ship to
stay with family and friends,
so would-be passengers
should take a credit for the
cruise flight from the cruise
price and make their own
way home at a time to suit
themselves. The same
applies but in reverse for
those joining the ship for the
Sydney to Singapore leg.
PARTY TIME
JUST BRIDGE
I have a good quiz (not
bridge-based) which is ideal
for your coming club
Christmas party. Shock
horror! Don’t tell me you
don’t have one? You don’t?
Well, you still have time to
get one organised. Do let me
know and I will post you the
questions on one sheet for
you to photocopy and hand
out, and one sheet with the
answers. If you didn’t have
last year’s bridge-based quiz
then I can send you that one
too with the questions and
answers in the same manner.
No excuses now. Scalford Hall, Melton Mowbray LE14 4UB
JUST BRIDGE © £165 full board. No single supplement
There does seem to be some © Six sessions of duplicate bridge
demand for Just Bridge
events, as mentioned in this © No prizes or masterpoints
column last month. Their © No tuition, seminars or quizzes, just bridge
development will be a hurry–
slowly affair as they cannot 28-30 January 25-27 February
be priced sensibly much
lower than those with tuition. 11-13 March 25-27 March
Leaving out lunches just
isn’t on, as a traditional 15-17 April
Sunday roast is what people
want and expect as part of _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BOOKING FORM _ _ _ _ _ _ _
such a weekend.
Please book me for .... places, Single ..... Double ..... Twin .....
IDEAS PLEASE
for the Just Bridge event(s) of ..........................................
It is said frequently that
there is nothing much new Mr/Mrs/Miss .....................................................................
under the sun. However, I
need to be reminded Address...............................................................................
sometimes about what there
is. Please help to enliven ............................................................................................
these pages further for the
enjoyment and enrichment of Postcode ............................................................................
other readers as well as
( ......................................................................................
advertisers, future players
and me. Special requirements (these cannot be guaranteed)
LAST MINUTE ...........................................................................................
Please send a non-returnable deposit of £50 per person per place by
When there are places
cheque, payable to Mr Bridge. An invoice for the balance will be
available at the last minute sent with your booking confirmation. On receipt of your final
on weekends or cruises, I payment, 28 days before the event, a programme and full details
will be offering them in my will be sent together with a map. Cancellations are not refundable.
new emag, Bridge Weekly. Should you require insurance, you should contact your own
Do register to avoid missing insurance broker.
what you might never have
known anything about, , Ryden Grange, Knaphill, Surrey GU21 2TH
especially singles willing ( 01483 489961 Fax 01483 797302
to share. e-mail: jessica@mrbridge.co.uk
website: www.holidaybridge.com
Page 13
 BERNARD
MAGEE’S
INTERACTIVE
TUTORIALS
ACOL MORE DECLARER PLAY ADVANCED
BIDDING (ADVANCED) DECLARER PLAY
l Suit Establishment
ACOL BIDDING
l Opening Bids and in No-trumps l Making Overtricks
Responses l Basics l Suit Establishment in No-trumps
l Slams and Strong l Advanced in Suits l Making Overtricks
Openings Basics l Hold-ups in Suit Contracts
l Support for Partner l Weak Twos l Ruffing for Extra l Endplays
l Pre-empting l Strong Hands Tricks l Avoidance
l Overcalls £64 l Defence l Entries l Wrong
£79
l No-trump to Weak Twos in No- £74 Contract
Openings l Defence trumps l Simple Squeezes
and Responses to 1NT £94 l Delaying l Counting the Hand
l Opener’s and l Doubles Drawing Trumps
l Trump Reductions
Responder’s Rebids l Two-suited Overcalls l Using the Lead & Coups
l Minors and Misfits l Defences to l Trump Control l Playing Doubled
l Doubles Other Systems l Endplays & Contracts
l Competitive l Misfits and Avoidance l Safety Plays
Auctions Distributional Hands l Using the Bidding

DEFENCE £74
l Lead vs No-trump Contracts l Attitude Signals
l Lead vs Suit Contracts l Discarding
l Partner of Leader vs No-trump Contracts l Defensive Plan
l Partner of Leader vs Suit Contracts l Stopping Declarer
l Count Signals l Counting the Hand

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

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

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

System Requirements: Windows XP, Vista or 7, 8mb RAM, CD-ROM

f you open one of a suit and partner
I
responds in a new suit, this shows
some values. Your opening was not
forcing, so partner could have passed
with a very weak hand. You can judge
how high to raise (if you like partner’s
suit) or what other action to take in the
knowledge that you are not facing a near
bust. This does not apply when you have
done something that has forced your
partner to bid. A common situation for
this is after you have made a take-out
double.
West North East South
1©
Dble Pass 1♠ Pass
? allowing three for the singleton, you
If you had opened (1® or 1™) and
partner had responded 1♠, you would
raise to 2♠ (if you like spades) with a
minimum opening hand. Indeed, you
would have to bid because partner’s
response would be forcing. The actual
position is different. You forced your
partner to bid, not the other way round.
You do not need to raise if you have a
minimum take-out double. Partner had
stronger actions available (a jump to 2♠
or a cue bid of 2© for instance). If you
have 12-14 HCP and a 4-4-1-4 shape,
you are not going to miss game by
passing 1♠.
The rule here is to bid one less than
you would if you had opened and
partner had responded. In other words, if
you would have raised to 2♠ after 1®-1♠,
you pass. If you would have raised to
3♠, you raise to 2♠. If you would have
raised to 4♠, you raise to 3♠. You need
an exceptionally good hand to justify
raising partner’s forced response all the
way to 4♠ – most hands that you would
open one of a suit will not be good
enough.
Let us see how this translates into
hands, losers and points.
Julian Pottage Says
Raise a Forced
Bid Cautiously
You may have noticed that the examples
West North East South
1© have had four-card spade support. Since
Dble Pass 1♠ Pass your double suggested support for the
? suit, partner will often have only four
spades. If you have a big hand (19+
points) but only three spades, you cue
Hand A Hand B bid opener’s suit (2©). This shows
♠ KJ63 ♠ KJ94 significant extra values but tends to deny
™ J85 ™ KQ92 primary support. Bear in mind as well
© 5 © K that sometimes partner has to bid a three-
® AK872 ®A932 card suit if holding four cards in the suit
opened and no other four-card suit!
Take-out double sequences are not the
With hand A you should pass. On the only situations in which you may have
losing trick count, you have seven losers forced partner to bid:
(two in spades, three in hearts and one in
each minor). Counting points, even
♠ AKQ74
have 15. On both types of valuation, this ™ K 10 5
hand is in the lower end of the range for © AQJ4
a take-out double. ® A
With hand B, you raise to 2♠. You are
a bit better than minimum. You have six
losers (two in each black suit and one in You Partner
each red suit). Point count is a little 2® 2©
harder to judge. I knock one point off for 2♠ 2NT
a singleton honour. This gives you 15 in 3© 3™
high cards plus three for the singleton to ?
total 18.
This is no time to launch into some sort of
Blackwood just because you like hearts.
Hand C Hand D Your first three bids were all forcing.
♠ KJ94 ♠ KQJ4 Partner has shown hearts, yes, but values,
™ KQ92 ™ KQ92 no. Indeed, the second negative (2NT)
© A © A definitely denied values. A simple raise to
® A932 ®A932 4™ does justice to the hand. You have
shown a huge hand already by opening
2®. Partner can infer your shortage in
On hand C, you raise to 3♠. This is a clubs from the later bidding. Partner
good hand with five losers and 20 actually held ™J-x-x-x-x and a bust,
points. Hand D is even better with four making 4™ the last making contract.
losers and 22 points. This is what you
need to bid 4♠. In summary: Summary
Simple raise: 16-18 points or six losers When you have forced your partner to
Jump raise: 19-20 points or five losers bid, raise cautiously. Usually you raise
Double jump: 21-23 points or four to one level lower than you would have
losers raised a voluntary bid. ■
Page 15
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Š—ȱ˜ž‘ȱ–Ž›’ŒŠȱ›˜–ȱ˜—•¢ȱǡŞşş™™
Join Discoveryȱ‘’œȱ’—Ž›ȱ˜ȱŽ¡™Ž›’Ž—ŒŽȱ‘Žȱ›Ž–Š›”Š‹•Žȱ‘’‘•’‘œȱ˜ȱ‘ŽȱŠ›’‹‹ŽŠ—ȱŠ—ȱŽ—“˜¢ȱœ™ŽŒŠŒž•Š›ȱœŠŸ’—œȱ
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Q
As West, I forgot
what defence we
were playing to
1NT:
West North East South
1NT1
2® 2
2© 2´ 3
Pass
3® 3© 4® 4©
5® Double End
1
12-14
2
Intended as natural. (West had
five clubs)
3
Bid after explaining 2® as
Landy (both majors)
When 5® doubled made,
North/South were furious.
They called the director
and claimed I had made
an illegal bid. They also
said they would not accept
any adjustment that gave
our side a plus score.
The director initially
allowed the result of 550
to stand. Our opponents
later telephoned the
director and said they
were still unhappy. The
director then adjusted the
score to an average minus
for us.
Peter Bramley,
Finstock, Oxon.
A
If you had
overcalled 2® with
only five clubs,
your partner had explained
it as ‘natural: shows clubs’
and then bid 2´, what
would you have done? With
DAVID STEVENSON answers questions on Bridge Laws
An Explanation
Jogs Partner’s
Memory
only five clubs you would
probably have passed. The
only reason you know
something has gone wrong
is his explanation and the
rules do not allow you to
use that. In fact, you have a
duty to go further and make
every effort not to gain from
his explanation.
If I had been the director,
I would have changed the
result back to a contract of
2´, going a few down I
suspect. When you receive
unauthorised information
from partner – an
unexpected explanation is
typical – you must strain not
to use it or to benefit in any
way. Clearly your 3® used
it and you benefitted from
his explanation.
I am afraid the director
did not handle things well.
Giving you average minus is
illegal.
More importantly, he
should not allow himself to
be bullied. If the opponents
did act as you said, I would
have fined them a
disciplinary penalty: their
actions are inexcusable.
Asking for a ruling is fine:
harassing the director is not.
®©™´
Q
I (South) opened
1™. My LHO
passed and my
partner bid 3´. I alerted
this bid and announced it
Page 17
as a splinter. My RHO
protested stating that I
should not have explained
the alert as I was conveying
to my partner what I
understood his bid to be.
Can you please tell me
whether my alert and
announcement were
incorrect?
Gordon Carr, Swanley, Kent.
A
Alerting was correct
– the bid was
conventional and
not above 3NT. The
announcement was incorrect.
Announcements apply only
in specific situations; this is
not one of them. It is never
correct to make an alert and
an announcement at the
same time.
Having alerted, you should
have waited for one of the
opponents to ask about
the bid and explained its
meaning only if they did.
®©™´
Q
As North, I dealt
and opened 1´,
holding 9 points
and 7 spades on ‘rule of
20’. We ended in 4´
doubled, which made 11
tricks.
Although neither
opponent commented, the
director came and asked
how many points I had.
After my reply, he said my
opening was in breach of
the rules, though went
quiet when I mentioned it
was a ‘rule of 20’ hand.
On rechecking, I found
that I had miscounted and
had only 19 opening points
(7 spades, 3 diamonds and
9 points).
1. Has the director the
authority to ask about a
player’s hand when there
has been no request from
opponents?
2. Was my opening bid
legal?
Glenn Rogers,
Brighouse, Yorkshire.
A
1. The director has
the authority to
investigate anything
he sees fit and can always
look at a player’s hand.
2. Your opening bid with
19 opening points was legal
and quite normal. I have no
idea how your director
arrived at his ruling.
Openings on nine points
and excellent distribution
have been part of the Acol
system for fifty years or
more.
David Stevenson answers
all queries based on the
facts supplied by the
letter writer.
Neither Mr Bridge nor
David Stevenson has any
way of knowing whether
those facts are correct or
complete.
 Ask David continued
Q A
My partner was in
3NT. In the play,
her LHO led the
ten of hearts. My partner
pulled out the nine. Then,
still holding the card, she
said ‘I have pulled out the
wrong card.’ She had
intended to play the queen.
As declarer and the last
player, could she have
done so?
Pauline Cope,
St Annes on Sea, Lancashire.
A
Certainly –
declarer’s card
counts as played
when she holds it touching
or nearly touching the table
– until that time she may
change it, whether for a
mechanical error or a change
of mind.
®©™´
Q
With no alerts or
announcements,
the bidding went:
West North East South
Pass 2™1 Pass Pass
3® 4™ End
1
Explained as weak
The director ruled that as
the explanation was correct
there was no penalty, even
though I would not have
reopened the bidding had I
suspected the opening was
a strong bid. 4™ made
when dummy put down a
9 count with ™Q-x-x.
Peter Taylor by email.
A
It is slightly strange
that you needed to
ask since all
opening bids of two of a suit
require an announcement or
alert, so why did responder
not say ‘Weak’? The ruling
is possible, but there are
worries. If opener believed
that they were playing twos
as strong, but non-forcing,
she only knows that a wheel
has come off when partner
explains it. That explanation
is unauthorised and she must
take no advantage, and the
director should adjust if he
feels she has.
Instead, if opener believed
they were playing Acol twos,
which are forcing, the pass
will tell her a wheel has
come off, and a 4™ rebid is
normal whatever happens.
Furthermore, the director
should try to find out what
they had really agreed. If
they were playing Acol twos,
but responder had forgotten,
you had the right to know
the system before your bid.
If you knew they were Acol
twos, you might easily have
passed if 2™ reached you, so
he should adjust because of
misinformation to 2™ +2.
®©™´
Q
As North (playing
a weak NT), I
held:
´ K 10 8 6
™ QJ
© K J 10 9
® Q J 10
West North East South
1NT Double 2®1
Pass 2© Pass 2™2
Pass ? rarer. This change has
1
Both minors
2
Anti systemic!
Clearly, the wheels have
come off. I thought that the
safest ethical thing to do
was to pass, which I did.
However, I suspected that
partner had not seen the
double and was bidding
Stayman so I would have
liked to bid 2´. What
should or can I do?
Incidentally, LHO ended
in 3©, going three down
vulnerable and was
unhappy with the situation,
saying he would have not
Page 18
have bid this after a
normal auction.
Helen Ackroyd,
St. Leonards, Dorset.
You can bid
anything you like.
If partner makes an
impossible bid then you can
make any deductions you
like. Of course, if you have
explained 2® correctly, the
opponents should also be
able to work out it is
impossible. The complaint
about the misbid has no
basis, I am afraid: making
mistakes is part of bridge.
Your opponents would have
a complaint if they had been
misinformed, but not for a
misbid.
®©™´
Q
Please remind me
about the legality
and rules for
alerting or announcing
weak take-outs or transfers
in response to 1NT.
Gordon Humble by email.
A
You may play any
system of responses
that you like to a
1NT opening, so people may
play a weak take-out or not
as they wish. A weak take-
out of 2©, 2™ or 2´ was
almost standard when I was
young; the growing use of
transfers has made this much
nothing to do with
announcing or alerting. All
responses are legal.
A transfer response of 2©
or 2™ requires an
announcement, a weak take-
out of 2©, 2™ or 2´ requires
DUPLICAT EBRIDGE
RULESSIMPLIFIED
(otherwiseknownastheYellowBook)
by John Rumbelow and revised by David Stevenson
NewEdition.Includes2008LawRevisions.
Availablefrom
neither an alert nor an
announcement; any other
meaning requires an alert.
®©™´
Q
South arrives in
4NT. West leads a
low diamond won
by South with the ©K.
´ A982
™ 75432
© A8
® K8
W
N
E
S
´ Q J 10
™ AJ6
© KQJ
® AQ76
When West regains the
lead, he continues
diamonds. Dummy wins
with the ace as declarer
discards a heart – revoke
number one.
A few tricks later,
declarer is back in dummy
and leads a heart,
discarding the ©Q whilst
still holding the ™J –
revoke number two.
David Drinkwater,
Staffordshire.
A
Each revoke is
treated and assessed
separately since
they are in different
suits. The first one is a one-
trick penalty since the revoke
card did not win the trick.
The same applies to the
second revoke. Therefore,
the defenders get two tricks
at the end of the hand.
only
£5 95
( 01483 489961
 Ask David continued
Q
During the play
West leads the ten
of clubs through
dummy’s jack.
Playing the jack reveals
the previously hidden
queen of clubs in dummy.
Although no revoke had
occurred, should West (as
happened) be able to
change his lead?
John Shepherd,
Isle of Wight.
A
No, the Laws do not
permit a change of
lead. That said,
putting dummy down with
one card hidden is an
infraction and the director
can adjust at the end if he
believes the defence have
suffered damage. Some
people will say that everyone
is responsible for dummy;
this is not true: dummy is
responsible for putting his
hand down correctly with all
cards visible.
®©™´
Q
In friendly rubber
bridge, my RHO
was playing in 6´.
When she led a diamond to
dummy’s ace, my partner
asked whether she had
trumped a diamond
earlier; dummy said she
had not. My partner asked
if she would check her
cards, to which dummy
said she would not as she is
trying to play 6´. What do
the rules say about this?
Pat Brown, Bedfordshire.
A
1. There is a Law
book for rubber
bridge but very few
players ever see it or worry
about it. There is no director
in a home game, which
E-mail your questions on bridge laws to:
davidstevenson@mrbridge.co.uk
means players have to sort
things out themselves, so it
is difficult.
2. Dummy should keep RUBBER / CHICAGO
Hosted by Diana Holland
quiet. It is not up to dummy
to interfere. Since declarer
plays dummy’s cards 16-18 November 2010 (Tue-Thu)
physically at rubber bridge,
the best thing dummy can do The Beach Hotel, Worthing BN11 3QJ
is to put the kettle on for a
cup of tea. 11-13 March 2011 (Fri-Sun)
3. When there is a dispute Ardington Hotel, Worthing BN11 3DZ
as to whether there has been
a revoke, the players look Please note there are no seminars or set hands at these events
at the cards only after the
play. Players must not mix £199 – Full-board – No Single Supplement
the cards at the end if a
question of revoke exists.
The Laws are quite clear
about this.
®©™´
Q
Does a 2NT
opening require an
announcement,
stating point count and
that it may contain a
singleton? If not, is this
fair in a club that does not _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BOOKING FORM _ _ _ _ _ _ _
require players to have
system cards? Please book me for .... places,
Audrey Stewart by email.
Single ..... Double ..... Twin ..... Sea View* .....
A
Announcements for the Rubber/Chicago event(s) of ..................................
apply only to 1NT
openings. People at ........................................................................................
play 2NT openings with
various ranges; some players Mr/Mrs/Miss .....................................................................
allow a singleton, though
usually only a singleton Address...............................................................................
honour, and this is legal.
Sadly, many people think ............................................................................................
other people should play
Postcode ............................................................................
their way, but it is normal,
despite playing Acol, to play ( ......................................................................................
slight differences. One of the
most annoying things about Special requirements (these cannot be guaranteed)
people who teach bridge is
...........................................................................................
that some of them fail to
mention that their way is not Please send a non-returnable deposit of £50 per person per place by
the only way! cheque, payable to Mr Bridge. An invoice for the balance will be
sent with your booking confirmation. On receipt of your final
As for your club not payment, 28 days before the event, a programme and full details
having system cards; while will be sent together with a map. Cancellations are not refundable.
that is a matter for the club, Should you require insurance, you should contact your own
it would be unfair to limit insurance broker. (*Sea view £30 supplement, Beach Hotel only.)
people’s ranges for 2NT for
, Ryden Grange, Knaphill, Surrey GU21 2TH
that reason. n
( 01483 489961 Fax 01483 797302
e-mail: jessica@mrbridge.co.uk
website: www.holidaybridge.com
Page 19
 2011 BRIDGE WEEKENDS
BRIDGE WEEKENDS with Bernard Magee
with Bernard Magee Full Board. No single Supplement.
© Full-board © Two seminars
© All rooms with © Two supervised play 18 - 20 March
en-suite facilities sessions
Chatsworth Hotel
© No single supplement © Four duplicate sessions
£245 per person
Please book me for ..... places at £..... per person, Weak Twos
Chatsworth Hotel
or ..... places at £145 per person as day guests. Worthing BN11 3DU
25 - 27 March
Single .... Double .... Twin .... Boutique1 .... Premium2 ....
Blunsdon House Hotel 14 - 16 October
Venue ................................................................................. Chatsworth Hotel
£245 per person NEW
SEMINAR
Dates .................................................................................. Sacrificing £245 per person
Declarer Play
Mr/Mrs/Miss .....................................................................
8 - 10 April
Address............................................................................... Inn on the Prom 21 - 23 October
............................................................................................ £235 per person Denham Grove
Better Defence £245 per person
Postcode ............................................................................
Game Tries
( ......................................................................................
15 - 17 April
Special requirements (these cannot be guaranteed, The Olde Barn Hotel 4 - 6 November
but we will do our best to oblige)
£235 per person Inn on the Prom
........................................................................................... Doubles £235 per person
Please give the name(s) of all those covered by this booking Leads and Defence
........................................................................................... 3 - 5 June
Please send a non-returnable deposit of £50 per person per place by Blunsdon House Hotel 11 - 13 November
cheque, payable to Mr Bridge. An invoice for the balance will be
sent with your booking confirmation. On receipt of your final pay- £245 per person Blunsdon House Hotel
ment, 28 days before the event, a programme and full details will Declarer Play £245 per person
be sent together with a map. Cancellations are not refundable.
Should you require insurance, you should contact your own insur- Suit Establishment
ance broker. 1£30 supplement per room (Inn on the Prom only).
2
£50 supplement per room (Denham Grove only). 30 Sept - 2 Oct
The Olde Barn Hotel 18 - 20 November
, Ryden Grange, Knaphill, Surrey GU21 2TH
NEW £235 per person Chatsworth Hotel NEW
( 01483 489961 Fax 01483 797302 SEMINAR SEMINAR
e-mail: jessica@mrbridge.co.uk Finding Slams £245 per person
website: www.holidaybridge.com Finding Slams
7 - 9 October
Blunsdon House Hotel 25 - 27 November
Blunsdon House Hotel Chatsworth Hotel
Swindon SN26 7AS Worthing BN11 3DU £245 per person Denham Grove
NEW
Denham Grove The Inn on the Prom Stayman and Transfers £245 per person
SEMINAR
Near Uxbridge UB9 5DU St Annes-on-Sea FY8 1LU Squeezes
with Improver Section
The Olde Barn Hotel Marston, Lincs NG32 2HT

Page 20
 Bernard Magee Says

Bidding Two Suits

Shows Five Cards
in the First
hen you open the bidding, Trouble Hands

W
West East
you should plan your rebid – 1™ 1´
this is crucial to most bidding 2© 3© Any 4441 shape is the only type of hand
systems. You aim to use two bids to End on which you can open in one suit and
describe your hand and answer these show a second suit, when you will not
questions: West opens light, but still rebids 2© as it hold five cards in the first suit.
(1) Am I balanced or unbalanced? shows no extra strength. If hand C had As opener, you need to consider that
(2) How strong am I? rebid 2™, Hand D might well pass, you are going to end up lying to your
With a balanced hand, you should bid giving you six trumps instead of eight. partner – in which case you should try
no-trumps on the first or second bid. If If opener bids two suits, responder can hard to open a minor so that your lie
you do not, you should be unbalanced support the first bid suit with just three ends up being a minor lie rather than a
and hold five cards in the first suit. cards, especially when it is a major: major lie!
Your partner is less likely to be excited
by a minor. The only hand on which you
Hand A Hand E Hand F might have to open with a major is when
´ K76 ´ 4 ´ AJ765 you have a singleton club.
™ AK832 ™ AKQ84 ™ J95
© AJ92 © K987 © A632
® 4 ® J 10 2 ® 8 Hand J Hand K
´ 4 ´ A K 10 6
Hand B ™ K942 ™ A75
´ K76 West East © KJ97 © Q4
™ AK32 1™ 1´ ® KQJ4 ® 9876
© AJ92 2© 3™
® 43 4™ End
West East
East has four diamonds, but he knows 1© 1´
Hand A: I am unbalanced, so I plan to about the more important eight-card 2® 3NT
show two suits. I open 1™ and plan to heart fit. West has promised five hearts End
rebid 2©. so East can set hearts as trumps and
Hand B: I am balanced, so I plan to evaluate his hand – with his singleton, West suggests he has five diamonds and
bid no-trumps on the first or second he jumps to 3™; West goes for game on four clubs but, in the long run, no harm
round. With 15 HCP, I am too strong to the back of his own singleton. comes because 3NT is the right contract.
open a weak no-trump, so I open 1™ and However, if West had opened 1™
plan to rebid 1NT. and rebid 2®, East would have jumped
Hand A could show five hearts with a Hand G to 4™, expecting his partner to hold five
2™ rebid, but that is unhelpful – when ´ K7 hearts.
you are unbalanced, show a second suit ™ AK32
if you can. A rebid of 2© (below 2™) © AJ92 Conclusion
shows no more strength than does 2™: ® 432
It is important that your bidding system
differentiates between balanced hands
Hand C Hand D With a balanced hand like Hand G, when and unbalanced hands. When you bid
´ 432 ´ A876 the auction starts 1™-1´, you are right to two suits, you are suggesting that you
™ AKJ84 ™ 5 worry about your lack of cover in clubs, are unbalanced and would prefer to play
© K987 © AQ62 but your system overrules your worries! in a suit contract – partner will assume
® 4 ® 8765 You must show your balanced hand so that you have five cards in the first suit
you rebid 1NT despite your weakness. you bid. n

Page 21
 Dave Huggett Says

A Reverse Shows
a Strong Hand
and the Right Shape
s Acol is mainly a natural As a reverse shows anything from

A system, it demands that you bid

long suits before shorter ones;
the concept of ‘reversing’ thus becomes
´
™
©
AJ73
J 10 3
763
W
N

an issue. What is ‘reversing’? Think of it
as follows: If you bid two suits in such a
way that partner can give preference to
your first suit only at the three-level, you
have reversed. More graphically,
imagine that the two-level of the suit you
have opened is a physical height – like a
high-jump bar perhaps. Then, if your
rebid takes you over that bar, you have
reversed. As responder might have a
minimum hand in terms of points, say
six or seven, if he can go back to his
partner’s first suit only at the three-level
then it makes sense that the opener must
have extras. He should be a trick
stronger than a minimum opener or you
will be too high with too few points! In
other words, he should have at least
about a sixteen count. An example will
make this clear:
´ AJ73 ´ 64
™ 963 N ™ AK875
W E
© J 10 3 S © KQ85
® J76 ® 52
West East
1™
1´ 2©
2™ Pass
Knowing that his partner will most
likely have five hearts and four
diamonds for this bidding, West is very
pleased to give preference to hearts at
his second turn. Even though they are at
the two-level, declarer is likely to lose
only one spade, one heart, one diamond
and two clubs on normal breaks. Now
suppose that the red suits are the other
way round and the bidding proceeds as
follows:
S
E
´
™
©
64
KQ85
AK875
® J76 ® 52
West East
1©
1´ 2™
3© Pass
East has gone over his high-jump bar of
2© and West has decided to play in his
side’s longest trump suit, but there are at
least five losers. If, instead, West decides
to pass 2™, they are in a 4-3 fit, which
you want to avoid. However, if East held
a stronger hand, say the ace of clubs in
addition, 3© would be an acceptable
contract. The fact is that, on the given
hand, East should not reverse but simply
rebid 2©, which West would be happy to
pass.
While it is true that you need a strong
hand to reverse, you should not forget
that you should still be bidding your
suits in the right order. In fact, it is never
right to distort the bidding in an effort to
show strength. Imagine that you have
this hand:
´ A3
™ AKJ83
© KJ764
® 6
Some people might open 1© and, over a
1´ response, rebid 2™ to show the
sixteen count. This is wrong and, if you
do that, partner will think you have only
four hearts. Instead, open 1™ and rebid
2© over a 1´ response. Partner will
know the importance of trying to keep
the bidding open – if he passes 2©, you
should not have missed game.
sixteen points upwards (or a very good
fifteen) responder must make another
bid. If the initial response was at the one
level, the reverse is not game forcing,
merely forcing for one round, but it
becomes game forcing if the initial
response came at the two-level. It is easy
to see that this makes good sense. If the
opener is strong enough to reverse and
the responder has enough points to raise
the level of the bidding, then between
them they must have the values for
game. You might be able to use this
information to explore the possibility of
a slam when having lots of bidding
space is at a premium:
´ AK76 ´ 842
N
™ K Q 10 7 5 W E ™ A9
© A3 S © KQJ954
® 95 ® K2
West East
1™ 2©
2´ 3©
4© 4™
4´ 4NT
5™ 6©
Pass
As West has reversed, showing a good
hand, East should want to explore for a
slam. The ace of his partner’s first suit
and the semi-solid diamonds are both
positive factors but, even so, it might be
hard to know how to proceed unless you
were confident that 3© was game
forcing. West should be happy to agree
diamonds as trumps and, again, a single
raise is adequate because he too
understands that they are in a game
forcing sequence. After an exchange of
cue-bids – perhaps some would skip this
– a Blackwood enquiry confirms that a
slam should be a good bet. n

Page 22
 DOUBLE DUMMY SOLUTION
by Richard Wheen
(Problem on page 11)
´ Q32
™ 3
© 2
® 9
´ 10 9 8 7 ´ K65
™ J N ™ KQ
W E
© Void S © Void
® 8 ® 7
´ AJ4
™ A2
© Void
® 6
S o there we were, my new
partner and I, playing in a
South-East Surrey Senior
Novices’ competition, hoping
for promotion from Novice to
Improver. My partner had very
kindly allowed me to play
South (who, as you know, not
only does not have to score but
also tends to end up as declar-
er in these competitions). On
the hand shown above, I was
indeed declarer in a no-trump
contract, with dummy to lead
and needing all six tricks for
the contract (we had wheeled
out the Extended Balham con-
vention yet again, so were in
too high a contract for com-
fort). Clearly the spade finesse
needed to work, but even if it
did, where were the remaining
tricks to come from? To play
for time I adjusted my wheel-
chair, my spectacles, my false
teeth and my hearing aid …
then I led a small spade from
dummy. When East played
low, I followed with the jack,
which won the trick (that was a
Single-Suited Design Pens
Available from www.mrbridge.co.uk/mrbridge-shop
Christmas
winning finesse, in case you
are new to the game). I realised
& New Year
suddenly that if the spade king
were now singleton on my
right I would be able to collect
a third spade trick so I cashed
the spade ace, though every-
body followed small. Pity.
Where should I go from here?
Perhaps if I played off my win-
ners, this would squeeze one
of the defenders. With that in
mind, I led my club to
dummy’s winning nine, East
and West following suit. I now
led the diamond from dummy.
East started looking uncom-
fortable and threw a heart
eventually. There was no point
in keeping my last spade as
East still had the king, so I
threw that and made the last
Denham Grove
two tricks with the heart ace Near Uxbridge, UB9 5DU
and two.
In the post mortem, after
partner had kindly pointed out 24-27 December £395
that there were several other
ways of achieving the same
Derek Monk
result, I discovered that I had
indeed squeezed East, as he 27-29 December £199
alone controlled the hearts and
spades. So squeezes are not so Chris Barrable & Ann Pearson
difficult after all – perhaps
even you could do one.
Nevertheless, I fancy it will be
29 Dec – 1 Jan £355
many years before another one
comes my way.
Chris Barrable & Ann Pearson
Meanwhile, with luck this
The Olde Barn
squeeze should qualify me as
an Improver in the South-East
Surrey Seniors hierarchy. At
this rate, I shall reach
Advanced status not long after
Marston, Lincs, NG32 2HT
my 115th birthday. Dream on!
24-27 December £395
Alison Nicolson
( 01483 489961
Boxed
Set of Four e-mail: jessica@mrbridge.co.uk
£19.95 website: www.holidaybridge.com
Please call if you would like a sample copy of the programme
Page 23
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 only

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of All Leisure Holidays Ltd.

Q
In a quiz auction
to 6®, you had a
5® reply to 4NT as
showing 0 or 4 key cards.
Is this correct?
Martin Kennedy Bell,
Chiswick W4 (similar from
John Shaw).
A
One of the beauties
of Keycard
Blackwood (also
known as Five Ace
Blackwood) is that the
replies are very similar to
ordinary Blackwood, making
it easy to remember if you
switch from one to the other.
5® shows 0 or 4, 5© 1 or 5,
5™ 2 and 5´ 3. Since it is
extremely rare for someone
to call 4NT without any key
cards, the 5© reply nearly
always shows 1 rather than
5, making the replies
effectively identical to those
in ordinary Blackwood, save
that the king of trumps
counts as a key card.
Possibly you are confusing
Keycard Blackwood with
Roman Keycard Blackwood.
Roman Keycard
Blackwood uses a different
set of replies. In the most
common variant, 5® shows
0 or 3 key cards. However,
some people use 1430
replies, in which 5® shows 1
or 4 key cards while 5©
shows 0 or 3. A further
group of people use both
3041 and 1430 replies
depending upon the auction
What are the
Responses to Keycard
(Five Ace) Blackwood?
(such as which suit will be
trumps or who is doing the
asking).
Even experts can come
unstuck with Roman
Keycard Blackwood. I can
recall having had a slam bid
against me missing two aces
and having played in a slam
missing two aces, both on
Roman Keycard Blackwood
sequences. The greater
complexity of Roman
Keycard Blackwood is why
we do not promote it
generally in BRIDGE.
®©™´
Q
In my local club, a
number of players
use an artificial
1® opening. Why do the
explanations differ from
one person to another?
Trevor Day, Warwick.
A
Yes, several
methods involve an
alertable 1®
opening. This is why the
explanations differ.
Some people play a 10-12
or 15-17 1NT opening and
open 1® on 13-14 or 12-14
balanced hands even if they
contain a doubleton club.
This is one possibility.
Some people play a strong
club system, whereby a 1®
opening promises a good
hand (nothing to do with
clubs). This is a bit like an
Acol 2® opening, except
Page 26
Ask Julian Pottage
that ‘strong’ in the context of
a strong 1® is 16+ or 17+
points. Names you might
hear for such an arrangement
include Precision Club and
Blue Club.
In some places, players
use an ‘either-or’ club. The
1® opening then shows
either a genuine club suit or
any strong hand.
In the not too distant
future, we expect to publish
some articles on the above.
®©™´
Q
2´ doubled made
on the auction
below. Who was at
fault?
West North East South
1´ Pass 2´ Pass
Pass Dbl End
South presumed the double
was for penalties as double
would have been for take-
out on the first round.
John Dunbar by email.
A
When the opponents
find a fit and yet
subside at a low
level, you can count on them
generally to have limited
values. With a fit
and anything approaching
25 HCP, they would be
bidding game or at least
trying for it. If they have a fit
and about 20 HCP, your side
will have similar strength
and will usually have a fit
too. In this case, you may
well want to compete. Even
if you push them up just one
level, this could significantly
increase your chance of
defeating them. It is thus
sensible to play North’s
double as take-out (rather
than penalty). North is likely
to have similar shape to that
required for an initial double
but two or three points fewer.
South should show a suit
(usually without jumping –
North has bid South’s values
already) or, with two or
more places to play, bid
2NT. South would tend to
need five strong spades to
leave the double in.
Obviously, it is not right to
reopen on all hands. The fact
that East-West own the spade
suit means North-South
cannot buy the contract
below the three level. North
needs a bit of shape to be
doubling 2´ (typically a
singleton spade). One must
also take into account the
vulnerability. If you are
vulnerable and playing pairs,
your opponents will be quite
willing to double your
eventual contract in the hope
of collecting the magic 200.
Another factor to consider is
the calibre of the opposition.
If they are poor at judging
their hands, they might have
underbid initially but come
to life after the reopening
double, going on to 4´. 
 Ask Julian continued
Q
What is the Intra
Finesse and how
should one play it?
Michael Feldman,
Edgware, Middlesex.
A
The Intra Finesse is
a finesse against a
lower honour held
by one opponent as a prelude
to finessing against a higher
honour held by the other
opponent.
™ Q94
N
W E
S 2-2, we made all
™ A872
Suppose you want to play
this heart suit for three
winners and one loser. One
option is to hope for a 3-3
break with the king in the
West hand. You lead up to
the queen, possibly having
cashed the ace first.
Now let us say you know
West cannot hold three
hearts including the king –
perhaps East bid hearts or
needs the king to justify
some other bid.
In this case, you should
play the intra finesse. You
play West for the doubleton
ten or jack.
™ Q94
N slam is hard, you
W E
™ J5 S ™ K 10 6 3
™ A872
You lead low from hand and,
if West plays low, finesse
dummy’s nine. You expect
this to lose to the ten or jack
in the East hand. After
regaining the lead, you cross
to dummy if need be and
lead the queen. This picks up
East’s king on a finesse
while squashing West’s
honour.
Note that it does not help
West to play high on the first
round. You cover with
dummy’s queen to draw the
king.
Later you lead the nine to
pick up East’s remaining
honour.
As with simple finesse
positions, there are quite a
large number of intra finesse
positions. The more you
play, the easier they will be
to recognise.
®©™´
Q
Where did we go
wrong? With clubs
13 tricks.
´ A
™ Q743
© A 10 5
® KJ743
N ®©™´
W E
S such a bonus. Instead, we
´ Q654
™ Void
© KQJ63
® A852
West North East South
1® Pass 1©
Pass 1™ Pass 3®
Pass End
M S Kington,
Newcastle upon Tyne.
A
While reaching a
ought to reach at
least game. North might
have scraped up another bid
over 3®, presumably 3©.
However, this is not clear-
cut. South was really the one
at fault.
The non-forcing jump
preference to 3® suggests an
8-loser hand. South’s hand
actually has five and a half
losers (two and half in
spades, two in clubs and one
in diamonds). Even allowing
Page 27
for the fact that the losing
trick count slightly
overvalues three-suited
hands, 3® is a serious
underbid. 5® would be a
better bid than 3®.
Better still is to take
things more slowly to see
what develops. South might
rebid 1´ (natural) or 2´
(fourth-suit forcing). North
then bids diamonds, allowing
South to work out opener’s
shape as 1-4-3-5. A possible
auction is:
West North East South
1® Pass 1©
Pass 1™ Pass 1´
Pass 2© Pass 4®
Pass 4© Pass 4™
Pass 4´ Pass 6®
End
The early auction is natural
while the 4©, 4™ and 4´
bids are all control-showing
cue bids.
Q
Using the losing
trick count, why
do we subtract
from 18 in deciding how
high to bid?
Andy Eames, Hastings.
A
The maximum
number of losers
any player can have
is 12, so the partnership has
at most 24. With two
12-loser hands facing each
other, you would not expect
to take any tricks at all. This
tells you that 24 losers = 0
tricks.
By reducing the number of
losers, you should add to the
number of tricks. Reducing
the losers by 6 will add 6 to
the trick count. So 18 losers
= 6 tricks.
To make a contract, you
need to make more than 6
tricks, so having 18 losers is
no good (just).
For every loser that the
partnership has fewer than
18, you would be able to
make an extra trick and
hence a contract at a higher
level. 17 losers = 7 tricks
and a 1-level contract, 16
losers = 8 tricks and a
2-level contract, 15 losers =
9 tricks and a 3-level
contract and so on.
From this pattern, you can
see that taking the number of
losers from 18 gives you the
level of the contract.
®©™´
Q
The suggestion in
‘Bid Your Games
Especially when
Vulnerable’ that one
usually gets a bonus of 350
or 500 for making game
perplexes me. Please
explain.
Douglas Yiend,
Rickmansworth
(similar from
Geoff Longman).
A
If you look
carefully, we did not
say that you get
said that a game is worth
350 or 500, which is a
different thing.
Bonuses at rubber bridge
arise at the end of the
rubber. We had to put some
value on the games during
the course of a rubber in
order to make a valid
assessment on the benefit of
bidding to game.
The rationale for setting
the value of game all at 500
is clear. When both sides are
vulnerable, neither side has
an advantage.
Therefore, the whole of
the 500 bonus for a 3-game
rubber derives from the
second game bid.
The figure of 350 for other
games is half the value of a
700-point rubber. If you get
a 700 bonus for two games
then, logically, each is worth
350.
The reason why we used
the word ‘usually’ is that in
an incomplete rubber, there
is a set 300 bonus if only
one side has a game.
 Ask Julian continued
Q
Do you agree with
West’s final pass in
this auction?
´ J754 ´ A8
™ 84 ™ A J 10 7
© 9852 © K3
® Q83 ® K7654
West North East South
1® Pass
Pass 1© 1™ End
East thought 2® would be
correct while West said he
did not want to raise the
level.
Paul Smith, Coventry.
A
When opener bids
two suits, responder
usually chooses
between those suits, taking
into account that opener’s
first suit will always be
longer, or at least as long, as
the second suit.
Holding equal length in
the suits or greater length
in the first suit, responder
has a duty to give preference
to the first suit – a lack of
values is no excuse for
giving preference to
the second suit, which is
what passing does. West
should indeed have taken
1™ out to 2®.
®©™´
Q
Please remind me
of the benefits of
using 18-19 as the
range for a jump 2NT
rebid.
Raymond Weiner, Leeds.
A
The huge advantage
of playing 1x-1y-
2NT as 18-19 rather
than 17-18 is that you do not
need to jump all the way to
3NT to show 19 points.
The 3NT rebid makes it
hard for responder to
investigate other contracts,
which is why one wants to
avoid it.
By contrast, after the 2NT
rebid, responder has room to
show a new suit or bid one
of the suits bid already
without going past 3NT.
Playing 18-19 for the 2NT
rebid means playing 15-17
for the 1NT rebid (or using
a strong no-trump with a
15-17 1NT opening). Having
a 3-point range for a 1NT
rebid is clearly not a
problem as almost everyone
plays a 3-point range for a
1NT opening.
®©™´
Q
Playing basic Acol,
with a weak no-
trump, what do
you think of a 1´ opening
on this hand?
´ 10 8 7 6
™ A98
© AKQ8
® K8
Sidney Barrat,
Leyton, London.
A
For many years in
the game’s history,
the concept of a
biddable suit was important.
Nobody would have opened
1´ on 10-8-7-6, still less
when holding A-K-Q-8 in
another suit. Even today,
many people would consider
it unthinkable to open 1´ on
this hand. There are several
reasons for this.
1. You do not want to play
in a 4-3 spade fit, which
might well happen after
opening 1´ because you
are not quite good
enough to rebid 2NT
over a simple raise.
2. If a slam is on, it is likely
to be because partner has
a diamond fit rather than
a spade fit.
3. If your side’s best fit is in
Page 28
hearts, you want partner
to regard a spade
shortage as an asset and a
diamond shortage as a
liability rather than the
other way round.
4. If your side has a 5-3
heart fit, you may miss
the fit altogether if
partner is not strong
enough to bid 2™ over
1´.
5. If you play 2® in
sequences like 1©-pass-
1™-pass-1NT-pass- 2® as
an enquiry (Checkback,
Crowhurst etc) about
opener’s range and
shape, you are still likely
to find a 4-4 spade fit if
you have one after
opening 1©.
Notwithstanding the above,
some people say you should
always open the major when
holding a 4-4 major/minor
hand. Indeed the Standard
English approach is to open
the major on such hands.
That method has the
advantage that you will
never miss a 4-4 spade fit
and saves you from a
decision each time as to
which suit to open. If you
and your partner have an
agreement that you always
open the major on this type
of hand, 1´ is fine –
otherwise, I recommend 1©.
®©™´
Q
Holding 9 points
in all including
´A-J-x-x-x-x,
South opened a pre-
emptive 3´. West had 14
points including
´K-Q-x-x-x. Would a
double be penalty or
informative in this
situation? What is the
correct call?
Dr Oliver Hunter, Belfast.
A
Once upon a time,
people played
penalty doubles of
pre-emptive 3-level
openings.
This necessitated using
3NT or some other bid for
take-out. Nowadays, it is
almost universal to play
double as for take-out
(informatory being an old
word for take-out).
With K-Q-x-x-x in the suit
opened, you would like to
make a penalty double but
are unable to do so. You
should pass and hope that
partner reopens with a
double. That would be for
take-out but you would
convert it to a penalty
double by passing.
®©™´
Q
What should
responder rebid in
this situation, 3NT
or 4™?
´ 76
™ AKQ652
© 743
® 84
You Partner
1®
1™ 2NT (18-19)
?
Alan Mansell by email.
A
Usually it would be
right for responder
to place the contract
in a six-card major, even at
matchpoint pairs. Having a
trump suit gives you time to
set up winners that you
might not have time to
develop in 3NT. This hand is
an exception – one would
expect the hearts to run
whatever the contract, while
playing in no-trumps will
protect whatever tenaces the
opener has.
You have suggested the
choice is between 4™ and
3NT, presumably because
you play 3™ as non-forcing.
I think it is much better to
play 3™ as forcing, allowing
responder to consult opener
about the best contract.
 Ask Julian continued
Q
Can you make a
3® pre-emptive
bid in response to
a 1©, 1™ or 1´ opening, or
would my partner view this
as a strong bid?
Rita Prosser by email.
A
Some people who
play a strong no-
trump and 5-card
majors use weak jump shifts,
especially if they also play a
two-over-one response as a
game force. It would be most
unusual to play weak jump
shifts within an Acol style.
Without agreement, partner
would take the bid as strong.
In general, when partner
opens the bidding (and the
next hand passes) you want
to engage in a constructive
dialogue with your partner.
Unless you have agreed
otherwise, a single jump
response shows a very
strong hand.
®©™´
Q
What is the
advantage of a
weak no-trump
12-14 over a strong 16-18
no-trump opening?
R A Longstaff,
St Ives, Cambs.
A
Although you have
asked about a 16-18
range for a strong
no-trump, I shall answer in
respect of a 15-17 range. Not
many bridge players still use
a 16-18 range. Few people
like to play a 12-15 range for
a 1NT rebid or pass 12-point
hands, which is one reason
why 16-18 has fallen so
much out of favour.
With a 1NT opening, you
limit both the strength and
shape of your hand. This
E-mail your questions for Julian to:
julianpottage@mrbridge.co.uk
makes it easy for partner to
judge both the correct
denomination and correct
level. Since hands in the DECLARER
12-14 range are more
common than 15-17 hands,
this is one advantage for the
PLAY
12-14 range.
If you play a strong
no-trump, you have to open
QUIZ
prepared bids in a minor on
12-14 points. This makes it by David Huggett
easy for the opponents to
enter the bidding. It also (Answers on page 45)
makes it more difficult for
ou are South as declarer playing teams or rubber bridge.
the opening side to compete:
responder does not know Y In each case, what is your play strategy?
whether opener has a
balanced hand or a genuine
suit. This is another
advantage of the weak 1. ´ Q96 3. ´ AK3
no-trump. ™ AQ863 ™ AQ
While it is true that, when
© 843 © 986
you play a weak no-trump,
® A3 ® K5432
you need to open in a suit on
N
15-17 hands, this is far less W E
N
W E
of an issue. S S
For one thing, you can
´ A K J 10 8 ´ Q94
open a major, if that is your
™ 54 ™ K7
suit, knowing that you are
© A65 © Q J 10 5 4 3
strong enough to rebid 2NT
® 865 ® A8
over a two-level change-of-
suit response. For another,
intervention is less likely You are declarer in 4´ and You are declarer in 3NT
when the opening hand is West leads the ©K. How and West leads the ™5.
stronger. If it does occur, it do you plan the play? How do you plan the
will often help you in the play?
play – you are more likely to
buy the contract when
opener is stronger.
Of course, the weak 2. ´ J76
no-trump has some ™ K Q 10 9 4. ´ K63
disadvantages – otherwise © A8743 ™ A 10 8
® 6 © AQ94
the whole world would play
it. Sometimes the opponents ® 654
N
have enough to double and W E
N
S
W E
defeat you by several tricks. S
This is a particular issue ´ AK8
when you are vulnerable, ™ AJ6542 ´ A54
especially at rubber bridge. © 2 ™ 643
At pairs, even if the ® A75 © 753
opponents do not double, ® AKQ2
you might score poorly,
You are declarer in 7™ and
going down 200 or 300
West leads the ™8 with You are declarer in 3NT
undoubled. On a part-score
East following suit. How and West leads the ™K.
deal, you would rather let the
do you plan the play? How do you plan the
opponents play in a part
play?
score than lose 200. n
Page 29
 Heather Dhondy Says

Undertricks
Matter at Pairs
t matchpoint pairs, it can matter for the time being?

A not just whether you defeat the

contract but by how much.
Consider the following defensive
Declarer has two diamonds, and, at
most, five trumps. Holding six cards in
the other two suits, there is no prospect
™
´

©
Q5
AK3
10 9 3 2
problem as West playing pairs: that any heart tricks will disappear. ® A754
Therefore, you should continue with a ´ J 10 9 7 2
N
third diamond and await whatever heart ™ J 10 9 7 2 W E
´ A652 tricks are coming to you. © A5 S

™ 876 This was the full deal: ® 8

© K42
® A52
´ J 10 9 7 ´ A652 Partner takes the king, cashes the ace,
N
™ A42 W E ™ 876 and returns a spade to your hand to cash
© Q J 10 3 S © K42 five rounds of the suit, partner
® 84 ® A52 discarding a low club and a low heart.
´ J 10 9 7 ´ Void Are you going to lay down your ©A?
™ A42 N ™ Q J 10 5 3 Partner could hold two more points,
W E
West North East South © Q J 10 3 S © A975 which could be the queen of diamonds, in
1´ ® 84 ® 10 7 6 3 which case you may remove a guess that
Pass 3´ Pass 4´ ´ KQ843 declarer had to make for his eighth trick.
End ™ K9 The danger is that if declarer began with
© 86 five clubs, he will have eight tricks if you
You lead the queen of diamonds, which ® KQJ9 do not cash your ace now. Playing
holds the trick, partner following with distributional discards, you would know;
the nine. You continue with the jack, if not, given the danger and that, at best,
holding the trick again, and partner You will see that declarer has little you are only giving declarer a guess, you
follows with the five. What card do you option but to try a heart towards the king should cash your ace. Here is the full deal:
play now? and, if you have not cashed the ace
It is clear that partner holds the ace prematurely, he will have to go two
and therefore his peter has indicated down. Collecting a mere one down will ´ Q5
four; you know the next diamond will be get you a well below average score. This ™ AK3
ruffed. You can see a sure way of beating is because the contract is a fair one, © 10 9 3 2
this contract by cashing the ace of needing just one ace onside and trumps ® A754
hearts, so what is the problem? no worse than 3-1 and the opponents ´ J 10 9 7 2 ´ AK6
The problem is that it may not be good have game values and a nine-card fit. ™ J 10 9 7 2 N ™ 865
W E
enough simply to defeat a contract in On the deal above, there was no © A5 S © J864
order to score well at pairs. If this is a danger at all in defending for an extra ® 8 ® 632
normal auction (and we have no reason undertrick. Unfortunately, things are not ´ 843
to believe otherwise – we can see that always so simple. Withholding a winner ™ Q4
dummy’s bidding is clear-cut) this is often entails some risk. © KQ7
going to be a popular contract and the On the next deal, you elect to lead the ® K Q J 10 9
cards are lying unluckily for declarer. jack of spades, having a complete guess
Not only is he about to run into a bad between the majors on the auction:
trump break, but the ace of diamonds In summary, try to be as greedy as you
was wrong and it is possible that hearts West North East South can sensibly at pairs. Do not always be
also lie poorly for him also. Can it ever 1NT (12-14) content to cash the contract down if there
cost you to hold onto your ace of hearts Pass 3NT End may be a way to get an extra trick. n

Page 30

YOUR QUESTIONS
AND SUGGESTIONS
Any information on the Gazzilli
convention please?
Richard Jarvis, Essex.
Some short, sharp tests of 20
questions, like flash cards, with
answers on another page.
R Talbot, Chorleywood.
Is it possible for Mr Bridge to
promote programmes about
bridge on terrestrial television?
Mr Evans, Cheshire.
Too little interest.
Loved Bernard Magee’s invaluable
tips, but what does he mean by
No. 63. Avoid being declarer
when you are dummy?
Susan Reeve by email.
Buy the book – the tips are all
explained within it.
So often the bid that partner does
not make (and I do not mean
‘pass’), carries as much
information if not more than the
one he/she does. How about a
series of articles along that theme?
Dr P Burville, Dover.
Were the two hands on the cover
of Autumn 2010 meant to have
been on the April cover?
Ruth Watson, West Yorks.
Certainly not. They are frequent
hand types.
I understand losing tricks; but what
about an article on its application?
Sylvia Webb, Sutton, Surrey.
Please could we have the odd
‘pullout’ lesson to be filed and later
learnt.
Mrs Fisher, South Petherton.
See my web library pages.
Do you ever hold one day tuition in
Gloucesterhire?
Miss J Price, Cheltenham.
Try Haslemere in 2011 and I’ll do
Cheltenham in 2012.
Wonderful, enjoyed by so many.
Thank you.
Mrs Gregory, West Midlands.
Introduce re-registration through
email contact.
Mr D Woodhead, Dunblane.
I would like an article on duplicate
scoring. Space permitting, pass
outs and other rarities could be
included.
John Douce, Coventry.
This has been covered. See my
web library.
Please comment on strong and
weak no trump openers.
Dr Shariatmadari, Lincoln.
Plenty of letters please.
Mr D Green, Pinner.
I don’t control the supply of letters.
You, the readers, do.
Cartoons, please.
Mr P Lal, Epping, Essex.
I would like more gentle duplicate
events please.
Miss E Bond, SW14.
More bidding quizzes by Bernard
Magee please.
Mrs O Oliver, Stanmore.
David Stevenson is good. More on
laws please.
Mr H Brown, Ulverston.
Could you please include regular
items for beginners particularly
suitable for older people?
Mrs S Paine, Barnstable, Devon.
Why for older people?
I wish there were some bridge
holidays in Scotland.
Mrs A Moss, Glasgow.
I would like to know about Just
Bridge in Leicestershire.
Mrs H Colpman, Leicester.
See my editorial pages.
An article on UCB please.
Mrs A Wayman, Suffolk.
Could someone explain ‘negative
doubles’ please? I know ‘stayman’
but I am confused by people
saying ‘We do negative doubles’.
Mrs Wilkinson, Manchester.
More weekends at Staverton Park
please.
Mrs M Rice, Bedford.
I would like to see more ‘Just
Duplicate’ weekends.
Mrs Prouse, Gloucester.
Would you not sell more of your
6/6 premium cards if they were
boxed?
Mr G Wiseman, Edgware.
They would cost more.
Would it be possible to play a
misère in bridge?
Mr F Platt, Stoke on Trent.
Isn’t bridge complicated enough
already?
Answers to quiz pages on
following pages please.
Mr R White, Beaminster.
Is it possible to go to bridge
weekends on one’s own?
Mrs M Ashford, Orpington, Kent.
Of course it is. That’s why our
events have no single supplement.
Please could we have articles on
hand evaluations?
Mr P Turner, Sandhurst, Berks.
Buy Bernard’s book.
A Scottish bridge weekend.
Scottish bridge players are in
harmony with SBU.
Mr J Williams, Montrose.
EBU is not such a bad thing.
Mr B Lewis, Exeter.
Page 31
Bridge holidays from Sunday till
Thursday.
Mrs S Dunstan, Edgware.
Relatively little demand.
Would be nice to have a page for
beginners.
Mrs J Brumble, Eastbourne.
See the Easy Peasey page in the
coming issue.
It would be nice if you could
arrange bridge weekends in the
South Wales valleys.
Mr R Cox, Cardiff.
Could we have bridge
holidays/weekends in Scotland
please? I see it is planned for 2011.
When will they be advertised?
Mrs S Henderson, Aberdeen.
I love the bidding quizzes; it would
be nice if you could devote a page
to it.
Mrs S Grant, London, N2.
Keep the letters coming. Most
interesting.
Mrs A Chapman, Kent.
Chicken and Egg.
Can you recommend a book on
the bridge statistics ie. chance of
success in no-trumps with 25 HCPs?
Mr L Bean, Cottingham.
Ring London Bridge Centre
( 0207 4868222.
Some articles with a young
readership as the target group,
perhaps.
Mr C Rees, Devon.
No readership.
I am sorry that your bridge
weekends are becoming more
expensive.
Mr D Harrison, Aylesbury.
Wish you could produce QPlus for
Macs.
Mrs P Rennie, Edinburgh.
Sorry, but it won’t happen.
What happened to your directory
of bridge clubs?
Mr P Dunham, Shrewsbury.
Still working on it because of the
P2P effect.
Do you post your magazine to
Australia?
Dr P Pfeifer, Carnforth.
Yes.
Bidding, declarer play and defence
quizzes fine. How about an
opening lead quiz?
Mr M Reid, Hoylake, Wirral.
Now in hand. Thanks.
Bridge weekends in the South
West, please.
Mr Frank Holden, Devon.
Limited market.
Bridge venue wanted in
Hertfordshire please.
Ms T Humphrey, Hatfield.
Denham Grove is quite close.
Are there any memory tips or short
cuts to help with the play of the
hand.
Mr Basin, Harrow.
Readers might like to send in their
suggestions.
Is QPlus bridge compatible with
windows 7?
Mrs B Nickels, Bedford.
Yes.
Interested in Just Bridge in
Buckinghamshire.
Mrs J Butfield, Pinner.
Coming soon.
Suggest you ask David Bird to
contribute. He is both amusing
and instructive.
Mr J Styles, Bristol.
An article on signals and discards
would be welcome.
Mr K Mayhew, Reigate.
Venues in the North West please.
Manchester, Liverpool, Chester,
Cheshire, Lancashire etc.
Mrs P Turner, Altrincham and
from Mrs B Dicke, Hale, Cheshire.
See Lytham St Annes and
Wychwood Park.
More on the actual sequence of
the play of a contract.
Mr B Grace, Eastbourne.
What was the point of the article
on the rule of total tricks?
Mr J Law, Shipston on Stour.
Read it again.
A ‘back to basics’ feature
concentrating on avoiding
common mistakes.
Mr J Stone, Woodmansterne.
Another new feature for 2012.
How about bridge cruises on
larger ships i.e. P& O
Azura/Ventura.
Mr A Mann, Warwickshire.
It’s hard enough on Discovery.
An article on how to score
duplicate travellers when showing
‘passed out’, ‘average’, ‘average
plus/minus’ scores.
Mr N Scott, Crook, Co. Durham.
Already covered, see my web
library.
More bidding quiz questions –
e.g. 10 questions at least.
Mrs P Gunn, Rainham, Kent.
I miss the bridge cartoons.
Mr J Foley, Portishead.
Why no Mr Bridge events in
Scotland or Ireland?
Mrs J Girvan, Co. Down.
Working on it.
Weekends in Scotland.
Mr M Green, Glasgow.
Bridge holidays/weekends in the
North of England.
Mrs E Bielby, Halifax, Yorkshire.
The only thing I would change is
Seven Days. It just doesn’t seem
to fit.
Mr A Perry, Flackwell Heath.
For over 10 years now I have
received your magazine.
Please keep sending it, it’s so
enjoyable.
Mr A Robinson, Lancs.
Love the newsletters from Bernard
Magee.
Mrs Bowman, London, N10.

CHARITY BRIDGE
EVENTS
NOVEMBER 2010
1 CHARITY DUPLICATE BRIDGE
DRIVE. Wentworth Golf Club 7pm
£15 per pair inc. tea & coffee.
Roger Corbally ( 01753 546130
2 EAST SUSSEX HOSPICES.
Glyndebourne Opera House, The
Mildmay Hall. 5.30pm. Bridge
supper, champagne.
Dianne Steele ( 01435 813630
6 CYSTIC FIBROSIS.
Nailsea Methodist Church Hall.
10-4. £22.50 including coffee,
lunch and tea.
Liz Frier ( 01275 856947
Maureen Dickens
( 0117 9043008
8 RNLI. Crowborough Beacon Golf
Club, Crowborough. 2pm. £26 a
table includes tea and prizes.
Penny ( 01825 830006
10 FRIENDS OF LEATHERHEAD
PARISH CHURCH. Parish Church
Hall. 1.45 for 2 p.m. £32 per
table inc tea.
Fran Fleming ( 01372 375957
11 ST MARGARET’S SOMERSET HOS-
PICE. Oake Village Hall. 10.30am
for 11am. £15 includes coffee
and lunch with glass of wine.
Audrey Pike ( 01823 256059
13 SHAFTESBURY YOUTH CLUB.
Rubber bridge drive at
Shaftesbury Youth Club,
Birkenhead 7.15pm Tickets £60
per table, includes supper.
Mike Fairclough( 07805 778531
15 RNLI. Village Hall, Swanmore,
Hants. 1.30 for 2pm. £40 per
table including tea and prizes.
Sue Carpenter
( 01489 893843
16 CANCER RESEARCH UK.
Memorial Hall, Christchurch
Road, West Parley, Dorset.
6.30pm for 7.00pm. £24 per
table includes refreshments.
Joyce Earll ( 01202 894319
23:24:25 THREE BRIDGE DAYS IN AID
OF THE BRITISH RED CROSS.
10.00 for 10.30 £15.00
Birkholme Manor Grantham
Beryl Hutchinson
( 01476 572938
25 HUDDERSFIELD PENNINE ROTARY
CLUB. Outlane Golf Club.
12 for 12.30pm.
£44 per table, including lunch.
Brian Noble ( 01484 427356
26 ALZHEIMER’S CARE & RESEARCH
FUND. Village Hall, Hemingford
Abbots. 10 for 10.30am. £14.
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28 DORSET AND SOMERSET AIR
AMBULANCE. Batcombe Village
Hall. 2pm £32 per team inc tea.
John Perry ( 01373 467508
E-mail your charity events:
maggie@mrbridge.co.uk
QUESTIONS & SUGGESTIONS
Love the quizzes. Excellent value
bridge holidays.
Mrs L Dale, Harrogate.
Bridge Weekly is great. Hopefully
you will develop this further.
Dr P Lee, Teddington.
How? Please advise.
You never mention ‘Blue Chip
Bridge’, an excellent computer
teaching/playing programme.
Mr J Harrop, Tetbury.
I sell only the best.
Excellent magazine. But I’m not so
keen on the ‘stories’.
Mrs K Street, Woking.
Love our QPlus 9.1. I can now see
my overbidding is not such a good
idea.
Mr P Hazelton, Newport.
Why do I only get your magazine
for about 3 months then it stops?
Ms L Currie, Fife.
I have no idea.
Refresher for simple rules e.g.
Rules of 11, 20 and similar.
Mrs M Stephens, Ferndown.
Can we have bridge weekends
near us?
Mr A Stone, Dorset.
Running bridge weekends
successfully is not straightforward.
More help for beginners please.
Mrs M Harris, Devon.
‘Ask Julian’ 10/10, Catching Up
0/10, ‘David Stevenson’ 10/10,
‘Seven Days’ 0/10.
Mr C Chambers, Perth.
I get the message.
Love the magazine. I do wish
moaners would give it a rest
and just ‘enjoy’.
Mrs E Trippett, Tonbridge.
I am really enjoying Bernard
Magee’s Acol Bidding.
Miss J Wadey, Sutton.
Good for you.
Wonderful good basic teaching,
very helpful.
Mrs V Delahunt, Purley.
Wish I had started playing 50
years ago not just 5.
Mrs P Fairs, Wilmslow.
Pleased to read about new venue
for weekends at St Annes, much
more convenient for us.
Mr & Mrs Brammer, Lancs.
What an excellent freebie.
Mr A Stevenson, Lerwick.
I love reading about your
forthcoming holidays.
Mrs M Blackwell, Cheshire.
Your QPlus bridge 9 has proved
invaluable. Thanks.
Mrs M Wemyss, Staffs.
Send me Your Questions and Suggestions
using the form provided on page 6.
Page 32
continued
We love the cartoon comps. Any
chance of more please?
Mrs N Anderson, Stomford.
Any chance of a return trip to
Montreaux, Switzerland?
Mrs F Rew, South Devon.
As a Mr Bridge credit card holder,
how is the 2% rebate to be notified
to us?
Mr & Mrs Goddard, Herts.
By post, every six months.
Sally Brock’s diary is not interesting
and The Old Baron is too way out.
Mr R Spottiswoode, Herts.
Can’t please everyone.
Do you have a range of bridge
CDs for an Apple mac?
Mrs Hawkins, Llantwit Major.
All you have to do is install
Windows on your Mac.
‘Catching Up’ and ‘Seven Days’ are
not a good idea.
Mr A Peel, Leeds.
Extracts from Sally Brock’s diary are
of little interest.
Mr D Ferriss, Lincs.
It was a good move to put the
answers next to Bernard Magee’s
bidding quiz.
Mr T Boulton, Hull.
Your bridge laws make very
interesting reading.
Mr R Heard, West Sussex.
Perhaps occasional articles about
bridge outside the UK.
Mrs B Grassick, Cheshire.
You promised some articles on
Precision in 2010.
Mr M Taylor, Ballymena.
So I did.
I cannot imagine why you think
Sally Brock’s diary is of interest to
your readers.
Mr G Fairhall, Kent.
More hands to illustrate bidding
and play.
Mr K Dixon, St Neots.
You need an Easy Peasy page for
beginners.
Mrs S Elton, Cambridge.
Great idea and name.
Get Bernard Magee to print all his
bidding quiz posers and others in
book form. I think they are of prime
interest. More please.
Mr Howard Baker, Sussex.
Anyone else like the idea?
Many thanks for bridge articles
and quizzes. Fewer stories and
diaries please.
Miss V Cleaver, Hereford.
I am using Global Travel Insurance
and recommend the company.
Mr Hartwell, Glos.
Your articles on tips, conventions
and play are very informative.
Dr R Ehsanullah, Bucks.
I do enjoy the question and
answer sections and also the very
useful tips, advice and analyses. A
splendid publication. And my sister
and I much enjoyed the bridge
weekend with Bernard Magee.
Miss C Gibbons, Guildford.
Thank you for restoring the Dick
Atkinson Baron column – always a
delight.
Prof. P Aston, Norwich.
Sadly the repeats are finished.
Also letters from Mr K Turner,
Chesterfield and Mrs M
Molesworth of Yorkshire.
Enjoy your magazine, you’ll survive
the EBU.
Dr Carmichael, Basingstoke.
I always look forward to BRIDGE
and am never disappointed.
Mrs J Bailey, Ewell.
More bidding quizzes please.
Mr D Rosser, Bristol.
Stay as sweet as you are.
Mrs E Blackburn, Pinner.
I read every word – so it must be
the best bridge magazine.
Mrs M Pemberton, Essex.
A magazine enjoyed by even
‘kitchen-sink’ players.
Mrs C Bush, Old Windsor.
With Marsham Court back in
business, any hope of weekends
there again?
Mrs P Morgan, West Sussex.
Watch this space.
Thoroughly enjoying QPlus 9.1
– a good investment.
Mr R Taylor, Lincoln.
Delighted to learn that you are
coming to Scotland.
Mrs H Marten, Edinburgh.
Any chance of more northerly
bridge weekends?
Mrs K Reeves, Cheshire.
More articles for improvers,
please. I fail at most bidding
questions but enjoy the magazine
very much.
Mrs R Hunt, Lichfield.
Thank you for my first online Bridge
Weekly.
Margery Levinson, by email.
Bridge Weekly - what excellent
articles. I use them to teach my
other half.
Norman Hart by email.
Found the reasoning by Bernard
Colvin most interesting. Must try it.
Mr P Brackfield, Haslemere.
‘Seven Days’ not very interesting.
Mr B Howard, Chapel-en-le-Frith.
Keep going with the mag but I like
Bridge Weekly on the internet too.
Mr H Wilkinson, Cheltenham.
Are you going to sell cloths and
card tables?
Mrs A Moffett, Hants.
Card tables for now. n

READERS’
LETTERS
REVIEW REVIEWED
I'm fascinated by your review
of the Banzai Method by
David Jackson and Ron
Klinger. I've believed for a
long time that aces are
overvalued and that it would
be more sensible to count
honours 5-4-3-2-1. I shall
certainly buy the book.
Jim Seddon by email.
THANKS
My computer tells me it is
time to re-register for the Mr
Bridge magazine so please
keep sending this super
publication to me along with
the weekly e-letter.
Peter Vincent,
Sutton Coldfield.
NEW CLUB
We are a new non EBU
bridge club. We have newly
refurbished premises with a
good sized modern venue.
We are a very friendly bridge
club and welcome players at
all levels. We have been
piloting 2 sessions per week
with limited table numbers
for approximately 3 months.
We are now set to open after
refurbishment on 27
September with membership
commencing 1 October.
Initially, opening times will be
7 for 7.15pm start on
Mondays, Wednesdays and
Fridays for duplicate bridge.
We will also be running a
drive on Wednesday
afternoons and Improvers’
classes on Thursday
afternoons. Single players
are welcome, as a partner
will always be available.
For further information,
phone Chris ( 01472 580528
or Lynne ( 01472 276178.
Mr A Gaiger, Windmill Gallery
Bridge Committee, Waltham.
NEW LIFE
I was getting somewhat
annoyed with my QPlus
software because it was
running so slowly. Then I
read your tip (Bridge –
Summer 2010) on getting the
optimum performance from
it. In no time at all, after
setting the configuration in
the way you suggested, all
was fine and it is now well
up to speed.
I also re-set the deal, as in
your second tip, and it is
great to see what contract
and score Qplus would make
on each deal. It really is an
excellent piece of software,
and my congratulations go to
Johannes Leber for designing
it – and to you for marketing it!
Mr John Summers by email.
RECYCLED
You will be interested to
know that just prior to Dickie
Wakeford’s letter (from
Braunton) to you recently
concerning used playing
cards, I had just initiated a
collection in North Devon to
hand to the local Marines
unit at Chivenor. So far only
250 packs have been
delivered but it is early days.
An extremely pleasing letter
of thanks has been received
indicating they can distribute
as many as we can collect.
Mr Eric Brace,
Braunton, North Devon.
Page 33
YVIE MAGEE if you'd like to mention this in
your excellent magazine,
BRIDGE, as the QPlus manual
only suggests playing as N/S.
Marjorie Gibbens by email.
Suggest you wait and
Many thanks for the
upgrade to QPlus 10 in
Summer 2011.
LIKED IT
I found the ‘One Table’
infomation in BRIDGE, issue duplicate style scoring article
101 about Bernard's sister’s excellent.
performance in the Henley Mrs R Skinner,
Fringe Festival. Draycott, Cheddar.
We went to see ‘Teechers’
and had a lovely evening. MEMORIES 1
Colin & Jeannine Smith I note in your last edition of
by email. BRIDGE magazine that Betty
Ellson had died unexpectedly
VARIATION in a road accident.
At present we have the QPlus Her name brought back
8.1 disc which we have many happy memories for
updated to 8.8. my husband and me when
We are thinking of we stayed at The Holt. Her
upgrading to QPlus9.1 and cheerfulness was infectious
would like to know what this and her way of teaching was
would cost and if it would be a little unconventional to say
worthwhile. the least. However, it didn’t
I have been playing bridge stop us enjoying our many
for many years and my bridge breaks there and she
husband is now learning, certainly helped the
with me as his teacher! We mealtimes go by quickly. She
have been using QPlus on had a very quick wit and life
our 2 linked computers and was never quiet or boring
have played as a N/S when Betty was around.
partnership. The computer Mrs M Poole,
bids and plays the E/W Chippenham, Wiltshire.
hands then, of course. This is
very good, but we have MEMORIES 2
discovered that by playing at How sad the news of the
S and W instead, one of us death of Betty Ellson. I was a
gets an opportunity to be pupil of Betty’s at the Wessex
declarer on every hand. This and I have never forgotten
makes the play and bidding her. She was Charisma
more interesting. It has only Personified.
just occurred to us that we Mr Clifford Morton,
could do this! We wondered Llandrindod Wells.
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:
100x37p+100x5p)
(/Fax 020 8422 4906 e-mail: clive.goff@londonrugby.com
READERS’ LETTERS
continued
AT ODDS
I must take issue with Julian
Pottage over his article on
the odds in your Autumn
magazine, in which he says
that computer dealt hands
are ‘normal’ and that, once
people get used to them,
they won't find them such a
challenge. Although
presented as gospel, this is a
view which does not give full
weight to the history of the
game and that of its
ancestor, whist. Throughout
most of this long history,
hands were hand dealt and
would not have been truly
random, even if the players
had "shuffled the spots off
the cards" in an attempt to
achieve this. Hand dealt
hands, therefore, arguably
represent the true form of the
game and long may they be
used in most clubs, leaving
computer dealt hands for
experts and avant garde
clubs.
John Sheridan by email.
THUMBS DOWN
SALLY
I really enjoy the magazine,
but particularly the bridge
hands, quizzes and tips and
the Baron. I don't mind some
personalisation either, the
Ned Paul piece was
interesting for example.
However, I have somewhat
less interest in the Sally Brock
articles; the bridge parts and
'Catching Up' are OK, but
'Seven Days' provides too
much extraneous information
about Sally's family and
friends.
Michael Hall, Middlesex.
LOST DEPOSIT
I thought Hand 1 was a bit
unusual for the question – I
presume the points are
correct and not a misprint.
Just one problem, as an
older person unable to book
bridge breaks months and
months ahead, I am
continually disappointed in
not being able to get on a
Bernard Magee break.
Could you consider a little
more flexibility in your
cancellation policy? For
example, months ago I was
able to book a cruise in late
November and have
cancellation (no penalty)
rights up to the end of
Sept/Oct. The older person
always has pre-existing
conditions, hence insurance
costs are tremendous and
out of proportion for a week-
end break. Just a comment.
Maura Manocha by email.
You would only lose your
deposit if you cancelled
fewer than 30 days before
the event.
HELP PLEASE
I'm the treasurer of our local
duplicate bridge club and I
am writing to ask for your
help or advice. One of our
members has M.S. and is
becoming more affected by
his condition, particularly with
his manual dexterity.
He struggles to sort, hold
and play his cards and I
wondered if you had any
experience with other bridge
players having this kind of
disability and how they
resolved this problem. We
are aware of devices that
hold cards but feel that might
cause as many problems as
it solves with the device
having to be loaded with
cards initially etc. I would like
to help this person remain a
playing member of our club
for as long as possible – any
help or advice is very
welcome.
Name & address supplied.
SUPERIOR
As many players these days
play SAYC / strong NT, why
no articles on this important
facet of the game?
Page 34
I can appreciate that most
of your software deals with
Acol, but I have found after
playing Acol several years
that SAYC etc turns out to be
a superior system. Most
international players seem to
have adopted this system.
How about the pros and cons
between the two systems?
Mr B Cooper, London, NW11.
TWO DAVIDS
I have been meaning to
congratulate you on
retaining the services of two
contributors of the calibre
of David Stevenson and
Dave Huggett.
Ken Lane, Poole, Dorset.
WEBSITE INSTEAD
I really enjoy receiving your
magazine, but as I am now
overseas have been looking
at your website instead.
I am playing twice weekly
at the Bahamas’ Bridge Club.
American Standard (5 card
majors) is the norm and 15-17
points for a 1NT opening bid.
Susan Hope by email.
FULL MONTY
Over the years we have
played a lot of single table
bridge with different couples.
My wife and I play Chinese
precision while around us
most play Acol in some form
or another. We have
experimented with many
different systems for scoring,
starting with Chicago and
then Russian Chicago.
However none of them
seem to allow for the fact
that HCP should not be the
only criterion. Cliff Hancock's
system seems to be a
possible answer, but
unfortunately not in the form
in which it was published in
your Autumn 2010 edition
number 102.
We have started to evolve
our own version of it, but
would prefer to experiment
with Cliff's full system. Can
you please persuade, cajole
or insist that he produces a
final article with all the details
as soon as possible? It would
be an extremely useful
alternative to a rotten
evening of poor cards when
playing skill would still
enable a 'losing' team to
come out ahead.
Gerry Hughes by email.
I’VE HAD ENOUGH
I would like to endorse the
views stated by Tony Stevens
(letters, BRIDGE 102). The tone
adopted by Mr Stevenson’s
answers will drive even more
players away from the small
friendly clubs of this country.
No wonder at least 40% of
them have left the EBU and
there could be many more
when all the implications of
29p per game unfold.
(£0.29*5*50 = £72.50.) Rather
a lot to pay per year. Then you
get ‘A well deserved telling
off’. I do not play for such
offence, I play for enjoyment. I
stopped playing seriously over
15 years ago. If I am told off
for a trivial matter, there will
be a furious row (or worse)
and I would NEVER visit that
club and its rude, overbearing
officials again.
Entering an American SAYC
event you read, ‘Be nice to
opponents, they may be
friends that you have not met
yet’. And as they all play
exactly the same simple
system there is no need for
alerts, announcements and
directors for this kind of thing.
A A Allsop,
Guisborough, Cleveland.
BACK COPY
SERVICE
Many thanks for sending me
the back copies of bridge
weekly as requested.
They provide additional
informative reading and
challenging exercises so
proving to be an extremely
valuable extension to the
already proven magazine.
Harry Healey by email.
READERS’ LETTERS
continued
NOT LIKE FOR LIKE
While we appreciate that you
are running a business, with
all that that implies, some of
us feel that you are in danger
of losing loyal clients because
you are charging too much.
We have booked a four night
break with a rival company
for £199 and later in the year
are going to a good hotel for
three nights’ bridge for
£73ppn. Do you really need
to have full board or so
many ‘helpers’? Hence our
plea for Just Bridge to return
– a lot of us just don’t want
seminars – we just want to
play bridge and socialise.
Mr J Turner, Hucclecote, Glos.
There are still a few small
companies for the weekend
bridge market. We do not try
to compete but provide
something quite different.
The work of the helpers is
vital to ensure speedy
supervised play and no
half tables.
LIFE AFTER P2P
I was a member of EBU for
many years but I always
thought ‘BRIDGE’ to be the
better magazine. Now that
my club (Keswick) has, by
unanimous vote,
disenfranchised from the
EBU, your magazine
assumes even greater
importance and I look
forward to tackling the
problems and reading the
views presented therein.
Mr Alan Rutherford,
Keswick, Cumbria.
SAD CLOSING
I would like to thank you for
the weekend which my
husband and I spent at the
Beach Hotel, Worthing. We
very much enjoyed the
bridge sessions which we
attended. Diana Holland and
her helpers ran them very
efficiently. It is disappointing
that the hotel is closing at
the end of the year, as there
are many hotels thriving
which are not as well run
and the staff not as eager to
please. We both thoroughly
enjoyed the food which had
plenty of choice, all
beautifully cooked.
Mrs C M Blackwell,
Ruislip, Middlesex.
ALTERNATIVE VIEW
Most unusually, I find myself
in disagreement with David
Stevenson. The bone of
contention is David's advice
to a reader, in your Autumn
2010 edition, that if a board
is not played because of lack
of time then the director
should award an Average
Minus to both pairs.
Now I know that David is a
key member of the EBU
Laws and Ethics committee
so what he says is, almost
by definition, the letter of the
law but we have adopted a
different policy at my club.
This is not a simple act of
unreasoned rebellion on our
part. There are good
reasons for our club policy
and I would welcome the
opportunity to explain why
we have adopted a different
approach.
Interestingly, not even the
EBU Directors’ White Book
seems to support penalising
both pairs. Section 81.4.2
recommends a simple
average be awarded if
blame cannot be
apportioned, but even that,
in my view, is a step too far.
At my club, the computer
is set to issue an audible
warning at the point after
which players should not
start a new board.
Unfortunately, as a playing
tournament director, I am
rarely in a position to police
this. In all practical terms it is
down to the players to
decide whether or not there
is time to start the last board
Page 35
of each round.
Our members have paid
good money to participate in
a session so having to scrap
a board is a playing
opportunity squandered,
resulting in less bridge for
your money. There is,
therefore, already an incentive
for players to try to play every
board if at all possible.
Who is it, though, who
creates the most disruption
to the smooth running of a
session? It is those players
who embark upon a board
when they don't have time to
finish it and are therefore still
playing when the movement
is called. Once play of a
hand has started, the
tournament director cannot
routinely instruct a table to
abandon a board. If that
were club policy then an
unscrupulous player who felt
they were destined for a poor
result might feel they could
partially rescue the situation
by playing slowly enough to
run out of time.
Tables still in play at the
end of the round are the
bane of my life. They delay
the start of the next round,
requiring me to add time to
the clock and, ultimately,
extend the session end time.
In stark contrast is the
table where the players
decide there isn't time to start
the last board of the round.
This is a noble and altruistic
decision. It is a community
spirited action that enhances
the smooth running of the
club - something to be
commended and
encouraged, not penalised.
Even a simple average
may be a disincentive for
some players. If a good pair
are playing a much weaker
pair then they will probably
expect to score much better
than average. The two pairs
at the table may therefore
have different motivations
when it comes to deciding
whether or not to play the
last board of the round. In
pure score terms, it is in a
weak pair's interest to scrap
a board and a strong pair's
interest to play it.
None of these problems
occur if a board is marked as
Not Played. That way it
doesn't contribute to the two
pairs' scores in any way. For
the final result, scores are
factored to take into account
the number of boards
actually played, so no one
gains and no one loses out.
Moreover, ‘Not Played’ is an
accurate reflection of what
happened. Finally (although,
perhaps, trivially), it is simpler
for me as director because it
is a result the players can
enter into the Bridgemate
themselves, without having
to ask me to assign awarded
scores.
OK, nothing is perfect. In
theory a weak pair might
improve their prospects by
playing the early boards
slowly to ensure they play as
few boards as possible
against stronger opponents
but in my experience the
weaker pairs aren't there to
maximise their scores.
Generally they enjoy playing
against the better pairs for
the opportunities afforded
them to watch and learn.
I therefore strongly defend
my policy of marking boards
as ‘Not Played’ when players
have insufficient time to play
them. It encourages
members to act for the
common good and
enhances the smooth
running of the club. It is self
administering and fits in well
with our club ethic of being a
friendly environment where
we avoid applying
unnecessary penalties for
minor transgressions. I am
struggling to think of any
disadvantages of such a
policy.
Keith Sheppard (Tournament
Director, Bracknell Forest
Bridge Club), Wokingham.
READERS’ LETTERS
continued
OTHER GAMES
No questions, just a
comment; I have enjoyed
QPlus 9.1, but had North
been my life partner, I would
have given up Bridge for Snap
or Shove Ha'penny long ago.
Dell Finnett,
Balerno, Midlothian.
CRUISING ON
Looking forward to Amazon
River in January 2011.
Dr I Gordon, Beaconsfield,
Buckinghamshire.
ALMOST
Many years ago, my then
bridge partner and I used the
(Joshua) Crane system of
bidding which came out in
the 1920/30’s.
The merits of the system
were simplicity and the
near certainty of not
missing a game call. Beyond
game other systems were
required.
Do you know whether this
system is ever used
nowadays or has it been
consigned to the ‘bridge
scrap heap’?
Mr D Rooney, Glasgow.
OUTPOST
A little thank you note for
posting Bridge Magazine
No.102. It's a wonderful
magazine. Would it be
possible to receive a copy of
each one published - I
would be more than happy
to pay postage and any
other cost? Again, many
thanks.
Rita Jone,
Lynwood, Western Australia.
BRIDGE WEEKLY
Love the weekly e-magazine.
Long may your organisation
prosper.
Miss H Morley, Grimsby.
ANTICIPATION
Your magnificent magazine
is eagerly awaited by an 86
year old, living alone, partly
disabled and a beginner.
Mr Bailie, Perth.
TOPPING
This is the best bridge
magazine but the icing on
the cake is now Bridge
Weekly online. Brilliant.
Mr P Roberts,
Downham Market, Norfolk.
GOOD TO HEAR
EBU P2P seems to be
working to the satisfaction of
all our club members.
Mr P Tyers,
Glenfield, Leicester.
WELL SAID TONY
At last someone talks sense.
Congratulations Tony Stevens
(etters BRIDGE 102).
Mr A Snarey,
Glemsford, Suffolk.
JUST RIGHT
We started playing just over
3 years ago and your tutorial
software has been
invaluable.
Mrs B Harding,
Harwood, Bolton.
HAPPY HUBBY
Very absorbing read. My
husband can’t believe that
something that keeps me so
quiet for so long comes free.
Mrs C Nixon,
Chipping Campden.
GREAT RECIPE
What a treat, BRIDGE and a
sunny summer day.
Mr T Mitchell,
Shipston-on-Stour.
ALWAYS GOING UP
I am delighted with stamps
from Mr Goff but am never
sure of the correct price for
2nd class as it rises so often.
Mrs B Hickling,
Malvern, Worcs.
WELL DONE
How’s this for a small
duplicate club – 14 tops out
of 20 = 81%.
Mr J Frampton, Cambridge.
CONTINUATION
AFTER PREEMPTS
For some time now, my
regular partner and I have
been using the Ogust
Convention (2NT response to
a major weak-2 opening,
asking for clarification of the
strength of opener’s hand
and of the bid suit). We find it
useful and it has pointed us
towards several good ‘tops’.
It occurred to us the other
day that it might work
equally well over a pre-
emptive-3 opening. Currently,
our system would take a 3NT
response to an opening
3-bid as indicating a wish to
play in 3NT, but neither of us
can recollect any occasion
when we have even been
tempted to use that bid.
(Presumably, responder
would need stops in the
other 3 suits and enough in
opener’s suit to enable re-
entry to dummy once the suit
has been established).
We feel it would be much
more useful to use 3NT as an
enquiry about the strength of
opener’s hand and bid suit.
Very often, after an opening
bid of 3™, for example, it

Premium Quality RULES

You did not give a closing
would be very helpful to find
out immediately if partner is

Playing Cards date for the competition – nor

what the prize/s might be.
Mr J Bailey, Goucester.
Standard Nor I did, so let’s say that all
Design. correct entries received by
Unboxed.
September 2 qualified
6 red for a prize, whatever that
6 blue might be.
£19.95
JUBILEE
30 red Wombourne Bridge Club held
30 blue their 25th anniversary in April
only £60 and has done very well
without being members of
Available from The London Bridge Centre
the EBU.
44 Baker Street, London W1U 7RT.
www.bridgeshop.com ( 020 7486 8222 Mr A McCumiskey,
Tettenhall, Wolverhampton.
opening on the basis of 7
hearts to the ™AK with little
outside, or with 7 hearts to
the ™Q with outside values.
I’m sure this is not a novel
suggestion, and it must have
been tried before. Any
comments or suggestions
would be very welcome.
Mr Laurence Williams,
Biggar Bridge Club, Scotland.
GOOD FOR YOU
QPlus 9.1 purchased last year
is excellent value.
Mr B Marshall,
Mackworth, Derby.

Page 36
READERS’ LETTERS general outline. I hope that
continued you will be publishing a
follow-up article by Cliff

GRADING
You will, I hope, know how
giving details of the full
system.
Graham Baskerville,
DEFENCE
QUIZ
appreciative my wife and I Kington Langley.
have been over the years of
many of your activities, WELCOME BACK
especially the bridge week- We are finding all the articles
ends at Hopcrofts Holt. We useful as we return to the
were sorry when this venue game after 25 years. by Julian Pottage
ceased and last year we Mr A Coulson, (Answers on page 43)
tried the Olde Barn at Pinner, Middlesex.
Marston. While the bridge ou are East in the defensive positions below. It is your turn
was excellent, as usual,
and the accommodation
NEARLY ‘A’ LEVEL
I read 80% of your
Y to play.

acceptable, the standard magazine. That means it

of food was so poor that must be good. 1. ♠ Q 10 5 4 2 3. ♠ 742
we will not consider going Mr B Meadows, ™ 7 ™ A6
there again. Ashperton, Ledbury. © A9864 © K
We are thinking of trying a ® Q4 ® AKJ75 32
♠ 9 ♠ AJ3
visit to Denham Grove later TIPS AND QUIZZES N N
™ A9653 ™ K2
in the year, but would I thoroughly enjoy reading W E W E
S © Q 10 3 S © 10 7 6 4 2
appreciate an assurance BRIDGE and appreciate all
® K 10 7 2 ® Q64
from you about the catering the tips and quizzes.
before booking. Mrs M Milne,
An afterthought. Have you Brixham, Devon. West North East South West North East South
considered asking us, your 1♠ 1® Pass 1™
customers, for feedback on HUMOUR Pass 4♠ Pass 4NT Pass 3® Pass 3™
the different venues, even I keep passing signs that tell Pass 5© Pass 6♠ Pass 4™ End
awarding stars and possibly me ‘weak bridge’. How they End
varying prices? know that is a puzzle to me West leads the ♠10. What
Colin Harbury, but, honestly, I am trying to West leads the ®3: ®Q, do you do after dummy
Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. improve. Your magazine ®K, ®A. Declarer crosses plays low?
Your comments are valued. helps me. to dummy with a trump
However, I suggest you may Mr G Beales, and calls for a heart. What
4. ♠ 985
be surprised by the Olde Lowdham, Nottingham. do you do?
™ J8
Barn this year. As for
© A Q J 10 7 3
Denham, this continues to FIVE-CARD MAJORS
2. ♠ J 10 5 ® KJ
improve and we shall have We are looking forward to
™ 10 7 2 ♠ 72
successful events this reading articles on ‘five-card
© Q2 N ™ K94
October and during the majors for the 21st Century’. W E
® Q 10 7 4 2 S © 9842
coming Christmas season. My wife and I switched from ♠ K3 ® 9852
Acol in 2001. It is very N
™ AK864
W E
PART 2 WANTED accurate and interesting. S © 9863
I was very interested in the Bernard Magee’s book is ® A8
West North East South
article by Cliff Hancock in long overdue. 1© Pass 2♠
BRIDGE on a fairer method of Mr P Hooper, Pass 3♠ Pass 4NT
scoring. The article gave a Sidmouth, Devon. ■ West North East South Pass 5© Pass 6♠
1™ 1NT End
End
Write to Mr Bridge at: West leads the ™3. What
Ryden Grange, Knaphill, Surrey GU21 2TH West leads the ♠6. You do you do after dummy
or e-mail letters@mrbridge.co.uk cover the ♠J with the ♠K, covers with the ™8?
which loses to the ♠A.
E-mail correspondents are asked to include their
name, full postal address, telephone number and Declarer leads the ®J: part-
to send no attachments. ner plays the ®6, dummy
the ®2. What do you do?
Letters may be edited for length and clarity.

Page 37
 ANSWERS TO THE BIDDING QUIZ ON
PAGE 3 by BERNARD MAGEE
spades if he has three of those; otherwise he how high you should bid. With 11 HCP and a
1. Dealer East. Love All. bids 3NT: here, of course, he would bid 4™. singleton, your hand is worth 14 points; your
♠ QJ76 ♠ A K 10 4 While 3™ might appear to be a strange bid partner should have the values for an
N
™ 98 W E ™ 2 with only three cards in the suit, with four- opening bid.
S
© AJ954 © K Q 10 7 6 card heart support you would have raised
Putting both together suggests you should
® 98 ® J 10 2 straight away – delayed support almost
be in game: you need to convey this. When
always shows just three cards.
you do not know quite where you want to
4™ is a good contract, while 3NT is likely to play, the best way of showing a strong hand
West North East South
go down. after your opponents have bid is to use a bid
1© Pass
in their suit: 2♠. Your other option is a jump
?
straight to 4™. Other bids are no good
because they are non-forcing: 3™, 3© and
1♠. Show a major before supporting a minor
3. Dealer East. Love All. 4© are all passable. One advantage of 2♠
– this is one of the basic rules of responding.
♠ AJ96 ♠ 2 over 4™ is that it gives a little more room to
The reason is simple: majors are worth more
™ 2 N ™ AK98753 explore greater things – your partner might
and game is easier to make. W E
© KQ73 S © 42 have an even stronger hand and a slam
If you raise diamonds, you will finish in that ® KJ87 ® 653 might be on – another is that you might not
suit or perhaps defend an opposing heart want to play in hearts if partner has only
contract. If, instead, you respond 1♠, partner three hearts.
will jump to 3♠; then, with a double fit West North East South
(diamonds and spades), you can go for 3™ Pass
game. 4♠ makes in comfort, even though ?
you have just 21 HCP between you. 5. Dealer East. N/S Vul.
Pass. Your partner’s 3™ bid shows a weak ♠ A 10 9 7 5 ♠ 2
hand with a seven-card heart suit. In ™ K94 N ™ AQJ832
W E
general, when responding to a pre-empt © 2 S © AJ93
2. Dealer East. Game All. without good support, you need 16+ HCP to ® J985 ® 72
♠ AJ987 ♠ K2 go for game.
N
™ K42 W E
™ A8765
I know that it is hard to pass when holding a
© Q92 S © K J 10 West North East South
good 14 points but, with a poor fit for your
® 98 ® A53 1™ Pass
partner’s suit, you are unlikely to make more
1♠ Pass 2© Pass
than 3™. If hearts break 3-2, partner should
?
scrape together nine tricks.
West North East South
1™ Pass 3™. On most auctions when partner bids
1♠ Pass 1NT Pass two suits, he promises at least five cards in
? the first suit – this is a fundamental rule of
4. Dealer North. Love All.
bidding. Knowing your partner has a
♠ 964 ♠ 2
3™. You have two decisions to make: the N minimum of five hearts allows you to
™ AK75 W E
™ QJ98
level and the denomination. The first is evaluate your hand fully in the light of your
© A9853 S © KQ42
straightforward: since partner has shown eight-card or better fit. With a singleton and
® 2 ® KQ76
15-17 points and you have ten, you should be 8 HCP, you assess your hand as 11 total
going for game. points (8 losers) – this means you should
jump in support of your partner.
The second decision is not so West North East South
straightforward: you have five spades and 1♠ Dbl Pass 3™ gives your partner the push he needs to
your partner might have five hearts, so you ? bid game – 4™ is easy because your hand
would like to continue to explore for a major- can contribute at least two ruffs – showing
suit contract before settling for 3NT. You 2♠. Your partner’s double is for take-out, the value of a singleton in the hand with the
should jump to 3™, which allows your asking you to bid a suit. However, you need shorter trumps. If you give simple preference
partner to choose hearts if he has five, or bid to assess the strength of your hand to decide to 2™, partner will pass. ■

Page 38
✄

If you have not contacted us in the last two

MAIL ORDER years, please enter your details in the box
PLAY SOFTWARE below to re-register:
QPlus 9.1 £84.00 .......
QPlus 8.8 (second hand) £54.00 .......
Name (Dr Mr, Mrs, Miss) .............................................
TUTORIAL SOFTWARE
Address ..............................................................
Acol Bidding £64.00 .......
More Acol Bidding £94.00 ....... ............................................................................
Declarer Play £74.00 .......
Advanced Declarer Play £79.00 ....... Postcode ..................... ( .................................
Defence £74.00 .......
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Bernard Magee’s Bridge Quiz Book £14.00 ....... Answers to the Bidding Quiz on the front cover:
Bernard Magee’s Quiz and Puzzle Book £14.00 .......
Bernard Magee’s Tips for Better Bridge £14.00 ....... Opening bids 1........................2 ........................

SINGLE-SUITED BALL-POINT PENS

Ballpoint Pens. Boxed set of four £19.95 .......
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Standard: Red ..... Navy ..... £6.95 .......
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Mr Bridge standard bridge table £60.00 ....... Please send BRIDGE to the following enthusiasts:
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Mr/Mrs/Miss ..............................................................................
Prices are inclusive of VAT and postage. I enclose a cheque for £..........
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Expiry: ............................ CVV.................... Issue No. ............... Postcode..................................... (.........................................

(CVV is the last 3 numbers on the signature strip)
Email.........................................................................................

, Ryden Grange, Knaphill, Surrey GU21 2TH.

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

Page 39
✄
 GLOBAL TRAVEL INSURANCE
Amelia House, Crescent Road, Worthing West Sussex, BN11 1RL.
GLOBAL TRAVEL
INSURANCE ( 01903 203933 Fax 01903 211106 Email info@globaltravelinsurance.co.uk GLOBAL TRAVEL
INSURANCE
Services Limited Services Limited

INSURANCE PRODUCT SUITABILITY

This insurance is suitable for persons whose Demands and Needs are those of a traveller whose Individual round trip starts
and finishes in the UK and is of no more than 122 days duration, and whose age is 90 years or less and is a permanent
resident of the United Kingdom and Channel Islands.
As this description contains the Key Features of the cover provided it constitutes provision of a statement of demands and needs. This and
needs. This insurance is only available to persons who are permanently resident and domiciled in the 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 £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 £10,000,000
Including FIRSTASSIST 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 £2,500 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 or on a
Cruise when increased to £150. For persons aged 61 to 70 years the excess is increased to
£150 unless travelling within North or Central America or the Caribbean when increased to
£500. For persons aged 71 to 90 years the excess is increased to £300 unless travelling within
North or Central America or the Caribbean or on a Cruise when increased to £1,000.
See section headed Increased Excess for Pre Existing Medical Conditions for increased excesses
applicable to claims arising from pre-existing medical conditions.
(b) HOSPITAL BENEFIT up to £300
An additional benefit of £15 per day for each day you spend in hospital abroad as an in-patient.
No Policy Excess.
PERSONAL LUGGAGE, MONEY & VALUABLES up to £2,000
Covers accidental loss, theft or damage to your personal luggage subject to a limit of £200 for any
one article, pair or set and an overall limit of £200 for valuables such as cameras, Jewellery, furs,
etc. Luggage and valuables limited to £1500. Delayed luggage, up to £75. Policy Excess £50.
Money, travel tickets and travellers cheques are covered up to £500 against accidental loss or theft
(cash limit £250). Policy Excess £50.
No cover is provided for loss or theft of unattended property, valuables or money or for loss or theft
not reported to the Police within 24 hours of discovery.
PASSPORT EXPENSES up to £200
If you lose your passport or it is stolen whilst abroad, you are covered for additional travel and
accommodation costs incurred in obtaining a replacement. No Policy Excess.
DELAYED DEPARTURE up to £1,500
If your outward or return trip is delayed for more than 12 hours at the final departure point to/from
UK due to adverse weather conditions, mechanical breakdown or industrial action, you are entitled
to either (a) £20 for the first 12 hours and £10 for each further 12 hours delay up to a maximum of
£60, or (b) the cost of the trip (up to £1,500) if you elect to cancel after 12 hours delay on the outward
trip from the UK. Policy Excess £50 (b) only.
MISSED DEPARTURE up to £500
Additional travel and accommodation expenses incurred to enable you to reach your overseas
destination if you arrive too late at your final UK outward departure point due to failure of the vehicle
in which you are travelling to deliver you to the departure point caused by adverse weather, strike,
industrial action, mechanical breakdown or accident to the vehicle. No Policy Excess.
PERSONAL LIABILITY up to £2,000,000
Covers your legal liability for injury or damage to other people or their property, including legal
expenses (subject to the laws of England and Wales). Policy Excess £250.
LEGAL EXPENSES up to £25,000
To enable you to pursue your rights against a third party following injury. No Policy Excess.
SCHEDULED AIRLINE FAILURE up to £1,500
Covers scheduled airline tickets cancelled prior to departure and cost of replacement equivalent
tickets incurred in order to return to the UK due to bankruptcy/liquidation of the airline. No Policy
Excess.

MAIN EXCLUSIONS AND CONDITIONS Medical Screening

The following represents only the main exclusions. The policy document sets out
all of the conditions and exclusions. A copy of the full policy wording is available
on request in writing prior to application.
MAIN HEALTH EXCLUSIONS:
Insurers will not pay for claims arising
1. Where You (or any person upon whose health the Trip depends) are undergoing tests for the
presence of a medical condition receiving or on a waiting list for or have knowledge of the need
for treatment at a hospital or nursing home.
2. From any terminal illness suffered by You (or any person upon whose health the Trip depends).
3. From any medical condition for which You (or any person upon whose health the Trip depends)
have within 12 months prior to the date of issue of this insurance been diagnosed with a medical
condition or have been admitted or undergone a procedure/ intervention in a hospital.
4. If You are traveling against the advice of a Medical Practitioner.
OTHER GENERAL EXCLUSIONS
Claims arising from
1. Winter sports, any hazardous pursuits, any work of a non sedentary nature.
2. Self inflicted injury or illness, suicide, alcoholism or drug abuse, sexual disease.
3. War, invasion, acts of foreign enemies, hostilities or warlike operations, civil war, rebellion,
Terrorism, revolution, insurrection, civil commotion, military or usurped power but this
exclusion shall not apply to losses under Section 3 - Medical Expenses unless such losses
are caused by nuclear, chemical or biological attack, or the disturbances were already taking
place at the beginning of any Trip.
4. Failure or fear of failure or inability of any equipment or any computer program.
5. Consequential loss of any kind.
6. Bankruptcy/liquidation of any tour operator, travel agent, airline, transportation company or
accommodation supplier.
7. Travelling to countries or regions where the FCO or WHO has advised against travel.
8. Your failure to contact the Medical Screening Line where required.
Unless you are traveling to North or Central America or the Caribbean or on a Cruise,
there is no need to advise us of your pre existing medical conditions. The term ‘Cruise’
does not include River or other Inland cruises or boat trips.
If You have a history of any medical condition and are traveling to North or Central
America or the Caribbean or on a Cruise, you must first contact the Medical Screening
Line to establish whether we can provide cover for your trip. If you are accepted, the
following levels of excess will apply. You will receive written confirmation that you are
covered for the trip. The number to call is:
0844 8921698
Increased Excess for Pre Existing Medical Conditions
Provision for the acceptance of pre existing medical conditions has been made by the
application of increased excesses in the event of claims arising.
For claims arising from any medical condition, other than those that are specifically excluded,
the excess is further increased as follows:
Under the Cancellation & Curtailment section – double the normal excess.
Under the Medical & Other Expenses section –
For persons aged 60 years or less the excess is increased to £500 unless travelling within
North or Central America or the Caribbean or on a Cruise when increased to £1,000.
For persons aged 61 to 70 years the excess is increased to £1,000 unless travelling within
North or Central America or the Caribbean or on a Cruise when increased to £2,000.
For persons aged 71 to 90 years the excess is increased to £1,500 unless travelling within
North or Central America or the Caribbean or on a Cruise when increased to £3,000.
MEMBER OF THE

POLICY EXCESSES:
The amount of each claim for which insurers will not pay and for which you are responsible. The
excess as noted in the policy summary applies to each and every claim per insured person under
each section where an excess applies.
 ✄
Global Travel Insurance Services Ltd are authorised and regulated by
the Financial Services Authority and our status can be checked on the
FSA Register by visiting www.fsa.gov.uk/register or by contacting the
Single Trip
FSA on 0845 606 1234.
This insurance is administered by FirstAssist Insurance Services Limited Travel Insurance
on behalf of the insurer Great Lakes Reinsurance (UK) PLC registered in Suitable for individual round trips up to 122 days duration
England No. 2189462. Registered address: Plantation Place, 30 that start and finish in the UK arranged by
Fenchurch Street, London EC3M 3AJ, and is authorised and regulated by
the Financial Services Authority other than Scheduled Airline Failure
which is underwritten by IGI Insurance Company Ltd. Registered address:
Global Travel Insurance
Amelia House, Crescent Road, Worthing, West Sussex, BN11 1RL
Market Square House, St James’s Street, Nottingham, NG1 6FG. ( 01903 203933 Fax 01903 211106
If you have a complaint about the sale of this insurance, you must first
write to the Managing Director of Global Travel Insurance Services Ltd. SINGLE TRIP APPLICATION FORM
Subsequently, complaints may be referred to the Financial Ombudsman Please FULLY complete the following in BLOCK CAPITALS.
Service. If we are unable to meet our liabilities you may be entitled to Once complete, return the application panel direct to Global Travel Insurance
compensation under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. with a cheque or with card details entered.
If you would like more information or are unsure of any details contained Insurance is not effective until a Policy has been issued.
herein, you should ask Global Travel Insurance Services Ltd for further Please allow at least 5 days before you need to travel.
advice. Details of the Applicant

PREMIUM RATING SCHEDULE Title (Mr/Mrs/Miss) Initials

GEOGRAPHICAL AREAS Surname

1. United Kingdom
England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Isle of Man, including all Telephone No.
islands comprising the British Isles (except the Channel Islands and the
Republic of Ireland). House Number/Name
(Any British Isles or UK Cruises are rated as Area 2).
2. Europe Street Name
Area 1 and Continental Europe west of the Ural mountain range, all
countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea (except, Egypt, Israel, Town Name
Jordan, Lebanon, Libya & Syria), the Channel Islands and the Republic
of Ireland, Iceland, Madeira, The Canaries and The Azores. (Persons Postcode
residing in the Channel Islands need to pay Area 2 rates for UK trips).
3. Worldwide excluding North America Date of leaving Home
Areas 1 & 2 and All countries outside of the above (except the continent
of North America, countries comprising Central America and the Date of arrival Home
Caribbean Islands).
4. Worldwide including North America Introducer Mr Bridge
Areas 1,2 & 3 and The United States of America, Mexico and other
countries comprising Central America, Canada, Cuba and the Geographical Area - See Premium Panel
Caribbean Islands. (1,2,3 or 4)

SCHEDULE OF PREMIUMS Names of all persons to be insured Age Premium

Valid for policies issued up to 31/3/2011 1 £

and for travel completed by 31/12/2011.
Areas 1 & 2 - Applicable per person up to age 90 years on the 2 £
date of return to the UK.
Areas 3 & 4 - Applicable per person up to age 80 years on the
date of return to the UK. 3 £
Area 1 Area 2 Area 3 Area 4
4 £
1 - 3 days £13.80 £21.20 £44.40 £63.90
4 & 5 days £16.60 £26.60 £55.80 £80.30 5 £
6 -10 days £19.40 £35.90 £75.60 £108.30
11-17 days £22.10 £39.30 £84.10 £121.20 6 £
18-24 days £24.90 £45.20 £94.70 £136.40
Credit/Debit Card Details TOTAL PREMIUM £
25-31 days £27.70 £51.40 £107.80 £155.20
Each + 7 days £ 5.00 £10.10 £25.30 £36.50 Card No
or part thereof (maximum period of 122 days)
All premiums include the Government Insurance Premium Tax (IPT), Start Date End Date Issue No
which is 17.5% and is subject to variation.
Security Code
PREMIUM ADJUSTMENTS
All age adjustments apply to the age on the date of return to the UK DECLARATION
The following adjustments apply ONLY to trips in excess of 31 days
for all persons aged 65 years and over On behalf of all persons listed in this application, I agree that this application shall
Geographical Area Premium Increase be the basis of the Contract of Insurance. I agree that Insurers may exchange
Area 2 Europe Plus 50% (1.5 times) information with other Insurers or their agents. I have read and understood the
Area 3 Worldwide excl. North America etc Plus 100% (2 times) terms and conditions of the insurance, with which all persons above are in
Area 4 Worldwide incl. North America etc Plus 200% (3 times) agreement and for whom I am authorized to sign.
Infants up to 2 years inclusive are FREE subject to being included with an
adult paying a full premium. Signed ............................................................. Date.......................
Children 3 to 16 years inclusive are HALF PRICE subject to being included The form MUST be signed by one of the persons to be insured on behalf of all persons to be insured.
with an adult paying a full premium. Unaccompanied children pay the adult rate. is an Introducer Appointed Representative of Global Travel Insurance
Group Discounts – Contact us for discounts available starting at 10 persons. Services Ltd, who are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.
✄

136STI10
 BRIDGE 2010 and 2011
BREAKS Bridge Breaks
OCTOBER 2010
© Full-board © Two seminars
15-17 Wychwood Park
© All rooms with © Two supervised play
£199 Signals & Discards
en-suite facilities sessions
Ray Hutchinson
© No single supplement © Four duplicate sessions
22-24 Staverton Park
£199 Hand Evaluation
Please book me for ..... places at £....... per person, Alex Davoud

29-31 The Olde Barn

Single .... Double .... Twin .... £199 Slam Bidding
Ray Hutchinson Staverton Park
Nr Daventry NN11 6JT
Name of Hotel/Centre ........................................................

Dates ..................................................................................
NOVEMBER continued

Mr/Mrs/Miss ..................................................................... 26-28 The Olde Barn

£199 Stayman & Transfers
Alison Nicolson
Address............................................................................... Improvers*

............................................................................................
JANUARY 2011
Postcode ............................................................................ Ardington Hotel 14-16 Ardington Hotel
Worthing BN11 3DZ £215 Signals & Discards
Ned Paul
( ......................................................................................
NOVEMBER 2010
Special requirements (these cannot be guaranteed,
5-7 Wychwood Park
but we will do our best to oblige) £199 Declarer Play
Gary Conrad
...........................................................................................
5-7 Staverton Park
Please give the name(s) of all those covered by this booking £199 Leads & Defence
Alex Davoud
........................................................................................... 12-14 The Olde Barn
£199 Better Defence
Please send a non-returnable deposit of £50 per person per place by Crombie McNeil Wychwood Park
cheque, payable to Mr Bridge. An invoice for the balance will be
Near Crewe CW2 5GP
sent with your booking confirmation. On receipt of your final pay- 19-21 Wychwood Park
ment, 28 days before the event, a programme and full details will £199 Slam Bidding
21-23 Ardington Hotel
be sent together with a map. Cancellations are not refundable. Gary Conrad
Should you require insurance, you should contact your own insur- £215 Suit Establishment
ance broker. Alex Davoud

, Ryden Grange, Knaphill, Surrey GU21 2TH FEBRUARY 2011

( 01483 489961 Fax 01483 797302 25-27 Ardington Hotel
e-mail: jessica@mrbridge.co.uk £215 Doubles
website: www.holidaybridge.com Ned Paul

MARCH 2011
Ardington Hotel Staverton Park 25-27 Ardington Hotel
The Olde Barn Hotel £215 Pre-emptive Bidding
Worthing BN11 3QJ Near Daventry NN11 6JT Marston, Lincs NG32 2HT
Crombie McNeil
The Olde Barn Hotel Wychwood Park
Marston, Lincs NG32 2HT Near Crewe CW2 5GP
*aimed at the novice player and/or those picking up the game after a long break

Page 42
 ANSWERS TO THE DEFENCE QUIZ ON
PAGE 37 by JULIAN POTTAGE
Since dummy has a long suit and few obvi- While it makes no difference in terms of
1. ♠ Q 10 5 4 2 ous entries, you might consider holding up. picking up South’s queen, you should follow
™ 7 It should not be too difficult to decide the normal rule and return the higher of two
© A9864 against this. Declarer will not have blocked remaining cards. You do not want partner to
® Q4 the suit by leading the jack from K-J dou- think you started with four spades and
♠ J 3 ♠ 9 bleton. So, unless partner has the ®K, the switch to some other suit at the third trick.
™ J 42 N ™ A9653 suit will run. If partner does have the ®K,
W E
© J 752 S
© Q 10 3 you do not want to be cutting your own
® J 863 ® K 10 7 2 side’s communications by ducking. You
♠ AK876 should take the ®A at once and return a 4. ♠ 985
™ K Q 10 8 spade – since nobody leads the six from ™ J8
© K 9-8-7-6, West surely holds the ♠Q. © A Q J 10 7 3
® A95 ® KJ
Note that it would be a mistake to cash a
♠ A4 ♠ 72
high heart before returning a spade. From N
™ Q7632 W E
™ K94
the bidding and non-heart lead, you can
West North East South © 5 S © 9842
guess that partner has a singleton. If you
1♠ ® 10 7 6 4 3 ® 9852
did, you would be in a dilemma. If you
Pass 4♠ Pass 4NT ♠ K Q J 10 6 3
cashed the other one too, you would set up
Pass 5© Pass 6♠ ™ A 10 5
South’s hearts; if you did not, you would
End © K6
lose it.
® AQ
West leads the three of clubs: queen, king,
ace. Declarer crosses to dummy with a
trump and calls for a heart. What do you do? West North East South
3. ♠742
1© Pass 2♠
With the singleton heart in dummy, it is ™A6
Pass 3♠ Pass 4NT
tempting to grab your ace. Sometimes the ©K
Pass 5© Pass 6♠
obvious thing is the right thing. If South has ®AKJ7532
End
the ™K – likely on the bidding – you risk ♠ K 10 9 5 ♠ AJ3
losing your ace if you duck. ™ 973 N ™ K2
W E West leads the three of hearts. What do
© J853 © 10 7 6 4 2
Having taken the ™A, there is only one sen- S you do after dummy covers with the eight?
® 10 9 ® Q64
sible thing to do. This is to return a club.
♠ Q86 As on the previous deal, you cannot quite
The lead of the ®3 appears to show an
™ Q J 10 8 5 4 work out the strength of partner’s holding in
honour, which can only be the ®J.
© AQ9 the suit led. The lead might be from the
® 8 queen, the queen-ten or the ten. It should
not be from the ace. Underleading an ace
would be highly unusual against a slam.
2. ♠ J 10 5
West North East South Since your play probably makes no differ-
™ 10 7 2
1® Pass 1™ ence if partner has both the queen and ten,
© Q2
Pass 3® Pass 3™ let us assume that declarer has one of
® Q 10 7 4 2
Pass 4™ End those cards. If the lead is from the ten,
♠ Q9764 ♠ K3
N playing the nine to finesse against the jack
™ 5 ™ AK864
W E West leads the ten of spades. What do you is in theory a good idea. The ace and
© 10 7 5 S © 9863
do after dummy plays low? queen will be winners whatever you do;
® K653 ® A8
retaining the king will allow you to nullify the
♠ A82 The lead might be from a ten-high suit or an
jack. In practice, it would not help even if
™ QJ93 interior sequence – K-10-9 or Q-10-9. You
that were the layout. Declarer could either
© AKJ4 cannot tell which. Of course, you hope it is
ruff the third round of hearts in dummy or
® J9 from K-10-9. South’s queen will then be a
throw a heart on the diamonds.
dead duck. If you can cash the first three
tricks, you can be sure the contract is going A better idea is to put up the king, hoping
West North East South down because your king of hearts is a sure the lead is from the queen. This sets up the
1™ 1NT winner. In any case, there is nothing better queen as a winner. If partner has a fast
End for you to try. If, for instance, partner is void entry – in trumps presumably – you may
in clubs, a ruff will not help since your queen well defeat the slam. Unless declarer can
West leads the six of spades. You cover the would be a natural winner without the ruff. If discard one of dummy’s hearts on a third-
jack with the king, which loses to the ace. partner has the ace of diamonds, there round club winner, a heart will be the sec-
Declarer leads the jack of clubs. Partner should be time to play diamonds later. ond defensive trick. Note the choice of
plays the six, dummy the two. What do you Having put up the ace of spades, should lead: with a sure winner, it would be futile
do? you return the jack or the three? for West to lead the singleton. ■

Page 43
 No Sin
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+ROLGD\V/WG
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 ANSWERS TO THE DECLARER PLAY QUIZ
ON PAGE 29 by DAVID HUGGETT
You are declarer in 7™ and West leads the tricks in our longest suit. Just see what will
1. ♠ Q96 ™8 with East following suit. How do you happen if you do. The defence will win the
™ AQ863 plan the play? diamond and play back another heart; then
© 843 you dare not lose the lead again because
The grand slam is a reasonable shot, but
® A3 they will have enough tricks to defeat you.
you have to be careful as to how you go
♠ 542 ♠ 73 The reluctant conclusion is that the
about making thirteen tricks. You can ruff
™ 972 N ™ K J 10 diamonds are a mirage and you have to
W E the two losing clubs in dummy, but that still
© KQJ7 S © 10 9 2 ignore them. Instead, you have to hope for
leaves a potential losing spade in hand.
® K97 ® Q J 10 4 2 a 3-3 club split, so win the heart and play
You cannot ruff it, but you might be able to
♠ A K J 10 8 three rounds of clubs. On a good day, they
discard it on dummy’s fifth diamond if that
™ 54 will divide evenly and you make game with
suit breaks 4-3. For that to happen, you
© A65 three spades, two hearts and four clubs.
need plenty of entries to dummy, not only to
® 865 The diamonds never get a look in at all.
ruff out the diamonds but also to get back
there to enjoy the last one. If you
mistakenly draw a second round of trumps,
4. ♠ K63
You are declarer in 4♠ and West leads the you will fail in your endeavour. Instead, win
™ A 10 8
©K. How do you plan the play? the heart lead and play ace and another
© AQ94
diamond immediately, ruffing. You re-enter
Obviously, you have reached a sound ® 654
dummy with a trump and ruff a third
contract, but you do have five potential ♠ 982 ♠ Q J 10 7
diamond. After that, you play the ace of
losers in a heart, two diamonds and two ™ KQJ92 N ™ 75
clubs and ruff a club. You then ruff a fourth W E
clubs. Suppose you win the first diamond © KJ6 © 10 8 2
diamond, setting up the fifth in the process. S
and play two rounds of clubs immediately, ® 83 ® J 10 9 7
A second club ruff sees you back in
intending to ruff the third club in dummy ♠ A54
dummy, when you can play the long
and later take the heart finesse. This plan is ™ 643
diamond and throw your losing spade.
clearly better than just drawing trumps, © 753
which would probably lead to defeat even if ® AKQ2
West had the king of hearts.
3. ♠ AK3
Can you see an even better plan? After ™ AQ
getting in, you should take the heart finesse. © 986 You are declarer in 3NT and West leads the
If it loses, you have to give up on ruffing a ® K5432 ™K. How do you plan the play?
club and must hope that both majors divide ♠ J75 ♠ 10 8 6 2
You duck two rounds of hearts but win the
evenly. Let us say they win the heart, cash ™ J9853 N ™ 10 6 4 2
W E third as East shows out, pitching a spade.
two diamonds and play a club. You win, © 72 S © AK
If clubs divide 3-3, you still need to make
play the ace of hearts, ruff a heart and then ® J 10 6 ® Q97
two diamonds, while if clubs are not going
draw trumps ending in dummy. If every- ♠ Q94
to break kindly, you will need to make three
thing behaves, you make five spades, ™ K7
diamonds whilst making sure to keep West
three hearts and two minor-suit aces. © Q J 10 5 4 3
off the lead.
® A8
So, at trick four you come to hand with a club
2. ♠ J76 and play a diamond, finessing dummy’s nine.
™ K Q 10 9 As it happens, East will win cheaply and play
You are declarer in 3NT and West leads the
© A8743 a spade, but you win in hand and then play a
™5. How do you plan the play?
® 6 diamond to the queen. When this wins, you
♠ Q 10 4 2 ♠ 953 5© is virtually laydown but minor-suit are home if either diamonds or clubs break
N
™ 87 W E
™ 3 games are notoriously hard to bid. As it is, evenly. If the queen of diamonds lost to the
© K96 S © Q J 10 5 on any lead other than a heart, you would king, you would still be safe if both minor
® Q984 ® K J 10 3 2 have no trouble establishing enough tricks. suits broke evenly. If you had mistakenly
♠ AK8 The sad fact is that they have attacked played a diamond to the queen earlier, you
™ AJ6542 your weakness and you have a horrible would have been unable to establish three
© 2 duplication in hearts. At first sight, it might tricks in the suit without letting West gain the
® A75 seem right to attack diamonds because we lead (and you would have blown a diamond
learn that it is often right to try to establish trick if West had J-10-x). ■

Page 45

Monday
This is the second week of a
European Championship. I
am not at home, but in
Ostend, staying in a nice
hotel next door to the
tournament venue.
We are lying fourth (out of
28). Nicola and I have yet to
hit top form and perhaps one
could say the same of Nevena
Senior and Heather Dhondy,
but our youngsters, Susan
Stockdale and Fiona Brown,
are playing fantastically well.
Our first match (20 boards,
starting at 10am) is against
Portugal and I am unhappy
with our card. We bid a
dreadful slam that goes
down, get on the wrong end
of a couple of partscores and
miss a thin non-vulnerable
game. All we have in
compensation is a 500
penalty when I took a good
decision to defend after my
RHO opened a weak 2™.
Luckily, the slam is flat and
we lose narrowly, 14-16.
Nicola and I now go and sit
on the sea wall looking at the
beach, eating sandwiches we
made at breakfast. It is nice to
get away from all the bridge
players and watch the world
going by. I give a busker a
few euros to play Lara’s
theme from Dr Zhivago –
Nicola and I are still arguing
about whether or not that was
what he played!
Seven Days
by Sally Brock
For a change, I thought I would give you a taste
of what it is like to play in an international bridge event.
We play Finland next. This
time I like our card. We win
23-7 and have finished for the
day and I can do my normal
sitting-out activities of 40
minutes in the gym, followed
by a swim and then a bath. It
seems strange, but I get much
more time to myself when I
am away at a championship
than I do at home!
The girls have a storming
match against Hungary,
trouncing them 25-0. We
have had a better day than our
rivals and move up to the
silver medal position, 17 VPs
behind the Netherlands.
It is Greek food for dinner
– pretty good but the only
Greek restaurant I have ever
been to that does not serve
hummus or pitta bread!
Tuesday
A tough day: we play first
France and then Italy. Neither
team has hit their top form
yet, but it is only a question
of time… We start against
Benedicte Cronier and Sylvie
Willard, one of the top
French pairs. We start OK,
bidding and making a wafer-
thin game on Board 1. We
then take a couple of wrong
high-level decisions. Things
go quiet then but we are 40
down. Thank heavens for the
last two boards. On the first
Benedicte holds:
Page 46
lunch and then we play Italy.
♠ AKQ74 They start well against us, but
™ 5 then the tide turns and,
© A875 although it is quite a low-
® KQ3 scoring match, we win 19-11.
The third match is against
the Czech Republic, one of
She is vulnerable against not the weakest teams in the
and hears me, on her left, open field. Again, teammates do us
2♠ which shows about 9-12 proud and win 25-2.
points and a six-card suit, Although we have slipped
pass, pass to her. She decides to the bronze position, we are
to pass and I go a couple only 4 VPs away from the
down. This is the full deal: lead.
In the evening, I visit my
Welsh friends. My particular
North friend is Gilly Clench who is
♠ 2 playing on the women’s team
™ K J 10 8 2 and her daughter, Mel, who is
© Q J 10 friendly with my children, is
® 10 8 7 6 here. The Welsh have taken
West East two adjacent apartments, a
♠ 6 ♠ AKQ74 10-minute walk away. I go
™ AQ764 ™ 5 back to their place for a
© K96432 © A875 home-cooked fish dinner.
® 9 ® KQ3
Wednesday
South
♠ J 10 9 8 5 3
™ 93
© Void It has become clear that
® AJ542 Nicola and I do not seem to
be at our best in the first
session of the day. We point
Teammates bid 6©, which is this out to our captain Richard
down on a club lead, but the Bowdery, so we wait on the
lead is a spade so the slam bench for the first match
rolls home despite the 3-0 against Sweden on VuGraph.
trump break. 15 IMPs for us. It is exhausting watching your
We gain another 7 IMPs on own team so I go for my usual
the last board, reducing the gym, swim, and bath routine.
deficit to 21 IMPs and a 20- I do all this quickly because I
10 loss. want to find out how the
Back to the seafront for match is going.

Seven Days continued
You may remember that in
the last issue I talked about
romance being in the air.
Well, it has arrived and
settled: Barry and I have
become an item and he is
going to come out at the
weekend. My best way of
finding out how we are doing
is to phone him in England!
Our teammates have a good
match, beating the Swedish
team (who were lying fifth)
19-11.
That leaves Spain and
Turkey whom we beat 21-9
and 22-8 respectively. There is
no change in the order at the
top but France had a great day,
dropping only 2 VPs, leaving
them 15 VPs ahead of us.
I go out to dinner with a
group of people including
Barry Rigal, a long-time friend
and bridge journalist who lives
in New York. After wandering
around for a while looking for
a Chinese restaurant, we give
up and settle for a Spanish-
style tapas place where we can
sit outside.
Thursday
If we are going to get a
medal, we need to score well
against decent teams for the
next two days. Nicola and I
continue our policy of sitting
out for the first match and
teammates win 17-13 against
Austria. A reasonable result
2011 Bridge Players’ Diaries
© Acol Summary
by Bernard Magee
© Scoring Tables for
duplicate and rubber.
© Red or navy covers.
© Luxury version with
super-soft kidrell cover,
gilded page edges
and a ball-point pen
attached. Ruby red or
bottle green.
against a dangerous team, but
we really need more.
Scotland next. The standard
of play is not high at our
table, with errors all over the
place from both sides. On the
last board, Nicola holds:
♠ KJ853
™ J54
© Poland 429, Germany 426,
AKQJ8
® Void
She opens 1♠ and hears me
respond 2NT, game-forcing
agreeing spades. She bids 4®
showing her void and I bid
4NT (Roman Key Card
Blackwood). She bids 5♠ to
show two ‘aces’ but denying
the queen of spades and I bid
5NT. This confirms that we
hold all the relevant ‘aces’
between us: she can either
respond with her lowest king
or bid the grand slam if she
feels like it – and she feels
like it! 7♠ it is. Dummy was a
disappointment:
♠ AQ74
™ A Q 10 8 3
© 2
® Sweden beat France 21-9 and
874
She wins the diamond lead
and plays a trump. If they
break 2-2 and the diamonds
come in, life will be very
easy. However, her RHO
shows out. Nothing for her to
do now but to draw trumps
and take the heart finesse.
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Page 47
Phew! It holds and she makes
her grand slam. 13 IMPs on
that board and still a win by
only 10 IMPs, another 17-13.
The Bulgarian match was
also a scrappy affair resulting
in a third 17-13 win. 51 VPs
on the day is not enough but
we hold our position:
Netherlands 449, France 446,
England 441, Sweden 434,
and Italy 418.
Dinner is a happy (though
slow) affair with Maltese
friends Mario and Margaret,
along with Heather and
Jeremy Dhondy, Andrew
(Tosh) McIntosh from the
open team and David Burn
(our coach).
Friday
Our first match is against the
Netherlands: again, Nicola
and I sit out the first match.
After a quick session in the
gym, I ring Barry to find out
how it is going. It is close
when I phone but there are
still several boards to go and
he must leave to catch the
Eurostar. It ends as a draw
but the big news is that
we have moved up to second.
The bad news is that in the
next two rounds we have
much tougher teams to play
than the other teams in
contention.
I am pleased with our match
against Denmark but, as is
often the case, the hands were
just as difficult for teammates
and we have to settle for 16
VPs. Unfortunately, France,
Sweden and Germany all win
big and we are now lying
equal fourth.
Richard decides that our
best chance for a big win in
the last match is with the
other four and we have to be
content with watching on
BBO. All the teams ahead of
us are piling on the points
and although we win 20-10,
the others do better so we
finish fifth. Even 25 VPs
would not have given us a
medal.
In the evening, Barry
arrives and we have a team
dinner. Overall, spirits are
high. Although we arrived
with high hopes of a medal,
at least we were never in
danger of failing to qualify
for next year’s Venice Cup.
Saturday
After a lie-in, we explore
Ostend for a while before a
moules-and-frites lunch in a
seafront restaurant. In the
evening, there is a medal
ceremony. Always at these
affairs, there is some
entertainment provided,
which, generally, the players
would much rather do
without. This time we have to
endure a rather aged woman,
very scantily clad, singing
Andrew Lloyd Webber songs
along with James Bond
theme music. At last, we get
to the medal presentations
and national anthems – this is
not very exciting either but
you feel you have to turn up
and applaud loudly because
you would like people to do
the same for you! Then there
are free drinks, and a big
buffet supper. I am at a fun
table with members of our
team and other Brits. I sit
between the two Barrys and
we all have a good time. So
ends another championship.
Sunday
Train to Brussels, followed
by Eurostar to London. As it
happens, Briony has been to
Alton Towers with friends
and is due to arrive at Euston
ten minutes after we get to St
Pancras, so we walk along
and meet her for coffee. She
has made plans to go to the
cinema in the afternoon so
Barry and I go out to dinner.
Then I get a cab to pick her
up and go on to Marylebone
for the train home. ■
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