North Penn Bridge News

Greetings to the

North Penn Bridge Community!

Week of 04/08/2024

From the Club Manager

Dave Dodgson

Four is Enough Hoagie Day April 10! Delicious hoagies for lunch at 11:30.

Achievements.

Susie O’Neil-----------Silver Life Master

Alison Elison----------.Club Master

Elizabeth Bailey------.Junior Master

Shannon Sanfilippo--..Junior Master

Stu Freemark---------Junior Master

April Events.

April 10:-------Four is Enough Game

April 13:------.The Robot Individual

April 19:-------0-500 Swiss Team Game 10:00 a.m.

April 22-26:--.Stardust Week...gold points awarded at the club

April 24:------.0-99 Game at 9:30 a.m.

April 24:------.ACBL-wide Charity Game 12:00 noon

Upcoming Tournaments:

April 12-14 Sectional in Cherry Hill, NJ

April 26-27 Sectional in Allentown, PA

April 29-May 4 Regional in Rehoboth Beach, MD

Education

Shuffle and Deal Schedule For the Rest of April:

Every Sunday, 1-3 pm
Wednesday, April 17, 9:30 - 11:30 am

Please note there is no Shuffle and Deal tomorrow, April 10 (Four is Enough game instead.) Also, Wednesday, April 24 is our monthly 0-99 game. No Shuffle and Deal that day.

Remember, our Shuffle and Deal sessions are open to all who have an interest in supervised play (not just new players.)

Joann Glasson’s Next Monday Zoom Class is April 15. Click here for details.

Tuesday Evening Series on Forcing Bids. Linda O’Malley’s next class is April 9. Click here for the flyer.

Partnership

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

Requests for Tuesday and Friday limited games should go directly to Mitch Snyder @ bridge4all@comcast.net.

Calendar

Click here to see a file you can enlarge.

Ask the Expert

Your hand is: AJ865 KT8643 -- 54. The dealer is on your left and everyone is vulnerable. The bidding is: 1N - P - 3N - ? What is your call?

Mitch Snyder. Pass. I don't see a way to safely show this hand but why would I? Partner is likely to be heavy in the minors and misfit hands usually don't play well.

Bill Bauer. I remember this hand and auction. My mental health professional used this hand to reveal if I had suicidal tendencies. Fortunately, I passed.

Elaine Clair. Pass. I’d love to have that hand in the 2nd seat or pass-out seat but I see no sensible bid in this auction.

John Dickenson. I pass as well.

Dennis O’Brien. PASS. Hopefully partner will lead a major.

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

“When trying to promote an extra trump trick for yourself by giving partner a chance to uppercut, cash any side suit winner(s) that might vanish before going for the uppercut.”

From Defensive Tips For Bad Card Holders

by Edwin B. Kantar

Deal of the Week

by Bruce Schwaidelson

(bruschwade@aol.com)

This Robin is No Bird Brain

Ah, the signs of spring are everywhere… the days are warmer and getting longer, the grass and trees are greener, flowers are starting to bloom and the birds are all chirping. Life is beautiful, especially for one beautiful bridge-playing robin.

While on a spring walk near our bridge club several days ago, I came upon a robin nesting in a nearby bush. She introduced herself as Robin Roberta, informing me that her mother -- a huge Phillies fan who loves flying into Citizens Bank Park for free -- had named both Roberta and her brother Robert in memory of Hall of Fame pitcher Robin Roberts.

Roberta let me know that while squatting on her eggs she noticed a piece of paper that was intertwined with some of her nest twigs. She was able to pull the piece out with her beak and this is what she saw:

She knew right away it was a bridge hand, so she deliberated at length about North’s next call. It seemed to her that any dodo could bid 5♣ with their 7 HCP’s and a void, but she had been schooled by her parents that “visualization” was more important than counting points. Here were her thoughts:

If her partner’s 4♣ bid was A-8^th and no outside honors, North’s ♠A plus 2 or 3 diamond ruffs perhaps and a 1-1 club split would yield 11 or 12 tricks. If her partner happened to have a major suit king, so much the better.
She wondered how East would interpret the double of 4♣. Was it purely negative, a DSI request (Do Something Intelligent), or more penalty oriented? Is it possible that East might have such an awkward call he would elect to pass and defend?
If she were to bid 5♣ and the opponents bid 5♦, would she then save in 6♣? Sure she was vulnerable, but all red is a robin’s favorite.
Would it be helpful to pass to see what the opponents do, or is it better to jump to 6♣ immediately?

Roberta told me she had decided to pass initially, hoping that her side would wind up playing in 4♣ doubled, but then a few minutes later she had noticed some more chicken scratch on the back of the piece of paper:

At the table North had indeed passed and, surprisingly, East bid 4♥, Roberta’s 6-card suit, followed soon thereafter by West’s 5♦ call. This intrigued Roberta. Why had East doubled rather than support diamonds immediately? He must have 4 or 5 spades in addition to excellent diamond support, indicating her partner (South) must be short in both hearts and spades. Actually making 6♣ was a real possibility if partner held the ♣A and her shape was something like 1=1=3=8 or 2=0=3=8. Furthermore, if she didn’t have the ♣A or if one of the opponents was void in clubs, 6♣ would be an excellent sacrifice.

Roberta informed me that she mentally opted to bid 6♣ and imagined that it got doubled. I suggested to her that an immediate jump to 6♣ might have been my choice, but I admitted that her partner would now have quite a bit of information to assist her in the play. (Oh, was I enjoying discussing bridge with a robin!)

Roberta confided that she discovered a 2^nd piece of paper and it revealed only the N-S hands, the complete auction ending in 6♣ doubled, and the opening lead of the ♦K. Unfortunately, that piece of paper was now so unreadable I could not include it in this article. Roberta bragged that since birds have much better eyesight than humans, she had no problem perusing it.

Our robin then made a strange request. She wondered if she could fly South. That made me nervous, so I reminded her that not only was it the wrong time of year to be heading that way, but she needed to take care of those eggs she was sitting on, as I wasn’t planning to jump in.

She tweeted laughingly and said she had developed a plan that just might allow her to make the 6♣ contract, so all she wanted was to fly over to South’s side to declare. I then revealed my secret: I was very familiar with this deal since it was played at North Penn on a Monday. I added that neither of the 2 pairs who played in 6♣ made their bid and I was pretty sure they too got a high diamond lead after being doubled.

I pulled up the deal on my iPhone and told her I would play the cards for both East and West, promising not to make any “double dummy” maneuvers knowing all 4 hands. Below is the full deal -- our Deal of the Week. What is your plan after the ♦K is led? Are you smarter than a robin?

Roberta said she assumed the ♦K could have been led from either AK or KQ, per Eddie Kantar’s “52 Facts of Bridge Life,” since he recommends the lead of the King from AKx (or longer) at the five or six level, or when leading from a supported suit. How in the world did she know about Kantar, I asked. Roberta disclosed she was a card-carrying member of the birds-only Audubon Contract Bridge League, and the “52 Facts” had been written up in their ACBL Flyover magazine, delivered monthly by carrier pigeon.

Returning to the 1^st trick, my feathered friend advised she would ruff the ♦K, so I played East’s ♦Q, intended as suit preference for spades. Roberta called for the ♥4, I played low, and her 10 lost to West’s Ace.

My partner (also me) led the ♠2 and Roberta won dummy’s Ace and played the ♥Q. When I ducked smoothly (covering would be no better), she cackled merrily and bird-splained: “West must have a doubleton heart as East’s auction showed 4 of them. Surely if West held ♥AK tight, he would have led hearts first, since a diamond was far more likely to be ruffed.” The ♥Q won the trick, Roberta pitching her losing spade, leaving just one more hurdle.

Roberta led a low club from dummy, hoping to see the King. When I played the ♣6, she stopped to count. She knew from the bidding that East likely held 5 or 6 diamonds, exactly 4 hearts, probably 3 spades and at least one club. That accounted for 13 or 14 cards, which meant East had 5 diamonds and a singleton club. To test check: that would give West 4 spades, 2 hearts and 6 diamonds, plus the stiff ♣K. Could West be 5=2=6=0? Perhaps, but she sensed that was less likely.

Roberta crowed triumphantly as she played the ♣A, crashing West’s King, and proudly announced that even she knew the “Rabbi’s Rule,” i.e., whenever the King is singleton offside, play the Ace. She ruffed her 2^nd diamond in dummy, and claimed +1540, which would have been a cold top at our club (99% in the Common Game). Her 14 HCP slam had succeeded!

I asked Roberta why she thought others went down in 6♣ after a diamond lead. Her response: either they decided to take the club finesse since East had opened, or more likely, the declarers were too focused on diamond ruffs and didn’t consider that they might have a way to make 12 tricks, but only if they started hearts immediately after ruffing the opening lead, as she had done.

Postmortem: Roberta pointed out that a somewhat unlikely spade lead would have beaten the contract, but even a vulnerable 6♣x down 1 (-200) would have been a good score, since 5♦ was ice cold. Visualization of the play during the bidding certainly helped her realize that 6♣, either making or down one, would be an excellent contract.

I could have made life more difficult for Roberta by popping the ♥K at trick two. When hearts are played again and I follow low, she would have had to guess to ruff to pick up West’s doubleton Ace. Was she up to it? I don’t know for sure, but my red-breasted acquaintance had convinced me she was certainly no bird-brain.