North Penn Bridge News

Greetings to the

North Penn Bridge Community!

Week of 01/08/2024

From the Club Manager

Dave Dodgson

Handicap Teams. North Penn held its first Handicap Teams event last Thursday. Nine teams participated. It was close all the way to the end with team WILLGRUBER (Dave & Jack Willgruber, Jeff Rohrbeck, Devin Murphy) edging out team DICKENSON (John Dickenson, David Cohan, Elaine Clair, Tony Zacchei) by a single victory point! The next Handicap Team game will be held on Thursday, February 1.

Split Sectional. KOP and NP hosted the split Unit 141 Sectional last weekend. It was great to see both clubs filled with players. Other than a scare by the weather, everything went well. Special thanks to Pat Andrews for hosting the event for NP. Also helping to name a few were, Mitch Snyder (I/N Partnership Chair, board-maker, co-host, set-up,) Dave Dodgson (board-maker, co-host, set-up,) Sue Bailey (greeter extraordinaire and co-host,) Elaine Clair (set-up,) Sandy Sill (set-up) and Ellen Luchette (partnership co-chair.) Big thanks also to our counterparts at KOP who "taught us the ropes" as we ventured into the Sectional Tournament game.

Most of all, we want to thank all the wonderful Intermediate/Novice players...it was a pleasure having you play at our tables!

Congratulations to the players from the club who did well:

Friday AM, Open

2: Kaufman, Satten

3: Dickenson, Ravreby

6: Robbins, Yurchak

7: Dresher, Dodgson

10: Crisfield, Morse

11: Baker, Currie

C6: Willgruber, Willlgruber

Friday AM, I/N

2: DePaul, Smith

6: Bryant, Fineman

C6: Zelle, Clemens

Friday, PM, Open

1: Willgruber, Willgruber

2: Kaufman, Satten

4: Mita, Glasthal

6: Cohen, Strauss

7: Robbins, Yurchak

C4: Sgro, O’Connor

C6: Baker, Heater

Friday, PM, I/N

1: Corner, Link

2: Adams, Ingersoll

B6: Morton, Wenhold

C2: Yanoff, Shaffer

Saturday, AM, Open

2/3: Muhlhauser, Leach

2/3: Cohen, Kepple

7: Kaufman, Satten

8: Fitzgerald, McReynolds

9: Robbins, Manerchia

C5: Saffer, Rouge

Saturday, AM, I/N

1: Corner, Link

2: Bonenberger, Fireman

4: Adams, Tolles

C6: Zelle, Clemens

Saturday, PM, Open

2: Mita, Glasthal

4/5: Fitzgerald, McReynolds

4/5: Cohen, Kepple

6: Morse, Dickenson

9: Kaufman, Satten

Saturday, PM, I/N

1: Corner, Link

2: Chiodo, Tassaro

3: Bonenberger, Fireman

4: Pelullo, Kirrstetter

C2: Bryant, Leva

C4: DePaul, Smith

Sunday, Open

2: Kaufman, Satten, Shuster, Chatzinoff

6: Uhlenburg, Cutler, Johnson, Kung

B2: Shoemaker, Civale, Morganthau, Myers

B3: Willgruber, Willgruber, Rohrbeck, Primavera

B4: Corner, Link, O’Malley, O’Malley

B5/6: Luchette, Grinwis, Schwenk, Scalamandre

B5/6: Saffer, Rouge, Packer, Losciuto

Sunday, I/N

1: Morganstein, Baron, Desai, Doshi

Achievements. Congratulations to the following members who have advanced in rank, especially John Dickenson for making Emerald Life Master - 7500 mps:

John Dickenson------Emerald Life Master

David Dresher------..Gold Life Master

Bucky Sydnor--------Gold Life Master

Mary Lingerfeldt----Club Master

Pam Schlief----------Junior Master

January Schedule. January is Junior Fund month with extra points awarded.

Wednesday, January 10 is our first 4 is Enough Game. Pat Andrews can help you find a partner. For a full explanation of how this new pairs game works, please see our website.

Saturday, January 13 is the Robot Individual.

Tuesday, January 16 is our Silver Linings online game. Earn silver points from your house!

Wednesday, January 17 is our 0-50 game.

New Stay and Play Policy. Effective January 3, anyone who pays to play in Shuffle and Deal on Wednesday morning, can stay and play in the noon open game for only $6. Come out and make a day of it!

Partnership

We are in the process of re-activating our online partnership desk and will now be monitoring it on a daily basis. Please use it for requests for our Open games; partner requests for Tuesday and Friday limited games should go directly to Mitch Snyder.

If you are in need of a partner for a Monday, Wednesday or Thursday Open game, please email northpennpartner@gmail.com. We will do our best to match you up with others who are looking for someone to play with.

Upcoming Tournaments

January 20 at 3:30 p.m. – District 4 Online Tournament. Extra points will be awarded - all silver.

February 11 at 3:30 p.m. – District 4 Online Tournament. Half red and half black points will be awarded.

February 12 - 18 is STaC week.

February 23 - 25 is the Wilmington Sectional.

Education

Shuffle & Deal January Schedule:

CANCELLED DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER: The last Tuesday evening Shuffle and Deal session on January 9 at 7 p.m.

Wednesdays 9:30 am:

January 10: NO Shuffle and Deal. Four is Enough game starting at noon.
January 17: 0-50 game (let me know if you plan to play) AND Shuffle and Deal
January 24: Shuffle and Deal
January 31: Shuffle and Deal

Sundays at noon:

January 14: Lesson with Deb on the Takeout Double; $20 per person
January 21 and 28: Lessons with Linda on Stayman & Transfers; $20 per person

King of Prussia Bridge Club Lessons. For lesson details go directly to the Latest News item on their website: https://www.bridgewebs.com/kop.

Calendar

Click here to see a file you can enlarge.

Ask the Expert

Email your questions, or a pesky hand, or something you’d like to know about bidding or playing to Toysie at toysiewalker@gmail.com. She will forward them to the panel, one will be chosen, and the question and answers will be printed in the following week’s newsletter.

We update our Facebook page regularly so be sure to check it out. It’s a great way to stay in touch with all the happenings at North Penn.

Tidbits

“Tips to Avoid Mistake 1

(Making unsound penalty doubles)

Do not double a freely bid game simply because you have a lot of points. The opponents will have distribution to justify their auction.
Be more inclined to double when you have an unexpected surprise for declarer, such as a bad trump break.
Do not double on the basis that your partner has overcalled. An overcall does not promise anything much in defense.
Do not double when you will get a good result anyway if they have overbid and are going one off.”

From 52 Bridge Mistakes to Avoid

by David Bird

Deal of the Week

by Bucky Sydnor

(sydnoriv@yahoo.com)

Exhilaration At Bridge

I recall a deal from the Daytona Regional last November in which our contract failed because of my RHO’s excellent defense. Before she left the table, she commented to her partner: “I knew his whole hand by the third card played,” her face all aglow. She was exhilarated—knowing Declarer’s hand as a defender is exhilarating!

Sometimes it is easy. In a Sunday Sectional Swiss last October, I was second seat, white against white, and picked up:

♠J754 ♥AQ109 ♦A74 ♣A7

I was all set to open 1N when RHO opened 1♦. I decided that making a TO Double was worth the risk of partner bidding 2C or 3C rather than one of the major suits. LHO bid 2♦, partner passed and RHO jumped to 3N, which was passed out. So, the auction was

1♦ – Dbl – 2♦ – P

3N – all pass

A 3N bid like that may be made on a long running minor suit. But that was not the case here as Responder probably held 5 diamonds, or more, and I had 3 to the ace. The other option is that Opener had a nice 19 count and went for game. I had 15 HCP and Responder should have 6 so that left my partner with zero points.

I had 3 sure defensive tricks in my hand. I can’t count on partner for any help so if I am to set the contract I have to find 2 more tricks in my hand. The most likely place was hearts. If Dummy held the ♥Jx, by leading the ♥Q rather than a low heart I could pin it, so I led my ♥Q. In fact, the lead of a Q against a no trump contact, asks partner to unblock the J, which would certainly have been helpful, something I only recently learned.

No luck. Here’s the deal:

Declarer took her ♥K and started on diamonds, leading her K and then her 10. I ducked the first two rounds, and I was pleased to see partner follow both times. That meant by ducking twice I had cut Declarer off from her diamond suit. But it also meant I know the distribution of her hand.

How is that? For those who play standard 2/1 game forcing, the opening bid of 1♦ promises a minimum of 4 diamonds except in one, and only one, situation: when Opener has a 4=4=3=2 distribution. (Indeed, this is the distribution that those who play that 1♣ “could be short” are alerting about. Since they never bid 1♦ with less than 4, this is the only hand type that they open 1♣ with only 2 clubs.) So, after opening 1♦, when Declarer showed up with only 3 diamonds, she had the same distribution as I did, 4=4=3=2.

I now knew an awful lot about her hand and the deal. Most importantly I knew my partner does not have any ace, king, or queen, and probably not the ♥J. Secondly, to make 9 tricks, by Declarer’s line of play, I have successfully stopped her from utilizing Dummy’s diamonds. So, on the 4th trick she turned to clubs, leading her ♣K.

When I learned bridge I was taught that aces are meant to take kings and queens. I see players frequently duck an opponent’s king or queen and then take the second round of the suit with their ace but win no honor of the opponents. So, it is almost a knee-jerk reaction for me to grab a king or queen with my ace. That is not a bad technique. Usually.

But here it would have allowed Declarer to get to her good clubs as she could lead her second club to Dummy’s Q and then play Dummy’s 2 established clubs. I ducked, knowing that Declarer had the same number of clubs as I did—the king and another. It is that 2^nd club of hers I had to win.

When she continued clubs, I won and exited the ♥9.

I expected Declarer to win and exit a heart endplaying me in spades, as I did not yet know that partner had the ♠10. But she cashed out, taking her high spades and then conceded the rest to me for down one.

Even if you only play bridge once a week, there will be times when you end up knowing Declarer’s hand. The easiest is when an opponent opens or overcalls with a Weak Two bid and ends up declaring. You already know 6 of her 13 cards. Moreover, the most common Weak Two distribution is 6-3-3-1, followed by 6-3-2-2. So, you know a lot about Declarer’s probable distribution before the opening lead. At other times, the bidding and line of play may be all you need in order to learn Declarer’s distribution after 3 or 4 cards, though partner’s count signals can help immensely. Ascertaining Declarer’s distribution is not a skill reserved for only special players; anyone can do it.

So, try it. Be alert and try to figure out Declarer’s distribution and high card points. It’s exhilarating when you succeed.

Postmortem: When I discovered Declarer’s distribution, I also realized that she had misplayed this deal. After I ducked the ♦K, she should have immediately switched to clubs, starting with the K, in order to knock out my ♣A. Why? Because Dummy’s ♦QJ meant she had a guaranteed entry to enable her to cash the remaining clubs. She would then have 3 spades, 1 or 2 hearts, 2 diamonds, and 3 club tricks to make her contract.