Bridge Post Mortem #18
June 27, 2008
Rob Weidenfeld, Editor
It is not too late to get a partner and be at the bridge center by 10:50 am this morning for the 11:00am game. We encourage you to show up if you don’t have a partner and the chances are good we might have someone for you. We are not planning on having a lecture this morning.
Though I have published 17 of these award-winning mini-epics, and though accolades continue to pour into this office concerning how lives have been changed through the mere power of my words, and though bridge knowledge has taken a quantum leap in Southwestern Ohio through faultless bridge logic which defies expectation and belief, I have a confession to make: I have no clue as to how to assure that you continually get this newsletter!
I started with one database and noticed that as it got larger, the database seemed to drop some names. Now I have no idea why or how. Time Warner suggested as I get close to 50 there may be some issues, but I can’t forward any reasonable explanation. Now I have gone to four databases to accommodate the more than 100 people who receive the Post Mortem (that doesn’t count me 4 times who is on each database so that I know you received your e-mail with a newsletter attached!).
Every once in a while I check my personal database against the Newsletter’s and see a name is missing. I return the name. But I haven’t corresponded with each individual to see what issues they missed. So if you got issue #8, 9 and 10, and then didn’t see another issue until #14, it isn’t because you said something to offend me. You got bumped by my e-mail system. If you know that you missed some issues, send me an e-mail and I will forward to you any issues that you never received. Or if you are simply desperate to receive mail and want to experience the thrill you experience whenever the Post Mortem hits your Inbox, that’s ok too!
Here are the results from our club championship game last week:
Flight A:
1st Robert Glueck and Jeanne Dell 68.15%
2nd Charlene Comeaux and Alice Price 57.74%
3rd Dorothy Gard and Carol Jacobs 56.55%
Flight B/C
Congratulations to Robert and Jeanne! That is a very pretty score!
I will be taking a break from bridge and from Cincinnati for the next 10 days. I will be driving somewhere in the hills of Pennsylvania today while you are either reading this or playing in our morning game. A weeklong conference and time with family will be welcome. Since I will not be at either of the next two Friday games, I am not planning to get a newsletter out during that time. But due to some creative scheduling, you may hardly even notice it.
It seems the date at which I have gotten this newsletter out after the Friday game has gotten later and later into the week. By the time you get this issue, it will be time to pack your lunch and head to the Friday game! So should I decide to write an edition upon my return, only the schedule/control freaks in the group will realize that I have not made my presence known!
While I am gone, Kay Mulford will be directing the games. As always she is available to find partners if you are looking at any stage of the week. Kay may decide to direct on her own in today’s game, but I doubt if she does it for the STAC game next week (more on that to follow). Some of you may wonder how Kay, on her own, will be able to do her work and all of the work that I accomplish while I am directing the non-life master game. Fear not, for the dirty little secret is that it will probably require less time than normal since she won’t have to correct the mistakes that I continue to make.
But don’t tell her that. In fact, I have a request. Make sure that all those that go to the game say something to her about how much you miss my presence and the game just isn’t the same without me there. Remind her how much I am needed. Tell her anything to distract her from the fact that she will probably have no trouble running both sections at the same time! Of course, I will remain in your debt!
Starting Monday, June 30, play will begin on the STAC Tournament. A STAC tournament is a recent invention. Several years ago there were only three kinds of tournaments. Then as now the nationals were/are held 3 times a year and are the ones with the highest attendance. Next came the regional, which any given area might have once or twice a year. They attract an out-of-town crowd, and can be very well attended. Local sectional tournaments have been morphed into STAC (sectional tournament at club). So the all of the games will be held at the bridge center next week. Games are every afternoon at 1pm and 7pm in the evening from Monday through Saturday. There is no game on the evening of July 4. There is also a Swiss Team game on Sunday. Non-life master games are available every day! Plus a lot more points than normal. It is indeed a great time to play and an een better time to earn masterpoints.
A Mini-Lesson Due to the Lateness of the Hour and the Week!
Yesterday a question came up in a class I was teaching, and it reminded me of a phenomena that I had noticed before but had never incorporated into a lesson. The concept is that while NT bids are intended to show a balanced hand, funny things happen to the response of 1NT to an opening suit bid. The hands don’t always look balanced.
If you look at one level opening bids, from 1 club to 1 spade, the possible distribution of the NT bids tends to get wilder and wilder. The most normal response is over a 1C opening bid. Here the response is rather narrow. The responder denies a four card major, but does not have a long minor or he would either support clubs or bid 1D. All NT responses are normal.
When you open 1D, it is pretty much the same as opening 1C as you have room to bid 1H or 1S with a four card suit. The only problem hand you might encounter would be this one:
xx
xxx
xx
KQJ109x
In response to an opener or 1D, you can’t bid two clubs as you don’t have enough points, nor can you bid any other suit. You have to bid 1NT.
As you move to higher ranking opening bid suits, you have more difficulty making bids at the one level. Over an opener of 1S, what do you do with this?
X
KJ9xxx
QJxxx
X
Once again, due to your limited values, you are forced to bid 1NT. Hopefully you will get to show just how unbalanced your hand is in the subsequent auction.
Have a great week playing bridge!
For contact info:
Rob Weidenfeld
(513) 933-9453