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Deal of the Week
by Bruce Schwaidelson
Methuselah Learns "Modern Bridge"
Our aging bridge population may not appreciate someone suggesting that “she’s older than dirt” or “he’s as old as Methuselah”. There is one person, however, who doesn’t seem to mind it at all and that would be Methuselah himself, the oldest living bridge player of all time!
A few centuries ago, Methuselah became enthralled with the game of whist, and then bridge whist, auction bridge and finally contract bridge itself – especially duplicate. He read everything he could by the “old masters” like Culbertson, Goren, Reese, Roth, even Dorothy Hayden (before she married Truscott). He learned all about “sound opening bids”, “sound overcalls especially at the 2-level”, and preempts that must have “reasonably good suits.”
Methuselah’s problem: the masters all died and he didn’t, yet he continued to adhere to their every word. Bridge has changed dramatically in the last half-century and Methuselah did not. He kept hearing that “modern bridge is a bidder’s game” and that he was “too old fashioned”, thereby bringing us to yet another expression: “You can’t teach an old bridge dog new tricks.” Or can you?
During the pandemic, Methuselah joined Bridgewinners and BBO to see if he could gain some insights into more current bidding styles and to improve his card play. When BBO advised he had to pick a handle, he selected “MethMan”, perhaps not the best choice.
At the suggestion of Mae, his favorite partner, MethMan went on amazon.com to purchase a helpful magazine subscription. Both he and the postman got a good chuckle when his first issue of Modern Bride was delivered, although that would explain why he kept getting pop up ads for wedding gowns and bridesmaid dresses. After a few false steps Methuselah began making progress. He read the ACBL Bulletin regularly and started reading books and articles by Marty Bergen and other experts, but Mae, no youngster herself, cautioned him: “It’s okay to adopt Marty’s ideas like the Rule of 20, DONT, and Bergen Raises – in fact his book Points Schmoints is eye-opening – but please don’t go overboard. If you try things out gradually, your old, stodgy bidding style will improve, but don’t go to the extremes of so-called ‘modern bidding’ until you and your partners are comfortable with it.”
While still working on some of those new concepts, MethMan and Mae played one Monday at North Penn. He immediately faced this bidding problem (white v red): after his RHO opened a strong NT, should he enter the auction holding ♠KQ642 ♥K4 ♦10832 ♣93 ?
The “younger” Methuselah would have had no problem whatsoever. His Bridge Angel, always fluttering around his left ear, would advise him that a pass was routine. But now he had Bergen-Devil perched on his right shoulder exhorting: “DONT means ‘Disturb Opponents NT’ for gosh sakes! How ya gonna do that by passing, MethMan? 2♦ (diamonds and a major) is automatic.” Bridge Angel countered that the last thing you want is a diamond lead from partner if the opponents end up in (say) 4♥, but that didn’t stop the new MethMan from following Bergen-Devil’s advice. He nervously displayed the 2♦ card and much to his surprise everyone passed. (“Uh, oh,” he thought.)
Mae tabled 3 small diamonds and a singleton spade and the opponents pulled dummy’s trump without delay, but when the dust finally settled Methuselah had managed down one (-50). He later discovered that not only did he earn a 75% score (exact same percent as The Common Game) since the opponents could make 1NT, but that he was not the only declarer in 2♦. Modern bridge was starting to take hold!
Then came our Deal of the Week with MethMan sitting East and Mae West (of course). After 2 passes, North opened 1♦ (all red) and MethMan was staring at ♠AQJ5 ♥Q ♦J86 ♣109432. His first round pass was obvious, but Bergen-Devil was still sitting on his right shoulder. “C’mon, MethMan, your partner passed, so you know they’re gonna buy the contract – most likely in a heart or NT game – so what lead would you like to see from Mae? That’s right, MethMan, a spade, and just how ya gonna get her to lead that spade? Gonna pray? Get out your rosary beads? Use mental telepathy? Or will you man-up and plunk that 1♠ card on the table? You read my stuff about the importance of lead-directing bids – here’s your chance to use one!”
Bridge Angel was incredulous – and so was MethMan. He had never before even contemplated a call like that but Bergen-Devil was relentlessly continuing his harangue. “Okay, okay, I’ll do it, Bergen-Devil, but I am positive this isn’t going to work out well,” thought Methuselah. Just then his hands turned to stone. He could barely move them as he tried to reach for the bidding box, but somehow with the assistance of Bergen-Devil, he managed to place the 1♠ bid in front of him.
South asked MethMan if he were alright before bidding 2♥. The next thing MethMan realized was that the opponents were in 4♥ and Mae had led the ♠9. Here’s the complete deal:
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