T h e Q B A B u l l e t i n J u l y - S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 5

THE QBA BULLETINPublished by the Queensland Bridge Association July-September 2015 Volume 41 No3www.qldbridge.com Email: manager@qldbridge.com

ANC Seniors' Butler

ContentsANC Seniors' Butler by Richard Wallis..........................................................1ANC Seniors' Teams by Richard Wallis .........................................................3Cuppaidge's Column by George Cuppaidge ..................................................6Ridiculously Easy as ABCD by Kamal Sanmugarasa ....................................8Novices by Mick Fawcett ...................................................................................9Coffs Harbour Super Congress by Paul Lavings ......................................... 11 by Richard Wallis .................................... 1125 Years Ago by Paul Lavings .......................................................................... 12Manager's Travels .............................................................................................. 13State News .......................................................................................................... 13Directors' Corner by Jan Peach ..................................................................... 16

ENTRY to the Seniors Butler, which is run as an overworked

Swiss movement on the second week of the ANC, in conjunction with Stage 2 of the Open and Womens Butlers, is available up to Sunday night, and attracts some of the pairs that did not make the Open or Womens Stage 2. This year that included Bruce Neill and Simon Hinge, and other well-known names such as Paul Lavings, Peter Gill and George Bilski, so it was always going to be tough in the first half and less tough as the over-Swissing kicked into gear.Therese Tully and I started off badly, losing by 3 IMPs to a local pair in a give and take match. This turned out to be our second-worst result, the worst being a 6 IMP loss to John Wignall and local Di Brooks in match 12 when we were actually leading.The first-match loss was followed up with our biggest win of 37 IMPs against a Victorian pair, which brought us up to 4th. The third match was against the favourites, Neill and Hinge, which we won by the barest of margins, 1IMP, and this dropped us down to 7th.A 1 IMP loss and 2 modest wins pushed us up the leader board to 2nd behind Neill and Hinge, before a big win against an ACT pair in match 9 put us in front, and we were never headed after that. It was exciting to be leading for over half of the event,

2016

Gold Coast

CongressFebruary 19 - 27

Richard Wallis

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T h e Q B A B u l l e t i n J u l y - S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 5

but we always had Neill and Hinge breathing down our neck. We were quietly confident going into the last match with slightly more than a 10VP lead, especially after the match was finished and we had no disasters. We had won by 29 IMPs, and even though Neill/Hinge won by 35 IMPs to reduce the VP margin to just be-low 10, we had won.

Our opponents were playing Match-Point Precision, and South thought that she had a 4-4-1-4 distribution, hence the 1D opening bid.My 4S overcall ended the auction, and North had a natural lead of the ♦K, so therefore, since I could discard a heart on the third club, 4S was cold, or so I thought!As long as the spades were not 5-0, I did not need the finesse, so I cashed the ♠A at trick 2, but imagine my surprise, when North showed out! If I had only gone to dummy and pitched a heart on the third club before running the ♠9, 10 tricks were easy, but now I had 4 losers again even with the pitch on the 3rd club.However, I used dummy’s club entries to try and reduce my trump holding by ruffing diamonds, and after I entered dummy for the last time with a club and took my heart pitch, South ruffed a diamond in front of me so I could over-ruff and make 10 tricks after all for +8 IMPs.On this board we were the victim of South’s hazy idea of a Lebensohl 2NT bid!

My first instinct after Therese opened 2S was to bid 4S over 2NT and that is probably still the best ac-tion on the hand. On a good day 4S may even make with my honours poised over South.I failed to bid the 4S save after North bid 4H, thinking after the 2NT overcall, that a spade lead through dummy, the strong hand, would give us a good chance to cash 4 tricks!Before Therese had led, South explained that she bid 2NT as Leben-sohl, and North was supposed to bid 3C and allow her to bid 3D, so North had shown 5+ hearts and 9+ HCPs.The unlikely lead of the ♣J will beat 4H, but otherwise it is cold, so 4S is a good save, and could have gained us 1 IMP if not doubled, or reduced the loss from 10 IMPs to 2 if it was doubled.

I doubled the second time for penalties, although this is the losing action as it only goes 1 off, but Therese repeated her spades and I incorrectly rebid 3NT, instead of the obvious 4S.East led the ♦Q, and since I could not afford a club switch, I hoped that the diamonds were 4-4, however likely that was on the bidding, and passed the ♠9 at trick 2.I expected the spades to be well placed on the bidding, because I did not think West would be so keen to bid again with a spade loser. I could now set up the spades for a lucky 9 tricks.On the spades West discarded diamonds, so East led the ♣K when

M 1 ♠ — Bd 5 ♥ J1075 Dlr N ♦ KQ943

Vul NS ♣ J1075 ♠ AKJ10753 ♠ 9 ♥ 862 ♥ 943 ♦ A ♦ 1087652 ♣ 32 ♣ AKQ ♠ Q8642 ♥ AKQ ♦ J ♣ 9864

NW E S

W N E S 1D! 4S All pass

M 1 ♠ K52 Bd 10 ♥ 108752 Dlr E ♦ 83

Vul Both ♣ A65 ♠ A4 ♠ QJ108763 ♥ KQ ♥ 43 ♦ K9542 ♦ J ♣ K1092 ♣ J43 ♠ 9 ♥ AJ96 ♦ AQ1076 ♣ Q87

NW E S

W N E S 2S 2NT! 3S 4H All pass

M 2 ♠ 92 Bd 15 ♥ K942 Dlr S ♦ A85

Vul NS ♣ A984 ♠ — ♠ KJ76 ♥ QJ6 ♥ 10753 ♦ K1032 ♦ QJ64 ♣ QJ10532 ♣ K ♠ AQ108543 ♥ A8 ♦ 97 ♣ 76

NW E S

W N E S 1S 2C X P 2S 3C X P 3S P 3NT All pass

Sheenagh Young (ANC Convenor), Therese Tully, Sean Bemrose (Managing Director of TBIB insurance, a major sponsor) and Richard Wallis

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T h e Q B A B u l l e t i n J u l y - S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 5

he won the 4th spade, and I made +630 against the board average of -400, for +6 IMPs.So my bad bidding got a lucky result. Note that with the spade pips, 10 tricks in spades are easy, even if declarer does not run the ♠9 at trick 2.

Seniors' Teams

OUR team of Therese Tully and myself, John Gough and Mike

Pemberton, and Kerry Wood and Charlie Howard, with Terry O’Dempsey as NPC, started off the ANC Seniors Teams in Fremantle with high hopes of making the final. However, while we were close all the time, we just dipped out at the end to finish 3rd, with the final between NSW (top qualifier) and VIC, won narrowly by NSW thanks to their carry-over.The first match was against SA, whom we considered our strongest opponents, and a 27 Imp win got us off to a good start. Wins against ACT and WA1 followed to put us at the top, but a large loss to NSW in match 4 dropped us off the top of the heap, never to return.Wins against TAS and WA2 followed, before another large loss to VIC com-pleted the first round-robin. To allow WA1 and WA2 to play each other first up as per the conditions of play, our first match in the second RR was again NSW, and we had another moderate loss to consolidate their position at the top.A big win against WA1 was followed by our repeat match against SA, who underper-formed on the first day and were fifth after the first RR, but they got their revenge to push us back again. Big wins against WA2 and TAS brought us up to second again, before a small loss to VIC in the penulti-mate match pushed us down to 3rd.Things were still in our favour however, as we were playing ACT in the last match and VIC were playing the high-flyers NSW, but it was not to be. Assured of the final, NSW rested their top ranked pair and VIC won by enough to ensure that our modest 1IMP win against ACT was only enough for us to stay 3rd.A great event, and a very convivial team, and maybe next year when it is at home, we can do better. Our thanks go to Terry, who tried his best, examining opposition systems in advance and trying to pit us for best advantage in matches where we had the choice. In the long run, we

missed out by a mere 11 Imps, and if any of the unlucky results had not happened we would have been in the final, let alone eliminating just one of the costly mistakes.

On board 12 in the first match against SA, NS were playing a version of Precision Club, hence the 1C opening by North (presumably upgraded because of the good controls and 6-card suit), and this worked against them in the bidding.North felt compelled to double when 2H came back to him, but the 3C response was most unwelcome, as the 3D rebid was to South, who then tried for a spade contract.Having supported hearts, I led the H6, to deny an honour, and immediately North’s hand was devalued. Therese won the ♥J cashed the ♥A and forced dummy with a heart.After the ♣A, ♦A and a diamond ruff, NS quickly ran out of options and the ungainly contract went 3 off for +300.At the other table Charlie and Kerry did not compete over 2H, in spite of them also playing Precision, and this contract went 2 off for another +100, so we gained 9 IMPs.

M 1 ♠ AK63 Bd 12 ♥ K7 Dlr W ♦ AJ10843

Vul NS ♣ 7 ♠ 1094 ♠ QJ8 ♥ 632 ♥ AQJ85 ♦ Q6 ♦ K972 ♣ KJ543 ♣ Q ♠ 752 ♥ 1094 ♦ 5 ♣ A109862

NW E S

W N E S P 1C! 1H P 2H X P 3C P 3D / 3S All pass

Brisbane Bridge Centre104 Frederick St, Annerley. Ph: 3392 7933

bbridgecentre@bigpond.com - www.bbc.bridgeaustralia.orgPlay Sessions Monday 9.30 am Supervised Tuesday 9.30 am Duplicate 7.15 pm Duplicate Wednesday 10.00 am Duplicate Friday 10.00 am Duplicate (trial) 10.00 am Supervised Saturday 1.00 pm Duplicate

The Seniors' Team. Back: Mike Pemberton, John Gough, Terry O,Dempsey (npc) Charlie Howard and Richard Wallis. Front: Kerry Wood and Therese Tully

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T h e Q B A B u l l e t i n J u l y - S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 5

squeeze producing 13 tricks, but cashed out anyway, getting 13 tricks when the ♣Q came down without a squeeze.This seemed like the surest flat board you would ever see unless EW got overboard and bid 7NT, but they inexplicably stopped in 3NT!

On this board against ACT we were disadvantaged by having South open with a multi-meaning 2D, and we had to wait until it was defined before acting on our minimum hands.The 2S rebid by South showed a weak hand with 5-5 in the black suits, and now Therese could show her heart suit, which prompted me to look for a spade stop for 3NT by cue-bidding 3S.However, when Therese rebid 4D, even

In the first match against SA, Therese’s 1D opening showed at least 4 cards in the suit, and her 2NT rebid showed 18-19 balanced, without 4 spades.My 3D rebid was game forcing, and the 3NT response denied both 4 hearts and 3 spades, so I bid the obvious 6NT, although I knew that with the right cards 7NT could be cold!South led the ♥2 and I am sure that dummy looked good to Therese when it hit the table as we had a perfect fit, even down to the probably unnecessary ♠10!Winning in dummy with the ♥A at trick 1, Therese proceeded to cash her top tricks, getting a surprize along the way at the 5-1 spade break, and seemed to be giving some thought to maybe a double

M 1 ♠ 5 Bd 17 ♥ K964 Dlr N ♦ 10854

Vul None ♣ 9543 ♠ AKJ93 ♠ Q10 ♥ A8 ♥ J53 ♦ QJ6 ♦ AK75 ♣ 876 ♣ AKJ2 ♠ 87642 ♥ Q1072 ♦ 92 ♣ Q10

NW E S

W N E S P 1D P 1S P 2NT P 3D! P 3NT P 6NT All pass

though I had good support, I thought it was a likely 2 or even 3 spade losers, since North did not support spades, so against my better judgement I passed.This was not a success, as the heart position was such that given the announced distribution, when South showed 2 diamonds, it was easy for Therese to set up the hearts with 1 loser and discard the spades in dummy for 12 tricks and +170.Not only had we missed a vulnerable game as 3NT was also cold, but we had missed a vulnerable slam! However, at the other table the final contract was 4H, which went 1 off, so we gained 7 IMPs!

South opened with a weak 1NT, and I showed both majors with a 2C overcall.If I had North’s hand I would have shown a spade stop and asked South for a heart stop, but she made a unilateral decision and jumped to 5D, which was passed out.Therese led the ♥4, and I cashed the ♥A and led to the ♥K for her to lead a spade, but that was it for us other than the ♣A. North drew trumps and led a club off the table to establish a discard for their spade loser - 1 off for +100.Opposite a weak 1NT, it looks easy enough to stay out of game with the NS cards, and 3D, or even 4D is likely, so we were expecting a modest pick-up, but John and Mike exceeded our expectations by getting to 3NT and making it! In fact, on the lead of the ♣2, they made 10 tricks for +630. ■Both these articles are availble in full on the website.

M 2 ♠ Q Bd 3 ♥ J10652 Dlr S ♦ Q2

Vul EW ♣ K5432 ♠ 9875 ♠ A54 ♥ Q3 ♥ AK984 ♦ AK1083 ♦ J764 ♣ A7 ♣ J ♠ KJ1032 ♥ 7 ♦ 95 ♣ Q10986

NW E S

W N E S 2D P 2H P 2S P 3C 3H P 3S P 4D All pass

Bruce Neill (ABF Pres) with the QLD Youth Team. Back: Joshua Davis, Angus Gray, Chris Larter, Andrew Gosney and Michael Gearing.

Front: Paul Brake (npc) and Jessica Brake

M 2 ♠ A98 Bd 15 ♥ 62 Dlr S ♦ KQ76532

Vul NS ♣ Q ♠ QJ54 ♠ 1062 ♥ AQ108 ♥ K9543 ♦ 10 ♦ 9 ♣ A632 ♣ 10854 ♠ K73 ♥ J7 ♦ AJ84 ♣ KJ97

NW E S

W N E S 1NT 2C 5D All pass

T h e Q B A B u l l e t i n J u l y - S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 5

5

Bridge Travel

Trevor Strickland

For many bridge players the highlight of their Bridge Travel year is the Gold Coast Congress. We are fortunate to have the #1 bridge tournament in the Southern Hemisphere right on our doorstep. Players from Rookies to World Class have a variety of bridge events to choose from, plus all the attractions of Australia’s favourite tourist mecca. So ink 19-27 February 2016 into your Bridge Travel diary. Other events to pencil into your Bridge Travel diary: Canberra in Bloom Festival October 2-5 (Canberra) Spring Nationals October 21-29 (Sydney) Summer Festival of Bridge January 12-24 (Canberra) Tasmanian Festival of Bridge March 31 – April 3 (Launceston) Autumn Nationals April 28 – May 2 (Adelaide) Barrier Reef Congress April 29 – May 2 (Mackay ) Victor Champion Cup June 9-13 (Melbourne) Australian National Championships June 25 – July 7 (Brisbane) Coffs Coast Gold Congress August 9-14 (Coffs Harbour) Territory Gold Bridge Festival August 31 – September 4 (Darwin) For more information see: www.abf.com.au/yearly-calendar/

18 nights 20 Nov – 8 Dec 2015

Inside cabins: from $1701* Outside cabins: from $2201* Balcony cabins: from $3001*

Bridge Hosts: Trevor & Sarah Strickland

For more information see www.qbatravel.com

Email: travel@qldbridge.com

Phone: 0439 743823

T h e Q B A B u l l e t i n J u l y - S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 5

6

Some basic defensive tips

FOR many years now my source of new bridge material has been almost

exclusively from BBO. The same basic mistakes are made over and over again. Lack of partnership agreement is only part of the problem, the other part is ignorance of basic bridge skills. Both parts are addressed here.Low from oddFar simpler and more readable, than the traditional “fourth highest” is to lead, signal and discard high from an even number, lowest from odd (when you choose to play “high” you must not waste a card, but you do play the highest card you can afford and the highest of equals). Do not be talked into playing UDCA, upside down count and attitude. This style saves nothing and complicates a simple task. The play of the humble two is beset with ambiguities. Playing hi-lo even, it is a powerful card.Opening leadYour longest and strongest suit is so often right, it is the suit you lead unless you can find a very good reason to do otherwise. This applies defending against a suit contract or a NT contract. Against a suit contract do not lead away from an ace. Even when it is technically right, your partner is likely to go wrong by making the normal assumption that you do not hold it. He will withhold his king if he sees the queen in dummy. Against a NT contract, consider leading a good suit that declarer has bid, especially as a response, including a Stayman response. A major suit response is often (erroneously) made ahead of showing a longer stronger minor. It can often be right, even when declarer has opened with one of a major, when that is where your length and strength lies. You are not likely to make deep tricks in declarer’s suit unless you lead it. Declarer is not going to lead if for you. If your long strong suit does not set up, you are unlikely to defeat the contract. If you lead another

suit, your non-clairvoyant partner will very likely direct his energies to setting up the suit he imagines that you hold. Holding a 5+card suit and an interior sequence low is often right, especially when you have no side entry. To lead an honour may block the suit. Even when your aggressive lead appears to cost a trick it often comes back as you cash your long ones, or it turns out to be irrelevant. Many prefer to lead from Qxxx ahead of AJxx against 1NT- 3NT. This is wrong thinking. If you have four tricks in the strong suit, you will never get them, declarer’s strength is elsewhere and he will gratefully cash his tricks. Consider leading the ace from A K x in a weak hand, for similar reasons. You hope that your partner is long in the suit, and not declarer. If your A K isn’t “working” you probably have no defence. You must also hope that he does not unblock holding Qxx. If you happen to be playing the convention, ace attitude, king count or the reverse version, use it. Lead the card that asks for count, and include this possibility in your partnership agreement.An aggressive lead against a small slam is nearly always best. Holding A x x , K x x in unbid suits, lead from the king, hoping that the king is established when you get in with your ace. If the bidding demands it, lay down the ace or lead a trump.Leading a trump against a grand slam is often right, but not always. Look for the best lead.Alfred Sheinwold’s time-honoured ad-vice, “The only excuse for not leading your partner’s suit is that you are void,” continues to be ignored, invariably to the cost of the defence or the partnership. There is another proviso, if you have it and don’t lead it, you must be right. One of the recurring joys on BBO, having bid on KQJ10 x and an outside ace, is to have your partner lead from J x x x in the suit you hold the ace. It is better to play the convention that a double demands the lead of another suit rather than your own. Doubling for your own suit is archaic, and designed for the dumbos. A partner worth having will lead it anyway and you may just push them somewhere better. You do need a way to stop him. Agreement is vital, discuss all lead-di-recting doubles.Touching cardsEvery card you play must be as helpful to your partner as it can possibly be. (Unless you are certain that it is not

important, or you have a specific reason to deceive him.) With touching cards right through from A K to 3 2 , lead the top one, unless you choose to lead a low card from length. With a holding like A J 1 0 x or K 1 0 9 x , against NT it is the higher of the two touching cards, although there are many instances when, after studying the bidding, that you may consider leading you lowest card, if the length is likely to be on your right, for example. Holding K 9 8 7 , nearly all would lead the fourth highest seven. This is wrong, prefer the nine, utilise the power of the sequence, tell partner you hold the eight. This scheme fits in particularly well if your partnership agrees on hi-lo from even. The lead of an eight, a nine or a ten, implies an even number and possession of the card immediately below the one led.When partner leads, the old adage of third hand high usually applies, but play the lowest of touching cards. To play a ten, for example, denies the possession of the nine. An exception applies, when you hold A K doubleton and you intend to win and continue the suit. You win with the ace and continue with the king. This break from tradition alerts partner to your exact holding and allows him to give a suit preference signal on the second round of the suit. If you don’t intend to continue the suit, don’t do it. Think carefully before you do it with lower ranking touching doubletons. As always in bridge, ask yourself what message you want to send before you play, and will it help? If dummy plays an honour which you cannot top, play the highest of touching honours, the queen from Q J etc.In splitting honours as second to play, the majority plays the lowest of touching cards. The other way is better. If you play, according to your agreement, the ten from Q J 10, and declarer wins with the king, your partner does not know who holds the queen or the jack. This defensive carding convention applies whether declarer leads from or towards dummy.Ruffing thin airWhen declarer leads a suit in which you are void towards an honour, it is usually wrong to ruff. If you do you use up a trump and declarer still has his honour. Similarly when declarer leads a card, intending to ruff in dummy, if you have a trump higher than any in dummy and you ruff, declarer’s trump length in dummy is intact and you have used one.

Cuppaidge’s Column

George Cuppaidge

T h e Q B A B u l l e t i n J u l y - S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 5

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There are so many variations on this theme that it is impossible to be explicit. It is a variation on the theme, “Aces are meant for kings.” Use your trumps to ruff declarer’s winners, not his losers. It is also an application of “Second hand low.” The essence of bridge is to get value for your cards. From declarer’s perspective, to have the opponents’ aces and trumps beat the air is good play.Giving partner a ruffThis is easy when the contract is a slam, give it to him and do it quickly, don’t make him sweat. When you are defending a game or part-score, you must consider partner’s position after he has ruffed, especially when you have no entry to give him another ruff. Often it is right to play another suit first, establishing a ruff for yourself. Think about the hand as a whole and in particular where the setting trick is going to come from. One of the few universal “rules” in defensive play applies when you return a card for partner to ruff. The card you return carries a suit-preference message. A middle card shows no preference but will occasionally point to a trump return. You hold the trump ace, and unless you get a trump return, declarer can discard the card which partner can ruff before you get in.DiscardingYou must keep it simple, and again you must be on the same wavelength. A number of players still follow the convention which dates back to Whist, discard the suit you want led. This is so clearly wrong that it hardly deserves explanation. If you expect to take tricks in the suit then you are throwing a winner away. Simple and effective is, discard (a spot card) from a suit that you don’t want led. You can simply and more comprehensively take it one step further, discard a count card in a suit you don’t want led. The discard of an honour promises the ace or a touching card below while denying the one above.Stay away from lunacies like odd/even, revolving or Lavinthal in this vital situation, your first discard. You will not have to improvise when you don’t have the right card because you will always have it.The most precious card in your hand is often the small card in the suit your partner has led. Think very carefully before you let it go. Keep length parity with dummy’s suits is another fundamental.

An alert declarer will see when a suit in which you have carelessly discarded can be established. Rarely is it right to void yourself in a suit which declarer is still to play. He will not take a losing finesse if you show out before he has to choose his play. If you know declarer is going to play a certain suit, and have only small cards in it, hang on to them all or your partner holding Q x(x) will not thank you. Visualise that holdings like 10 x x x can become a defensive trick when partner holds any of the higher cards.SignallingWhen partner leads a high card, or you cannot beat the card played from dummy on a low-card lead, you must signal. The eternal question is “Count or attitude?” Really accurate defence is possible only if you agree to signal parity. Attitude is the majority choice. There are some conventions that you should follow, regardless. Signal high with the highest of touching cards. When holding a doubleton, play high from J x or smaller, but low from Q x, to play the queen shows that the card is singleton, or that you hold the jack as well. Even holding only spot cards, count is more powerful, when defending a NT contract than a meaningless attitude card. Whether or not to “unblock” an honour doubleton depends on a number of factors. Think. Some claim to be able to combine attitude, count and suit preference in one card. They deceive themselves. Prefer certainty with one unambiguous signal, count, but attitude if you must.In the trump suit, some try to harness the order in which they play small cards. Playing hi-lo to show suit preference, or to show a ruff possibility are popular choices. A more extreme choice is to use hi-lo to show a hand with three even suit lengths, 4-4-3-2, 7-2-2-2 etc. Simply playing hi-lo show an odd number, has the virtue of certainty and assists the defender who is counting.Doubling for penaltyThis topic can fill a book, so here are just some pointers.You can make a grand slam on a combined 7 points, so point count based penalty doubles should be made with great care. You must see defensive tricks and trump tricks are the only certainties. The over-riding principle is to double freely bid contracts, only when you have a nasty surprise for the opponents, honours sitting over a bid suit and an inference that the opponents are

stretching. This is countered by the fact that your double may help in the play. Worse, it may push opponents from a bad contract into a good one. To double low-level contracts on trump tricks alone is folly. When contemplating a penalty double, trump honours are gold, honours in your agreed suit are dross. It is generally right to believe vulnerable opponents. All this considered, if your penalty doubles always succeed you are not doubling enough. You cannot do better than bid what you think you can make and compete up to the level of your fit. If you are out-bid, do not double on point count alone.If you are faced, in a contested auction, with the choice of doubling, bidding on or passing out a hand holding a singleton or void in the opponents’ suit, double is rarely the right option. How often do you see the opponents fail badly in this situation? If your partner has another bid, to double is criminal, but do double with trump honours, even in marginal situations, if there is a danger that partner will bid on. Some see doubling for one down or making a “cheap save” that only goes for 500, as a triumph. Take your chances and simply defend, in both these cases.You must have a partnership agreement as to what your double means. Suggested is, “Double is for take-out until a denomination has been agreed,” penalty thereafter. When the hand belongs to you, after a two-over-one, a business redouble, a 2C or 2NT opening, double is penalty and pass is forcing. An auction beginning 1C-1NT notionally agrees clubs, but after a beginning 1D/H/S-1NT, no denomination has been agreed, so double is for take-out from both partners.Yes, there is a school that plays “All doubles are for take-out.” The statement may be simple but the consequences are not. After a two-over-one response, there is no better description of your hand than to make a penalty double when you have one, short in partner’s suit and trump length. To wait for partner’s take-out double may let this fish off the hook. Your pass, forcing in this auction, is descriptive too. It says simply, “I have nothing to add.” Similarly, having redoubled, you do not have to force partner to bid again over further RHO action. Your pass is forcing and does it with maximum economy of bidding space. Double is penalty. So simple. ■

T h e Q B A B u l l e t i n J u l y - S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 5

8

BRIDGE is ridiculously easy - I am ridiculous; my partner is ridiculous;

our opponents are ridiculous; bidding is ridiculous; result is ridiculous. It is rare that all of the above will materialise on one deal. However, the following deal from the Surfers Paradise Congress in July had a good fit for all of the above. So perhaps one may forgive 'ridiculous' being uttered at the table, just on this one occasion!

Sitting South I opened 1S. West's 2H overcall was passed around to me. What would you do?Half the field (out of 26 tables) passed - Ridiculous!The other half was split between 2S and 3C or 3D by North - Ridiculous again!I considered the possibilities when the two hearts was passed around to me: 1) Partner could be passing with hearts wanting a reopening double from me OR 2) He could be holding some values but unable to take action OR 3) He could be weak and nothing to offer. In order to account for all of the above possibilities I decided to double - Ridiculous! because I have no tolerance

Kamal Sanmugarasa

Ridiculously Easy as ABCD

Dlr S ♠ 74 Vul NS ♥ Q83 ♦ AQ952

♣ J42 ♠ K8 ♠ Q1063 ♥ AK965 ♥ J2 ♦ K107 ♦ J863 ♣ 1096 ♣ 853 ♠ AJ952 ♥ 1074 ♦ 4 ♣ AKQ7

NW E S

W N E S 1S 2H P P X P 3D All pass

for the diamond suit. However pause your judgement on my double for a moment. North will now have to carefully consider the possibilities with regards to the reopening double from South: 1) Opener is simply doing a re-opening double OR 2) He is not strong enough to bid a new suit at the 3-level OR 3) He has a strong hand. North's actions are: A) Arse-coverers! - Bid 3D or 2NT asking South to sign off on a minor - action that ensures you can't lose the post-mortem.B) Ballsy adventurers! - Pass - an action that covers majority of the scenarios and extracts the best possible outcome on most occasions. The only time this can be disastrous is when South's second suit is diamonds. C) Conservatives! - Bid 2S - just play safe mate.As you can see, the 2HX goes for 500. Which type are you? A, B or C.Surfers Paradise Bridge Club is a pleasant venue to play, serves a lunch other than the dreaded sandwiches and seems to be hosting the most number of tournaments that attracts good players from Brisbane. So it is fitting that I draw the second deal below from their August event.On this deal East's 2D overcall is highly risky considering the adverse vulnerability, the shape and trick taking

potential. There is a fine line between 'Ballsy' and 'Dumb'. This falls into type 'D'.Partner led a club to my ace. I played the spade ace and another to partner's jack. The ♥J was ducked around, and the heart continuation followed by another spade resulted in the first seven tricks to the defence (3 spades, 3 hearts and 1 club). With another diamond trick to lose, declarer went for 800. Declarer can consider himself lucky that South did not have the ♦10, or else 1100.The next deal, from BBO, is dedicated to those of you who conveyed your liking to my previous article on 'No to Defeatism'.The 1NT bid by West (Ralph) showed the red suits. The 2H was reverse and must show a strong hand. Even though my partner was unknown to me, I had to trust him more than Ralph - so I jumped to slam.

Dlr N ♠ A532 Vul EW ♥ AQ95 ♦ 2

♣ A843 ♠ 1084 ♠ Q96 ♥ K93 ♥ 764 ♦ J10 ♦ AQ9643 ♣ KJ1075 ♣ Q ♠ KJ7 ♥ J102 ♦ K875 ♣ 962

NW E S

W N E S 1C 2D! P P X All pass

21st Barrier Reef CongressMay Day Long Weekend 2016

April 29th, 30th, May 1st and 2ndVenue – Mackay Senior Citizen’s Club

Macalister StreetMackay QLD 4740

Chief Director – Sean MullamphyTournament Organiser – Janet Hansen 07 4954 6844

President – Janelle Conroy 07 4955 5025Website : www.qldbridge.com/brc

T h e Q B A B u l l e t i n J u l y - S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 5

9

Novices

I won the diamond lead with the ten and several thoughts crossed my mind. One of them was that I can't get physical with my partner as it was BBO. The other side of me called for hope and optimism. If the spades split 3-3 and the ♠K was on-side I can hope for 5 spade tricks, 4 diamonds, 2 clubs and the ♥A for 12 tricks. There were communication issues, but let's hope for the best.I entered dummy with the ♦Q on trick two to play a spade and inserted the ten which held. I played the ♠A now discarding a club from dummy, to find out the 4-2 split in spades. So plan 'A' was abandoned. I now played the ♣K, the ♥A and another heart. The cards layout at this stage is shown below: — QJ8 K AJ10 — K1093 Irrelevant J9 Q Q872 4 A5 —As you can see, if West played the ♥K, then dummy is good, for 12 tricks. So West inserted the nine. I won the ♥Q and ran the clubs discarding my spades. West was now squeezed in the red suits. In actual play, West held onto the ♥K and two diamonds. In the 3-card ending, I played a small heart losing to the king and declared dummy as high. Once again hope triumphs! ■

Dlr N ♠ 6 Vul None ♥ QJ86 ♦ KQ6

♣ AJ1062 ♠ 95 ♠ KJ43 ♥ K10932 ♥ 75 ♦ J972 ♦ 84 ♣ Q3 ♣ 98754 ♠ AQ10872 ♥ A4 ♦ A1053 ♣ K

NW E S

W N E S 1C P 1S 1NT 2H P 6NT All pass

STEVEN Parkes and Allan Byrnes played in the Redcliffe Pairs Con-

gress (an open event) recently and gave some of the top players plenty to worry about before finishing in a very respect-able third place. They had a great day out at the Redcliffe pairs and were both amazed and heartened by their result. They’d both been playing social rub-ber bridge with Unis Suliman and Peter Taylor for many years. Two years ago were encouraged by Mike Stoneman to join the Kenmore Bridge Club and chal-lenge themselves by learning Duplicate bridge, and are now going from strength to strength.The Barrier Reef CongressBack in June, I played in the Barrier Reef Congress in Cairns. It was my first time there and thoroughly enjoyed playing in the congress. I partnered Lyn Tracey and we played well enough (or were lucky enough) to come third in the restricted Teams with Del Dudman and Judith Bennett and pick up some prize money. Overall, the whole congress experience was wonderful and hopefully I will have the chance to play in Mackay next year. Thank you Cairns Bridge Club for a great congress.Judith’s husband Bob was in Cairns too and, as a non-bridge player, sees the game from a different view.'I was on my way to pick up my wife Judith and her trusty partner Del Dudman from the 2015 Barrier Reef Congress. The day’s competition was over. Contestants were leaving the venue, the more than charming Cairns Hilton.As I walked towards the hotel, I passed a husband and wife. “But you had FIVE SPADES in your hand,” she admonished him. His head drooped silently to the pavement. Now I know little of bridge. But I know enough to know he was in deep trouble. And it makes me feel like I had the wisdom of Solomon that, when my wife

suggested I take up bridge, I “reluctantly” declined. There were a number of reasons I enumerated for this stance but, I think, the telling one was my declaration, “You will do much better finding another partner. I’d only drag your game down”. Whatever, we went our separate ways. I, you see, am a golfer, not a bridge player. Not that golf is without its challenges. Just not as many as you find at the average bridge table. For instance, golf can be played as an individual. To succeed, you don't have to be able to read the mind of the other players. Nor do you have to remember, throughout the competition, who played what on which hole. And you don't have to master a whole new language indiscernible to all except those playing the cards.Yet I know from exposure to the bridge fraternity that many ardent players are wedded to the game. I saw it in Cairns over three long days. From my perch on a barstool at the Hilton’s foyer cocktail bar, I observed the cutting-the-air-with-a-knife intensity as pairs and teams came to do their post-mortem analysis of loss strategies. Del and my wife were somewhat happier. They’d managed a second in the novice pairs. Later they also came third in the restricted teams with Mick Fawcett and Lyn Tracey. Del and Judith were happy, but exhausted. Bed time had been 1 am after they’d exhausted discussion of competitive bidding, whatever that is. (Golfers, I should point out, prefer a good night’s rest prior to a game.) Although golf is obviously a healthier sport, played as it is in the great outdoors, I could not help but appreciate the Olympian determination of all those players participating in the 2015 Barrier Reef Congress.'The Coffs Harbour Super CongressRecently, I was in Coffs Harbour with Lyn Tracey playing for the first time in the Super Congress, a Gold Point event. We rushed down in time for the Tues-day night walk-in session to pick up on the atmosphere of the event with the pairs competition starting at a comfort-able 10:00 am on Wednesday. We were seeded 98th and finished 48th – very pleased with ourselves indeed. The teams competition started on Friday afternoon, where Lyn and I teamed

Michael Fawcett

T h e Q B A B u l l e t i n J u l y - S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 5

10

QBA Novice Teams-of-Three 'A' grade winners: Judy Hefferan, Annette Scott, Meta Goodman (c) and Maxine Collins

up with Gabrielle and John Elich from Toowoomba. We made up places from our original seeding but our match wins didn’t come until towards the end, which put smiles on our faces for a superb ending to the congress. Thank you to the Coffs Harbour Bridge Club for an excellent event.Entering the Barrier Reef Congress and the Coffs Harbour Super Congress has taken me to places I haven’t visited be-fore and it has been fulfilling to take in the atmosphere of these places, meet new players and catch up with familiar faces too. I also have a fine collection of congress pens! Teams-of-ThreeI asked Andy “Aye Aye Cap’n” Slater for a report on the Teams-of-Three event held recently under the Direction of Julie Jeffries. 'QCBC hosted a Team-of-Three event on July 4. As a captain I was certainly hoping that the date might prove auspicious and be a liberating one for the novices on the team.As always, a captain has certain respon-sibilities towards his crew.I would maintain that the major responsibility is to ensure that all members of the team feel relaxed and enjoy the day. For some novices it is certainly a nerve-wracking experience to be playing with someone who “seems to know it all”, “who seems to know where all the cards are placed and to be able to expertly get to the right contract all the time.”My first duty was to inform the team that such a person does not exist; it might just appear that way. I certainly made no such claim about myself. Indeed, to break the ice I informed the crew that I would not go on about their mistakes, if they don’t go on about mine!I happened to know two members of my crew. They are members of the Northern Suburbs club who earlier in the year participated in our Rookie and Mentor Program, RAMP. So, no problems there; they were old hands at playing with someone across the table who might seem to know what they are doing. The fourth member was someone I did not know. She said she was really nervous and didn’t want to let the team down. Naturally we all reassured her that the day was not

about doing well, but that the process was simply to gain some insights as to how an experienced bridge player might do things. I checked the system cards to make sure that there was nothing too complicated –it is better, and easier, to play a simple system well, rather than a more complex one badly. I ran through the basic format of teams play as opposed to normal duplicate. Our first opponents were two lovely ladies. (All our opponents were lovely that day). Again I was at pains to reassure them that it was all about helping each other. If, for example, there was something really useful to teach on a particular hand, then I would be explaining it to all players at the table. This did happen on occasion, and the captain was in his element. We had a small win that first match, an-other small win in the second match and a big win the last match to become B Grade Runners-Up. Wow! Weren’t we all excited, especially when we were rewarded with some points and a red-coloured note! The fourth member of the crew was just so thrilled to have participated, and to get some money as well; hey, life on board the Bridge Boat isn’t so bad after all! My last piece of advice to the crew that day was, “Don’t give up your day jobs just yet!” to which they all of course replied, “Aye, Aye Cap’n!”

All in all, a great learning and hopefully liberating experience for the newer players to the game, and a thoroughly satisfying one for the captains. It is initiatives like this that will keep players within the game, so congratulations to Jim Evans and the QCBC for a well organised and rewarding day for Captains and crew.'The Teams-of-Three events are always very popular, watch out for the next Teams-of-Three event which will be held at Kenmore Bridge Club on December 13.Guaranteed bridge partners for walk-insI have noticed recently that a number of bridge clubs are now offering a guaranteed partner at some sessions. I would recommend wherever possible that rookies and novices take up the option of a guaranteed partner if their regular partner cannot play for whatever reason. It will be a boost to your bridge playing confidence and will provide tips that can be shared with your regular partner. Give it a go! Coming Events A full list of coming events for players of all ranks, including novices, can be found on the QBA website at www.qld-bridge.com or on page 16 of the Bulletin.QuestionsIf any novices have questions or concerns, please feel free to contact Mick Fawcett at novicecoordinator@qldbridge.com or via the Novice tab on the QBA website. ■

T h e Q B A B u l l e t i n J u l y - S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 5

prizemoney for those lucky enough to win any, so roll on 2016.I had high expectations when Therese opened 1D, but the bidding quickly identified the mis-fitting hands, so I signed off in 3NT.

When dummy went down I had momentary regret at not persevering with spades, as 6S looked to be a good contract with a 4-3 break, and friendly hearts, but 6NT had no chance, even on a non-diamond lead, due to the lack of entries to my hand.However, after reflection, 6S required the heart finesse or the ♥J dropping as well as the 4-3 break, so it was not a good contract.Even 3NT is limited to 9 tricks on a bad spade and heart break, as there is only 1 entry to my hand, but with spades friendly, I quickly scored up 11 tricks for +460.At the other table EW did not stop until they reached 6NT, and this contract had no chance even if South was friendly enough to lead a spade. That was 11 IMPs to us.

11

Coffs Harbour Super Congress

AS usual, the Swiss Teams, played Friday, Saturday and Sunday,

closed off before the event and there was a waiting list. The Swiss Pairs, played Wednesday and Thursday, was well attended, but was not closed off. Both events attracted good fields and were played over 8/14-board matches, which was a good test of stamina.Therese Tully and I were in the action in the Pairs, which was won by Caroline Miller and Paul Lavings, but we finished just out of the money, We started anew on Friday afternoon, with Marlene Watts and David Beachamp as the rest of our team, hopeful that the solid practice would see us in good stead.After 7 matches, comprising 5 good wins, a 5 IMP loss to Gumby, the eventual winners, and an 8 IMP loss to a Sydney team, we started the last match against Michael Courtney and Paul Wyer in 2nd position, although still 7 VPs behind the leaders. A good win would have secured us 2nd place, but after an exact draw, with 4th and 5th having big wins, we were lucky in the end to hold on to 3rd place by a bare 0.3 VPs.This is a great event, now about the 3rd or 4th largest in Australia, and a great venue, supplying us with a buffet lunch on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, and copious sandwiches on Sunday. In addition to this there was very generous

M 1 ♠ 1054 Bd 8 ♥ 72 Dlr W ♦ K865

Vul None ♣ QJ95 ♠ — ♠ AKQJ72 ♥ KQ10 ♥ A954 ♦ QJ1032 ♦ 4 ♣ AK1074 ♣ 83 ♠ 9863 ♥ J863 ♦ A97 ♣ 62

NW E S

W N E S 1D P 1S P 2C P 2H! P 3C P 3NT All pass

Gold medal to Gold Coast player

CONGRATULATIONS to Gold Coast player Carolyn Miller who I partnered

in the Swiss Pairs and took out gold at the recent Coffs Coast Congress. The Swiss Pairs was 8 x 14 board matches and cut off at 57 tables for space reasons.We were third with one round to play, behind Michael Courtney-Paul Wyer and Nick Hughes-Nicoleta Giura and we drew Hughes-Giura for the last match. Courtney-Wyer also had a tough match, against Malcolm Carter-Tony Hutton.We thought they had a small win while Courtney-Wyer felt they had a solid win. In fact it was the opposite, with Court-ney-Wyer winning 12.83-7.17 and Miller-Lavings winning 16.97-3.03. This deal from that last match caused some debate:

Most would just bid 5D on the South hand and give opponents the last guess but perhaps Giura thought she had too much defence. In fact 4H is an easy make but very few pairs got there after South opened 1D, West bid 2C and North pre-empted in diamonds. +300 was 5 IMPs to the winners when Carolyn

Dlr N ♠ Q84 Vul None ♥ 53 ♦ KJ7543

♣ 108 ♠ K3 ♠ 10976 ♥ AK107 ♥ 9642 ♦ Q ♦ 9 ♣ AJ6532 ♣ K974 ♠ AJ52 ♥ QJ8 ♦ A10862 ♣ Q

NW E S

W N E S Lavings Hughes Miller Giura P 3D P P X P 3H 4D 4H P P 5D X All pass

led the ♠6 and the defence quickly took their four tricks.Carolyn comes originally from Coffs Harbour so it was a popular win with the locals. Carolyn favours two-over-one game force with most of the modern conventions - support doubles, two-way checkback, non-serious 3NT and lots of cue-bids. ■

Bridge and Golf Day – 26 OctoberKenmore Bridge Club

McLeod Country Club, Mount OmmaneySee the Kenmore Bridge Club website www.kenmore.bridgeaustralia.org and go to Breaking news (on right side) for information and entries.

The sum of all technical knowledge cannot make a master bridge player.

Ely Culbertson.

Richard Wallis

Paul Lavings

T h e Q B A B u l l e t i n J u l y - S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 5

12

25 Years Ago

North doubled initially, probably intending to show a good hand when she later bid spades. However, after I bid 1S over the double, she apparently did not have an agreement with her partner as to what a 2S bid would now mean, so she passed.Therese and I do have an agreement in

M 1 ♠ AKJ1052 Bd 10 ♥ 875 Dlr E ♦ Q9

Vul Both ♣ AQ ♠ Q ♠ 8743 ♥ K10942 ♥ A3 ♦ 7643 ♦ AKJ108 ♣ 1054 ♣ J8 ♠ 96 ♥ QJ6 ♦ 52 ♣ K97632

NW E S

W N E S 1D P 1H X 1S P 2D All pass

this type of auction, and a 2S rebid by the North hand would have been to play. How much simpler it would have been for North to bid 1S (or 2S if showing a strong hand) on the first round.South led the ♣6 and North cashed the clubs and exited with the ♦9, but with everything friendly I had no trouble setting up the hearts and making 10 tricks for +130.At the other table David played in 2S, and even though East found the heart ruff, that was still 8 tricks and another +110 for 6 IMPs.

On this board the bidding was very reveal-ing, and I was able to take full advantage.North’s rebid showed a balanced 11-14, and I am not sure if South’s 2S rebid was game forcing or even a 1-round force, but North took no chances by bidding game anyway.The contract would have been quickly put to bed if Therese had led the ♥7, but of course she has a very good club sequence, and the lead of the ♣K was standout.South won the ♣A on the table, discard-ing the ♦5, and played the ♠4 from the ta-ble. Following the explanation of South’s bidding, as soon as I saw dummy I knew Therese could ruff my ♥2, so I played the ♠A at trick 2 and gave her a heart ruff, for 1 off and +50.At the other table David opened 1NT, Mar-lene transferred to hearts, and the final contract was 4HN. East was not psychic enough to lead the ♠A and engineer a spade ruff for West, so +420 was 10 IMPs.The full article is available on the website

M 2 ♠ K1064 Bd 16 ♥ J93 Dlr W ♦ K9

Vul EW ♣ A852 ♠ 32 ♠ A98 ♥ 74 ♥ AK2 ♦ Q1063 ♦ 742 ♣ KQJ107 ♣ 9643 ♠ QJ75 ♥ Q10865 ♦ AJ85 ♣ —

NW E S

W N E S P 1C P 1H P 1NT P 2S! P 4S All pass

NEW YEARS EVE TEAMS

Thursday Dec 31 at 7.30 pm

$60 per team

QCBC NOVICE SWISS TEAMS

Sunday Nov 22$120 per team

Systems: Blue and Green only

Director: Jan PeachPlayers with <100

MPs as at 30/9/2015All enquires and entries to QCBC: 3391 3241 - qcbc1@optusnet.com.au Details on the website: www.qcbc.org.au

Queensland at the ANC

QUEENSLAND had its best ever ANC with Frank Duffy - Arnold Remedios

taking out the Open Pairs, and Queensland contesting the finals of all three teams events - Open, Women's, and Youth.The Open Team of Reg Busch (npc) Paul Lavings - Khokan Bagchi, Bill Hunt - Jim Wallis, Frank Duffy - Arnold Remedios, raced away from the other seven contend-ers by winning the first thirteen of their fourteen matches in the qualifying dou-ble round-robin. Having demolished both NSW and Victoira in Matches 12 & 13, we weakened at the post to lose to ACT by 13 IMPs. What an achievement it would have been to go undefeated in the preliminary round-robins! Even so, our score was an unprecedented 309.7, an average. of 22.1 out of a maximum 25 per match. Meanwhile, the Women and Youth Teams had also qualified for their finals, the opponents in all three being the dreaded Blues - NSW. In the Open, Qld carried forward 17 IMPs into the final, but NSW grabbed back 31 and 9 in the first two sets. Qld regained 3 IMPs over the next twenty boards to trail by 20 IMPs going into the last twenty boards on Vu-graph.There was little joy in the first ten boards, and the busy pre-emptive style

Sunshine Coast ZoneNoosa won the Inter-Club Teams.

CairnsDavid Beauchamp is undertaking Inter-mediate classes.Congratulations to QCBC, Moreton Bribie, Gold Coast and Sunnybank which were successful clubs in the last round of funding from Jupiters.

Bowen54 players arrived to join Proserpine, Bowen and Airlie Bridge Clubs for a day of social bridge which was a wonderful and learning experience.

Club News

Paul Lavings

T h e Q B A B u l l e t i n J u l y - S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 5

13

of Courtney-Seres led Bagchi-Lavings into another indiscretion. With ten boards to play, NSW led by 31 IMPs. But Jim Wallis, who played strongly and consistently throughout, picked up 9 IMPs on board 51 when he lost only 100 in 4HX, while Courtney-Seres conceded 500 in the same contract.Then this deal electrified the audience.

In the closed room Jim Wallis, East, had put in a beautifully timed 2S (cue take-out) bid after South's 1D and North's 1S. After this, NS languished in 4S for +510.The open room sequence was:

Lavings jump-shifted three times, so he must have liked his hand. Bagchi should have bid 7S which is cold, and the audience held its breath as Lavings ruffed two hearts and eventually preferred the club finesse to the possible heart-club squeeze on West. Fourteen IMPs to Qld who were now only eight IMPs behind with six boards to play. Then the bridge gods intervened.

Qld made 3NT for +600 in the closed

State News

Winners of Graded Teams A Grade - Therese Tully, Richard Wallis, Kerry Wood and Charles HowardB Grade - Ian Barfoot, Alan Boyce, Joan Jenkins and Linda Norman.C Grade - Terry Clarke, Sean Quinn, Deanne Gaskill and Jeanne Welch.Queensland Women's Pairs Champions for 2015 - Alison Dawson - Maureen Jakes.Queensland Butler and Men's Champions for 2015 – Neville Francis and Magnus Moren.Queensland Youth Team – second in Australian National Championships.Winners of Open Teams – Neville Francis, Magnus Moren, Tony Hutton and Malcolm Carter.Australian National Championships to be held in Brisbane in 2016 – the venue will be the Kedron Wavell Services Club.

WITH the wedding over and the newlyweds and parents very

pleased with the weather and the day, Ray and I could settle down to some normality. Cheryl and I played at the Surfers event and if the clock stopped after the second round we would have won the event with us only missing out by a little for the prize money. Mum and I played at Coffs due to Pam and Phil not being available - this was Mum's first event she could actually play in since retiring from board dealer. We both had a ball and agreed not to leave it so long to do it again. By the time you are reading this I will be in New Zealand already having participated at Alice Springs. If you have not been to Alice for the Northern Territory Gold, put it on your bucket list - it is a fantastic event. Cairns hosted the Barrier Reef and William and Josephine did a heroic job as tournament organisers.A memorable hand from Coffs and I was the WIMP.

Dlr E ♠ AK97653 Vul NS ♥ 3 ♦ A1072

♣ 9 ♠ J10842 ♠ — ♥ K65 ♥ A872 ♦ J64 ♦ K95 ♣ 108 ♣ KJ7432 ♠ Q ♥ QJ1094 ♦ Q83 ♣ AQ65

NW E S

Manager's Travels

Dlr W ♠ Q10865 Vul EW ♥ 84 ♦ Q108

♣ K74 ♠ A932 ♠ K7 ♥ J ♥ AQ92 ♦ K62 ♦ AJ953 ♣ AQ953 ♣ 102 ♠ J4 ♥ K107653 ♦ 74 ♣ J86

NW E S

W N E S Bagchi Lavings P 1D P 1S P 3D! P 3H P 4S! P 4NT P 6D!

P 7D All pass

Dlr E ♠ AQ1072 Vul None ♥ AQ102 ♦ K5

♣ 85 ♠ J63 ♠ 85 ♥ AJ95 ♥ 87643 ♦ 10972 ♦ 8 ♣ 96 ♣ KJ742 ♠ K94 ♥ — ♦ AQJ643 ♣ AQ103

NW E S

room. In the open room, Courtney (W) opened 1C, Bagchi (N) bid 1S and East bid 2D. Now something strange happened. Courtney forgot he had opened, and saw his partner's response as a vulnerable 2-level overcall. He Blackwooded and bid 6D, which made on a series of breaks and finesses.Who can explain such things? NSW missed a slam on board 60, but still won by 7 IMPs.One of the many things our host, the SABA, provided was datum scores, or average IMPs pick-up for each partnership. Bill Hunt-Jim Wallis topped this, whith Bagchi-Lavings second, and Duffy-Remedios fourth. The organisation was excellent despite the slight slowing of interest in the interstate in favour of selection events for the Australian Team.Queensland has proved itself to be near the top of the Australian bridge tree. The best is yet to come. ■

Mum and I got to 4S with not so scientific bidding and East managed to bid their clubs in the three level even though she chose not to open the bidding.I got a the ♦5 lead. I chose to duck in dummy as I thought I could see 10 tricks easily. 7 spades, 2 diamonds and 1 club (guaranteed). The question is I have one entry to my hand. Would you take the club finesse at trick 2 because if you don’t, you are one down like I was as I had 2 spades, a diamond and a heart loser. This bad break in trumps was not rare - I think I had five 5-0 breaks by the time the event had finished. ■

The best bridge player one can ever hope to meet is the one you think you are.

Kim Ellaway

T h e Q B A B u l l e t i n J u l y - S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 5

14

Back: Mary Johnson, John Marley, Fiona Wells and John Rose. Front: Ann Wedgewood, Beverly and Neil Bonnell.

Queensland Open Teams

Winners: Neville Francis, Magnus Moren, Tony Hutton and Malcolm Carter

Warwick

Magnus Moren and Neville Francis

CLEAN CRUISING PAIRSSUNDAY OCTOBER 11

Hosted by the QCBC and Sponsored by

ENTRY FEE: $60 Per Pair DIRECTOR: Alan GibsonAll enquires and entries to QCBC: 3391 3241 - qcbc1@optusnet.com.au Details on the website: www.qcbc.org.au

SEVEN of the founding members of the Warwick Bridge Club cut the cake at the club’s 30th birthday celebration on Friday June 26, 2015.A public notice appeared in the Warwick Daily News on May 3 1985 asking for those interested in forming a bridge club to attend a meeting.From that notice 23 keen bridge players started the Warwick Bridge Club with Neil Bonnell as the first president,Today the club has grown to 78 members and play is three times per week in its own premises at Victoria Park. ■

John Mills and Ralph Parker

Toowong IMP Pairs winners

Alison Dawson and Maureen Jakes

Open and Men's Butler winners

Women's Butler winners

15

T h e Q B A B u l l e t i n J u l y - S e p t e m b e r

ROMA Bridge Club recently held a workshop for club members and others interested in playing bridge, and this was well attended.We were ably supervised by a very experienced player, Therese Tully, who drove out from Brisbane with her friend May, a member of Kenmore Bridge Club.The week-end went extremely well - a lot of 'decision fatigue' but with much to be learnt and the changing of bad habits.Visitors came from the Arcadia Valley north of Injune, from Surat to the south and one ex-Roma-ite from Kingaroy.It is hoped that this exercise can be repeated later in the year with perhaps an accredited tutor. A very sincere thank you to Therese for her effort and giving of her time in visiting our club and making the workshop enjoyable. We look forward to the next session.Our thanks go to the Qld Bridge Association for facilitating this event and being helpful in many ways. ■

Roma

Sunnybank

SUNNYBANK hosted its Swiss Teams Congress in August with thirty teams competing for prizes. We were pleased to welcome folk from 13 different clubs, with a member from Murwillumbah and New Zealand attending, and one intrepid player driving down from Noosa for the day. Thanks go to all these visitors, who along with the Sunnybank members and guidance of director Jan Peach, combined to make the day happily competitive and enjoyable. Match results being displayed throughout the day, made the jostling for rankings very interesting. By lunch time the Wooler Team from Sunnybank hadn’t lost a round with their total IMPs well ahead of the field, but after the break lost their momentum. Heading into the last round of the day, the Schoen, Lu and Francis teams were very close, but Francis came out on top. Always conscious of displaying warm hospitality to visitors, Sunnybank members ensured that a continuous flow of drinks and delectable nibbles were available for players. Congratulations to the winners and thanks to players and helpers for making the day such a success. ■

Sessions: Mon 10.30 am 7.30 pm Tue 10.00 am 7.30 pm Wed 10.30 am 7.30 pm Thur 10.30 am Fri 10.00 am 7.30 pm Sat 1.00 pmSupervised: Mon 7.30 pm Fri 9.30 am

67 Ipswich Rd WoolloongabbaPh: 3391 3241 Email: qcbc1@optusnet.com.au

www.qcbc.org.au

QCBCWinners: Tony Hutton, Neville Francis, Murray Perrin and Malcolm Carter

T h e Q B A B u l l e t i n J u l y - S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 5

16

Directors' Corner

NOV 23 (noon)Contributions to:

33 Royal Pde Ashgrove 4060

Ph: 07 3366 1292Email: psquire@

lindabackceramics.com

D E A D

L I N E

Q B AEmail: manager@qldbridge.comPhone: 07 3351 8602Mobile: 0412 064 903Fax: 07 3103 4799 Website: www. qldbridge.com

Jan Peach

IT may benefit players to be less confident about claiming early in apparently cold

contracts, especially if their claim is to be “the rest are mine” or a brief flash of their cards without stating lines of play. Doubtful points are ruled against the claimer. Yes, the play suggested by the opponents may sound fanciful, but the claim has denied them the opportunity to find that play by accident or design. The benefit of any doubt goes to them.This doesn’t mean that the claimer will be deemed to make clearly ridiculous plays. However, they are allowed to make careless and inferior plays. From apparently equal choices, the less successful choice will be used, simply because doubt exists in the absence of a statement. An appeals committee is not required to make a ruling. It should assume that the director’s ruling is correct and only adjust or change the score when the appellants convince them that the ruling is incorrect. When a director has collected all the facts, polled widely, consulted with others and provided relevant laws and interpretations, it should be rare for an appeal to be upheld.The World Bridge Federation updated its Code of Practice for Appeals Committees in 2014 to allow for reviews instead of appeals at major world events. The process is interesting even though reviews may never be introduced at club and congress level here.Two Excerpts from WBF Code of Practice: (1) “The level of Tournament Directing and the calibre of TDs in WBF Championships is regarded as amongst the best in the World. The TDs undergo rigorous training and testing and are part of a process of continuous development. The process by which rulings are determined is one that will provide a fair determination in circumstances where there cannot be a perfect solution.The World Bridge Federation has decided that in these Championships there will

be no Appeal Committee. Instead the recipients of a ruling will be entitled to ask for the matter to be reviewed by a person who was not involved in the original decision. The Reviewer will check that the TD has gathered the necessary evidence of what occurred when the infraction arose. The Reviewer will then need to be satisfied that the correct law was applied and that other TDs were consulted where appropriate. In matters involving the judgement that was exercised by a player following unauthorised information, incorrect explanation or failure to alert, the Reviewer will clarify that suitable players have been asked appropriate questions to enable a judgmental view to be obtained. Finally the Reviewer will check that ruling that was issued based upon all the information available to the TDs was within the bounds of reasonableness. The fact that the Reviewer might have

determined a slightly different ruling would not be good reason for the ruling to be varied. In the event that the process had not been followed properly in some material way, the Reviewer will ask the Chief TD to correct the failings and issue a new ruling.”(2) “TDs have been made aware of the importance of following the approved process before delivering a ruling. Players must also be conscious of the need to notify the TD of relevant information when the evidence is being gathered.It is hoped that players will accept that rulings that are given by TDs are arrived at following a proper consideration of all relevant facts and consultation between TDs and the polling of appropriate players. It is expected that requests for a review of the TD ruling will be rare but it provides a safeguard to avoid failures in the process.” ■

Coming EventsSep 20 Sunshine Coast Graded PairsSep 20 Sanctuary Cove Graded PairsSep 27 Cairns Spring PairsSep 27 Redland Graded PairsOct 2-5 Mackay Congress Pairs and TeamsOct 3-5 Toowoomba Pairs and TeamsOct 11 Gympie TeamsOct 11 QCBC Clean Cruising PairsOct 17-18 QBA Open PairsOct 24-25 Hervey Bay Imp Pairs and TeamsOct 24 Surfers Paradise Graded TeamsOct 31-Nov 1 Northern Suburbs IMP PairsNov 7-8 Cleveland Bay Anniversary PairsNov 8 Sunshine Coast Novice PairsNov 14 Townsville Novice TeamsNov 15 QBA Senior Pairs (at Gold Coast Bridge Club)Nov 15 Toowoomba Swiss TeamsNov 21-22 Noosa IMP PairsNov 21-22 Central Qld Teams - MackayNov 21-28 Qld Wide PairsNov 22 QCBC Novice TeamsNov 22 Gold Coast Graded Teams Nov 27-30 GNOT Final Nov 29 Toowong Graded TeamsDec 6 Redlands Graded TeamsDec 13 QBA Teams of 3 - KenmoreDec 20 QBA Individual