Day

Have you heard that there is a new step on the achievement ladder at the ACBL known as Emerald Life Master? It only takes 7500 points to win this designation, but if you are already a Grand Life Master, you don't get this thrill.

I am told that we need a new Web Master. I have no clue as to how that works, but feel free to talk to Ray Yuenger or give him a call, and I'm sure he can explain it to you.

Would you like to name an event at one of our Sectionals? You could name it after your mother-in-law, a child, dog, cat, or whoever you want. You can name a two session event for only $50.00, which money will be donated to a local Charity. Obviously, a one session event costs only half as much.

This Sunday, at 11:00 AM, are the NAP play-offs, to see who from our Unit gets to play in the District finals. We expect a large turnout, so get you or your partner there early so as not to be sent home.

Our next Board meeting is Wednesday, October 6, 2004 at 5:30 PM. You are welcome to stop by and see what goes on. See ya at the tables,

499er Winners and W(h)iners Sunday 9/26 by Mich Ravera

As is the tradition on the first available Sunday after major local tournaments, on Sunday, September 26, Faye’s Sunday 5:20 PM Game will be preceded at 4:30 PM by a potluck party.

This party gives all of the tournament winners a chance to boast of their accomplishments and all of those who didn’t do as well to offer up their excuses and whine about their bad fortune.

In addition, Faye usually provides some door prizes and somehow enough of the other kind of wine, dueling taboulis, and enough desserts to destroy your diet for the foreseeable future manage to find their way into the club.

So, come join us for a great feast, a decent game, and a chance to share some good tournament stories.

Games Around Town by Ray Crist

I now have three games in retirement communities:

Bridgepoint in Evergreen ,488 San Felipe Rd: 11AM Tuesday

Westmont, 1675 Scott Blvd: 11AM Wednesday

Belmont of Sunnyvale, 1039 El Camino: 10AM Thursdays

Guards, Squeeze Him! by Bill Langlois

They’re easy to find in books, but most players go their entire lives without finding one at the table. The guard squeeze comes about when one defender is responsible for "two and a half suits." He is solely responsible for protecting two suits and must retain an intermediate card in a third suit to guard against finesse through partner. I was playing with Henri Farhi recently when he found and executed one that required careful play and a little help from an opponent.

Scoring: MP Dealer: W Vul: N-S

♠Q2

♥KJT

♦QJ632

♣T93

♠JT95 ♠863

♥A64 ♥873

♦AT84 ♦97

♣J6 ♣Q7542

♠AK74

♥Q952

♦K5

♣AK8

West Me East Henri

Pass Pass Pass 1♣

Dbl 1♦ Pass 2^NT

Pass 3^NT End

Opening Lead: ♠J

Sitting North, I had the values for a 1^NT response, but it seemed better to give partner first shot at no-trump, making the lead come from the doubler’s hand into his.

The ♠J was led and won in the closed hand. The ♦K lost to the ♦A and another spade was won in dummy. Two of dummy’s high hearts were played. West won the second and returned a third heart, won in the closed hand and producing the following position:

♠-- ♥-- ♦QJ63 ♣T93

♠T9 ♥-- ♦T84 ♣J6 ♠8 ♥-- ♦9 ♣Q7542

♠K7 ♥9 ♦5 ♣AK8

Henri now played the black kings and unblocked the ♣T9 (throwing the ♦3 and any club would have worked equally well). Playing the ♥9 now culminated the guard squeeze. West couldn’t spare a spade or diamond, so he did his best by discarding the ♣J, hoping his partner had the ♣Q8. No luck: Henri cashed dummy’s high diamonds, discarding his losing spade, and finessed in clubs for eleven tricks.

Note that “testing” the diamonds earlier in the hand would have left no entry to dummy in the end position. Likewise, if West had played a diamond when he took one of his red aces he would have disrupted the communication. However, such plays are easier to find post mortem than at the table.

Sunday 5:20 PM San Jose Bridge Center (SJBC)

8/15	Carol Woodward - Maralyn Smith A/B Carol Burnett - Keith Burnett A/B Louise Faulkner - Bob Martin C
8/22	Alexander Tampilang - Joan Rouse - Robert Rouse - Lynn Brown A
8/29	Jane Casciano - Frank Kitchiner A/B Julia Goldstein - Martin Goldstein A/B/C

Monday 11:00 AM SJBC

8/16	Bill Langlois - Henri Farhi A Dan Turkus - Alan Becker A Harriet Rounds - Josephine Cooley B Earl Wentworth - George Wuschnig B/C
8/23	Art Fonda - Josephine Cooley A/B Steve Bosma - Kenneth Kenfield A Harriet Rounds - Paul Nelson B Barbara Marleau - Sally McLane C
8/30	Kit Humphrey - Robert Ritz A 67.82% Ted Richmond - W Riester Jr A Billee Giansiracusa - Madie Horton B Art Fonda - Teddi Fiero B/C

Monday 7:30 PM SJBC

8/16	H Zoellner - George Pledger 66.88% Jewel Schimke - Bob Shannon
8/23	Dick Pitzer - Ellie Hall-Pitzer 67.50% Hugh Roberts - Harry Shannon
8/30	Hiram Shen - Mike Sullivan Eryl Barker - Val Mason

Tuesday 10:30 AM SJBC

8/17	Shea, Gambelin, Shannon, Nemiro A
8/24	Don Nemiro - Diane Shannon A 69.44% Dan Turkus - Derek Fiero B Y.E. Chen - Norman Wang A/B/C
8/31	Gigi Spinazze - David Gambelin A/B 68.33% Norma Black - Consorcia/Ching Ravelo A Harry Cuzner - Norman Riley B/C

Tuesday 7:30 PM SJBC

8/17	Moalem, Beardsley, D. Brown, Luttrell A
8/24	Shelley Lapkoff - Tanakorn Lavanakul A/B Candy Wentworth - Sabina Siem A/B NongYu Li - Jiang Chen C
9/7	John Oswalt - Cindy Gilbert A/B Rosemary Erwin - Sheila Hill A Daren Kuo - Jim Liu B

Wednesday 11:00 AM SJBC

8/11	Victor Rivkin - Malcolm Stewart A/B 66.50% Lee Dimmitt - Jerry Lundquist A/B Elizabeth Moley - Judi Carollo A Dolores Clinch - Barbara Barlow A Judy Travis - Timothy White B Bruce Scott - Jesse Merlin C Mack Johansen - John Bugna B/C
8/18	Eileen Edwards - Jeffrey Hack A 66.00% Rita Tingley - Timothy White B Marilynn Bass - Joan Seipel A/B/C Joan Simpson - Dan Hoffman A Lynn Brown - Alexander Tampilang C
8/25	Bruce Scott - Jesse Merlin A/B/C Judith Clark - Keith Burnett A/B Mike Stockwell - Yen Shen A/B
9/8	Jack Clinch - Sidney Safir A Bruce Scott - Mike Stockwell B/C Helen Chao - Cassandra Leung A/B/C

Saturday 7:00 PM Unit Games SJBC

8/14	Frances Dickman - Don Nemiro A Mich Ravera - Bill Garfield B/C
8/21	Yuenger, Webb, Yokel, Kroll A

Wednesday 7:00 PM SJBC

8/11	Ruth Froeberg - John Harley A/B Carole Dietz - Marshall Yancey A Victor Rivkin - Kamen Nedeltchev B/C
8/18	Lowentha, O'Neil, El-Sadi, Madalena A
8/25	Marshall Yancey - Jack Verson A Bill Langlois - W Riester Jr A Kit Humphrey - Henri Farhi B
9/8	Will Watson - Edward Barlow A Ruth Froeberg - John Harley A/B

Wednesday 7:30 PM Oakwood

8/11

Shirley Foreman - Hiram Shen A/B
Mario Vazquez - Connie Vazquez A/B

8/18

Steve Bosma - Kenneth Kenfield A 66.63%
Dan O'Neal - Marilyn Campbell B
Daniel Rappaport - Matt Moore A/B/C

8/25

Dan Oneal - Marilyn Campbell A/B 69.31%

Patricia & Richard Bader C

Joan & Robert Rouse A/B/C

Thursday 10:30 AM SJBC

8/12	Josephine Cooley - Paul Nelson A/B
8/19	Y.E. Chen - John Chen - Ivy Chueh - Cassandra Leung A/B
8/26	Paul Nelson - Read Kitson A/B Patricia Hannah - Judy Fisher A
9/9	Tania Moalem - Jean Power A/B Bert Hsu - Boyer Chu C

Thursday 7:00 PM SJBC

8/12	Joe Chui - John Prior A/B Richard Jacobs - Ron Baron A
8/19	Connie Dunckelmann - Lee Dimmitt A Richard Jacobs - Ron Baron A Rekha Nirula - Dalia Golan B Mich Ravera - Bill Garfield B
8/26	Norma Epler - Joy Baker A/B Pete Read - Bill Garfield C
9/9	Mike Sullivan - Dan Rappaport A 65.50% Ron Baron - Richard Jacobs A

Friday 11:00 AM SJBC

8/13	Alexander Tampilang - George Pledger Terry Hall - Dolores Halden
8/20	Joan Simpson - Harriet Rounds Hugh Roberts - Harry Shannon
8/27	Erin Gove - Jan Adamiak Sunny Chiu - Keith Burnett
9/10	Wesley Woo - Rita Randolph Maureen Ellenberg - Ruth Sporer

Friday 7:00 PM SJBC

8/13	Mich Ravera - Bill Garfield A Karen O'Connell - Joy Baker A Lyn Edlin - Keith Burnett B Joy Barrett - Joe Buchanan B/C
8/20	Mich Ravera - Dick Pitzer A Bob Shannon - Jewel Schimke A Maralyn Smith - Fia Bosklopper B/C Donna Webb - Gail Meikle B
8/27	Mike Carney - Mike O'Connor - Hemant & Shaila Mandpe A
9/10	Shaila & Hemant Mandpe A 68.76% Nancy & Tom Cadwell A Karen Kulander - Happy Fordham B/C

Saturday 12:45 PM SJBC

8/14	Jerry Lundquist - Mich Ravera John Prior - Raja Smadi
8/21	Joan Simpson - Mike Braun John Prior - Raja Smadi
8/28	Mildred & Russell Brewer Sheila Goldshine - Dan Hoffman

A Simple Bid, Right? Wrong!
by Jeff Hack

At the All-Western Bridge Championships a controversy developed over what seems like a very simple bidding sequence. I sent this bidding question to my friends who rarely play in tournaments to find out what you believe the bid means. After I show the responses, I'll explain what the hullabaloo was all about.

The bidding goes:

Partner BadGuy You EvilDoer

2♥(weak) Pass 2♠

What do you believe that 2♠ shows and means?
The first answer was this:

The way we play I would guess my 2♥ says 6 hearts with 2 honors with 7-10 HCP. I would take your 2♠ response as long (7 or more) spades with no honors, void or singleton heart, and your 7-10 HCP in the minor suits.

… and a second answer:

I apologize but I have not kept up with my bridge playing and have temporarily forgotten conventions Ogust, etc. but from what I recall the 2♥ bidder does not have another bid unless he is asked to further describe his hand. I believe 2^NT would do that, but 2♠ does not. I believe the 2♠ bidder wants to play it at that level.

Someone with whom I worked had this comment:

2♠ is definitely a forcing bid, especially if you play RONF (raise only non-forcing). I'd say it shows a good 6-card spade suit with at least an opening hand, but the rest needs to be clarified later - heart support, strength, etc.

… and this

I think it means I want to play 2♠. If the 2♥ opener has max and three spades he might bid 3♠. If responder wants another bid from me, he better bid 2^NT.

... and finally

For me, 2♠ would indicate a relative weak hand that has 6 or more spades and no heart support.

Twenty years ago most everyone played that a 2♠ response to 2♥ said that I have a better suit than you have. It was almost a drop dead bid although as Mike said with a maximum and 3 spades you could raise to 3♠. Then, as my co-worker found out, a convention called RONF (“Raise Only Non Force”) started to become popular among tournament players where any response to a weak two except a raise was forcing.

Now it seems that The ACBL has decided that RONF is the standard method and that the non-forcing 2♠ response is the convention. In fact there is a box in red that says. □ New Suit NF. You must check this box if you play non-forcing. Members of our unit were playing on Wednesday and the bidding went 2H(weak) pass 2♠ (no alert or box checked) Pass Pass(!). It was here that the opponents called the director and lodged a complaint that they were playing a convention and didn't inform the opponents(!). This is all new to me and I play a lot.

Thanks for your response

Top Ten Games Aug 11-Sept 10

1	69.44%	Don Nemiro - Diane Shannon	8/24 AM
2	69.31%	Dan Oneal - Marilyn Campbell	8/25 Late
3	68.76%	Shaila& Hemant Mandpe	9/10 Eve
4	68.33%	Gigi Spinazze - David Gambelin	8/31 AM
5	67.82%	Kit Humphrey - Robert Ritz	8/30 AM
6	67.50%	Dick & Ellie Hall-Pitzer	8/23 Eve
7	66.88%	H Zoellner - George Pledger	8/16 Eve
8	66.63%	Steve Bosma - Kenneth Kenfield	8/18 Late
9	66.50%	Victor Rivkin - Malcolm Stewart	8/11 AM
10	66.00%	Eileen Edwards - Jeffrey Hack	8/18 AM

Full game results and some hand records are available at http://www.sjbridge.org/cal.php

Idioter’s Corner

As the hillsides turn brown, the fire danger increases, and I see people at the beach begin to toss this ellipsoid shaped ball instead of the disks that one should properly be tossing at the beach, I am reminded of my elementary school days in Sacramento, where, at this time of year, we would play a game called “Flag Football”. As a scrawny ten-year-old, I actually played Center and was told that once the offensive line had come set, if the Center moved at all or even sneezed, there would be a penalty which could even cost a touchdown.

I was reminded of this twice in the last couple weeks when, in once case, my side, and in the other case, my opponents were penalized by what seem to be overly harsh penalties.

In the first instance, which occurred at the All-Western Regional and forestalled Phyllis Vierra’s nomination as Life Master for a couple of hours, my partner as dealer managed to fumble a ♥K. She held the card in a manner in which her partner, I, “might have send its face.” As anyone to whom this has ever happened knows, not only must the card remain face up during the auction, so that I can see it, but this little inadvertence protects my partner from my propensity to overbid. In the particular case, it protected my partner against my overbidding a cold slam!

In the second case, I was reminded of just how devastating the announcement “Transfer, if sufficient” can be. You see, once you make an insufficient conventional call, you have basically bought the farm. Unless accepted by opponents, your insufficient conventional call bars your partner for the remainder of the auction. The person who didn’t want to play the contract is not only forced to play the contract, but also must decide on the level.

Furthermore, tournament directors tend not to accept “I pulled the wrong card” in such auctions. In one case, when opponents had gotten into an ace or keycard count auction, the director didn’t even ask if the opponent had pulled the wrong card and began to explain the fact that her partner was barred for the auction.

By the way one warning that one of the great tournament directors always gives: The fine print: “If I determine that you could have known that it was to your advantage to bar your partner, I may assess whatever penalties may restore equity.”

The Di-Rek’Tor

The Di-Rek’Tor is published monthly by Unit 507 of the American Contract Bridge League, Campbell Community Center, One West Campbell Avenue, Building J-68, Campbell, CA 95008. Opinions in articles are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Unit Board.

Unit 507 Board Officers

President

Dan Turkus

Vice President

Ray Yuenger

Secretary

Marshall Yancey

Treasurer

Neal Webb

Sgt. at Arms

Art Fonda

Membership

Dick Pitzer

Ethics

Bill Langlois

Unit Recorder

Carole Dietz

Forum columnist

Ray Yuenger

Unit Game Coordinator

Rekha Nirula

Tournament Coordinator

Tania Moalem

The Di-Rek'Tor Editor

Michael Angelo Ravera

Education/NAOP

Lynn Yokel

D21 Representative

Jeff Hack

Stu Goodgold

New Player Representative

Mich Ravera

Unit 507 Club Games

Day	Time	Game Type	Photo	Directors	Phone (408)
Sunday	5:20 pm	0-499 Stratified (Lesson: 5:00 pm) Monthly Potluck: 4:30 pm		Faye Parsons	378-4719
Monday	11:00 am	Open Stratified Hand records		Bill Traver	379-4490
Monday	7:30 pm	0-499 Handicapped (Lesson: 7:10 pm)		Al Becker	252-1426
Tuesday	10:30 am	Open Stratified Hand Records Super Chart		Judy Fisher / Carole Dietz	395-0032 / 395-6360
Tuesday	7:30 pm	Open Stratified Hand Records		Neal Webb / Ray Yuenger	243-9132 / 379-7717
Wednesday	11:00 am	Two Sections: Open and 0-299 Stratified Hand Records (Lesson 10:30 am)		Rita Tingley / Bernie Bertonis	261-0268
Wednesday	7:30 pm	Open Stratified Hand Records At Oakwood		Bill Traver	379-4490
Wednesday	7:00 pm	Open Stratified Hand Records Super Chart		Jim Hayashi / Anne Boboricken	292-2370 / 379-2805
Thursday	10:30 am	Open Hand Records Super Chart		Jim Hayashi / Anne Boboricken	292-2370 / 379-2805
Tuesday	11:00 am	Open at BridgePointe		Ray Crist	738-1444
Thursday	10:00 am	0-100 at the Belmont Village		Ray Crist	738-1444
Thursday	7:00 pm	0-999 Stratified (Topics: 6:40 pm)	See Sunday	Faye Parsons	378-4719
Friday	11:00 am	0-999 Handicapped (Review: 2:30 pm)	See Monday	Al Becker	252-1426
Friday	7:00 pm	0-200 Stratified (Lesson: 6:30 pm) One “Teacher Lifeline” Hand Records		George Pledger / Carole Dietz	249-2674 / 395-6360
Saturday	12:45 pm	0-2000 Handicapped	See Monday	Al Becker	252-1426

All games are held at the San Jose Bridge Center (408-871-1232) at one W. Campbell Ave, Room J-68, inside the Campbell Community Center except those identified as “in Sunnyvale”, “at Belmont Village”, and “at Oakwood. The Oakwood game is held at the Oakwood Garden Apartments, 700 Saratoga Ave, San Jose. The Belmont Village game is held at Belmont at 1039 E. El Camino Real between Wolfe Rd and Lawrence Expressway. The Evergreen game is held at BridgePointe Retirement center at 4855 San Felipe Rd, San Jose.

All games allow methods and systems permitted by the ACBL General Convention Chart. Those identified as “MidChart” or “Super Chart” also permit methods authorized by those charts with proper disclosure.

Check club postings, visit our web site at http://www.SJBridge.org or call for the exact dates and times of the Special STaC and Special Unit games, and of the 499er Potluck.

Games are often reduced, relaxed, or cancelled during local tournaments.

CONGRATULATIONS

Unit 507 Club Games

Time

Game Type

Photo

Directors