North Penn Bridge News

Greetings to the

North Penn Bridge Community!

Week of 05/13/2024

MEMORIAL DAY LUNCH AT 11:30 A.M. AND BRIDGE AT NOON

Come celebrate at the Bridge Club! And bring a friend! We’ll have hot dogs and chicken salad, and if you’d like to bring something to share that would be great.

From the Club Manager

Dave Dodgson

Sectional Tournament at the Club. Congratulations to the following players who did well during STaC week:

Monday Open

3: Bruce Schwaidelson & Dan Jacobson

16: Elaine Clair & Dave Cohan

19: Mike Carver & Ed Heater

Tuesday 0-999

1: Mike Carver & Don Baker

2: Neil Snyder & Harry Spaeth Jr.

3: Dick Abell & Frank Lucard

Wednesday Open

15: Leah DePaul & Tony Zacchei

16: Dennis Parenti & Ken Salter

Thursday Open

7: Ken & Tom Salter

Friday 0-499

1: Steve Binnick & Richard O’Brien

2: Mary Lingerfeldt & Marsha Schwartz

3: Bob George & Dick Godshall

The Longest Day . This year we will hold our Longest Day Event in support of the Alzheimer’s Association on Wednesday, June 19. Check our webpage for more information and to make donations.

May Events.

May 13-23 Grassroots Weeks.

May 17 0-500 Swiss Team Game.

May 22 0-99 Game.

May 27-31 Club Championship Week. Extra points at no extra cost.

Upcoming Tournaments:

June 1 & 2 - I/N Sectional at the club. Click here for details.

June 24-30 - King of Prussia Regional. Click here for details.

Education

Shuffle & Deal Wednesday, May 15, 9:30 - 11:30 am

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 Lesson: Monday May 20 at 10 a.m. on Zoom. Click here for details.

Partnership

If you need a partner for a Monday, Wednesday or Thursday Open game, please email northpennbridge@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 at bridge4all@comcast.net

Calendar

Click here to see a file you can enlarge.

Ask the Expert

You hold S:AQ754, H:KQ8654, D:7, C:8. Partner opens 2N. What do you do?

Dennis O’Brien. Partner rates to have a lot of points in the minors so let's not get too excited here. I would transfer to hearts and over partner’s 3H response I would bid 3S. Partner will likely have three responses: 3NT, 4H, or 4S. Further action would be over 3NT, bid 4C; and if partner shows at least two ace's, bid 6H. Over 4H bid 4NT and if partner shows at least two ace's, bid 6H. Over 4S bid 4NT and if partner shows at least three keycards bid 6S. If partner shows at least four keycards bid 7S.

Bill Bauer. I just learned the Jacoby transfer convention last week and have been dying to put it to use. So, I bid 3D. Partner will accept by bidding 3H, I will bid 3S (this should indicate 5-6 as other sequences would be used for 5-5 and 6-4.) Of course, I am hot to trot into six of a major but need to first settle on one or the other major. When bidding slams, it is best to answer the question: where, meaning which strain. Then decide: how high? If you do not like this approach, then walk around to partner's side of the table and then decide what to do.

Mitch Snyder. If not playing puppet Stayman, I will bid 3C and then jump to 4NT (Blackwood) over either major. Or bid 4D (transfer to hearts) over 3D once again followed by 4NT. If playing puppet, I will not risk an accident and just bid 4D and then Blackwood over 4H.

John Dickenson. I will take a different approach than Bill Bauer. I already know the strain, since we are guaranteed at least an eight card heart fit. I will bid 4D, setting trumps. Over partner's 4H, I will bid 4N, keycard for hearts. When partner shows three keys, I will bid 5N, specific K ask, guaranteeing we hold all five keys and the trump Q. When partner bids 6C showing the club K (don't care,) I will sign off in 6H. I can't ask for the spade king as that will put us past six of our heart suit.

Elaine Clair. I agree with John on this one. It’s hard to show the 6-5 shape after a 2NT opener since there is not enough bidding space. I would just set the contract in hearts via a Texas transfer and go into RKC.

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

Deal of the Week

by Bruce Schwaidelson

(bruschwade@aol.com)

Hobo Joe: A Master of Vacant Spaces

A couple of weeks ago, a man known as “Hobo Joe” jumped off a SEPTA train at the North Wales station, just as the conductor was approaching him for his ticket. “HJ” (the name he prefers) began walking along Wissahickon Avenue when he saw a woman carrying a food tray enter a nearby building. Several people followed her in, and then so did HJ.

The hobo quickly noticed there were a few tables with vacant places, so he poured himself a hot cup of Joe, grabbed a nice looking piece of banana cake and sat at one of the vacancies. As he enjoyed his lunch, he noticed a guide card plus 4 bidding boxes and finally realized he was at a bridge club.

Once upon a time before he was a drifter, HJ had been an ACBL member, and a fairly competent one at that. In fact, he wondered if he could kibbitz a round or two before he got going. Just then someone announced that due to a partnership mix up, we were short one player and did anyone know of a person who might be available. Thinking he didn’t have much on his plate that day (besides the cake), HJ volunteered to fill the vacant place.

During the fourth round, I had the good fortune of playing a couple of boards against HJ and I was quite impressed. After the game, we started chatting and were soon joined by other North Penn club members. He asked us how familiar we all were with the concept of vacant places, saying “it is a notion that hoboes are especially aware of, but bridge players not so much.” Then he added: “Whenever we squatters are looking for new digs, we seek out streets with almost no house lights shining, since invariably they are the ones with the most available ‘vacancies,’ if you get my drift. Bridge players should take heed!” We were, of course, somewhat confused.

HJ commented that bridge experts are adept at “finding the Queen,” even when it appears to be a pure guess. Why? “The best players are truly skillful at drawing inferences from the bidding and play, which is why they come to the right conclusion more often than rest of us.”

“But what about vacant places?” I asked impatiently.

“Hold your horses, mate, I’m coming to that… suppose you are declarer in 4♠ after your LHO opened 2♥ and you and your partner hold 4 hearts between you, missing the Queen. Who is more likely to have the ♥Q?” (We all got that one right!) “But suppose you draw trump (2-2 break) and the diamond suit looks like this:

Dummy: ♦KJ9x

You:----.♦A108xx

Who is more likely to hold the ♦Q? Or, since it’s a 9-card fit, do you play for the drop rather than finesse (‘8-ever, 9-never’)? Yes, friend, we finally get to vacant places!

“West is known to have 6 hearts and 2 spades, leaving him 5 unknown minor suit cards, which are fittingly called the ‘vacant places.’ They are the ones with no lights on, so to speak. East, having 3 hearts and 2 spades, still has 8 vacant places. Thus, the odds are 8 to 5 that East has the ♦Q. In other words, East will hold the Queen about 61.5% (8/13ths) of the time and West the other 38.5% (5/13ths). Are you going to play for the drop or will you cash the King and then let the Jack ride if it isn’t covered?” We all astutely chose the latter.

“Here’s the best part: you don’t have to calculate the odds. You just have to know who has more vacant places and play accordingly. That brings me today’s deal, the one I really wanted to discuss – and it involves finding a KING.”

HJ continued: “West’s 2♥ bid was of course Michaels showing at least 5-5 in spades and a minor. East might have tried 4NT to solicit which minor and they could have saved in 5♣, going down a trick or two, possibly doubled. Perhaps East felt that 4♥ might be beaten and he had doubts about making a 5♣ contract, the more likely minor.”

At this point, I mentioned that if East had known about the 6-card spade suit, 4♠ could have been an excellent spot, beaten only by a diamond ruff and only if a diamond is led at trick one.

HJ thanked me for the interruption and persisted: “Playing in 4♥, West typically started with 3 high clubs, declarer ruffing the third one. It was obvious to our Souths that they would certainly lose a diamond, so the play of the spade suit was critical. I watched two declarers play this deal, the declarer at our table and the one I observed during our sit-out.

“The first declarer gave little thought to the situation. He was apparently aware that holding 11 cards in a suit, the odds (without any other information) favor a 1-1 split rather than Kx onside, so he immediately cashed the ♠A and down he went! The second one was more cunning, I suppose. She took the time to lead a spade to dummy’s stiff King and led the ♥J, hoping to see her RHO cover or at least stop to think. When he ducked smoothly, she went up with her Ace and down with her contract.

“You know, bridge can be an easy game to play; the hard part is training yourself to think responsibly. Here’s what an astute declarer should realize: West holds at least 5 spades and the ♣AKQ. Declarer does not yet know if the long minor is clubs or diamonds, however. If it is diamonds, then West’s shape should be 5=0=5=3, indicating that declarer had better finesse East for the trump King. If it’s clubs, is West perhaps 5=0=3=5, 5=1=2=5, 5=2=1=5, 6=0=2=5, or 6=1=1=5? Should South finesse in hearts or try to drop the King?”

HJ took a moment to look at his watch, then carried on: “All this mumbo jumbo is worth considering and is certainly better than quickly banging down the Ace, hoping for a 1-1 split, and calling it a day. Why not ask yourself this important question: who is more likely to hold the ♥K? Is it West, holding 5 or more spades and at least 3 clubs, leaving no more than 5 vacant spaces? Or is it East, the one known to have at least 3 clubs and who knows what else, leaving 10 vacant spaces?

“It doesn’t take a Ph.D. in math to figure out that the odds are 10 to 5 (or 2 to 1) in favor of East holding the King. Declarer should lead a spade to dummy in order to play the ♥J. If East follows low, so should declarer, and about 67% (10/15ths) of the time it will be right. I think those are pretty good odds.”

At this point, HJ jumped up and said he needed to leave immediately as he had a train to catch. Grabbing the last piece of banana cake, he headed for the exits. That left us all wondering if we would ever see him again.

Postmortem: The concept of vacant places (sometimes referred to as “vacant spaces”) is explained in detail by Hugh Kelsey and Michael Glauert in their book Bridge Odds for Practical Players. For a nice overview, you can read Jill Courtney’s article by clicking here.

Regarding Hobo Joe’s comments, a true mathematician (the one with the Ph.D.) may have some problem with his stated odds, but they won’t change the general outlook. Once East follows low to the trump lead, he is known to have at least one heart, indicating he now holds one less vacant space. Thus, when you choose to finesse, your odds are no longer 10 to 5, but rather 10 - 1 = 9 to 5 or approx. 64% (9/14ths) probability that the King is onside. But let’s not quibble, since you don’t have to calculate the percents – merely determine which opponent has more vacancies.