(Drum roll)….The envelope please.

Well, that was my summer sabbatical. Time for more blogging.

One of the perks of my job is all the bridge books that land on my desk. I enjoy a fair proportion of them, a lot are so-so and some look great in a remainder bin. Still, one can’t expect to hit the bullseye everytime. What seems like a long time ago, (1994 actually), the ACBL surveyed a group of expert players and writers who nominated their top twenty bridge books of all time. The results were:

 1. Why You Lose at Bridge (Simon)
 2. Killing Defense at Bridge (Kelsey)
 3. Right Through the Pack (Darvas)
 4. Reese on Play (Reese)
 5. Bridge in the Menagerie (Mollo)
 6. To Bid or Not to Bid (Cohen)
 7. Adventures in Card Play (Ottlik)
 8. The Expert Game (Reese)
 9. Defensive Bridge Play (Kantar)
10. Play Bridge with Reese (Reese)
11. How to Read Your Opponent’s Cards (Lawrence)
12. Card Play Technique (Mollo)
13. 5 Weeks to Winning Bridge (Sheinwold)
14. Bid Better, Play Better (Truscott)
15. Bridge Squeezes Complete (Love)
16. Matchpoints (Woolsey)
17. Bridge with the Blue Team (Forquet)
18. Encyclopaedia of Bridge (Francis)
19. All 52 Cards (Miles)
20. The Play of the Hand (Watson)

Interesting reading, so to speak. All good books to be sure, among them some of my all-time, must read favourites (Killing Defense, Card Play Technique, The Expert Game).

But what of the past 15 years? What have you read that is top 20 material?

Among my favourite books, and I’m not claiming any are in the same league as the texts above are:

- The Principle of Restricted Talent (Kleinman) – black humour, if you like that sort of thing.
- Play Cards with Tim Seres (Courtney) – Seres’ card play will make you weep.
- Canada’s Bridge Warriors – best researched biographical work I’ve read in a long time.
- When to Bid, When to Pass (Klinger) – Klinger’s best book in a long time.
- I Love this Game (Auken) – good if you want to see what makes a world champion.
- How to Play Bridge with Your Spouse (Teukolsky) – no you dont have to be married to enjoy this.
- Fair Play or Foul (Chua) – eye opening historical exposé on who really got dudded in the bridge world.
- Dormer on Deduction (Dormer) - makes you think more, in principle a good idea.

There are probably more, and I may add to the list if I recall any glaring omissions.

Your turn now.

Smothered again

Don’t get me started on the weird (ie bad) stuff that happens in on-line bridge, I could fill a thesis. That said, I will write a post sooner or later presenting a case why on-online bridge isnt so good for your game. That said, tonight’s special subject is weird and as my first piece of evidence, your honour, I tender Exhibit A. 

Dealer: East Vul: E/W IMPs		Crazy Guy 2
		♠	K8732
		♥	KJ
		♦	75
		♣	AT43
Hero				Linda
♠	J94			♠	AT
♥	63			♥	T98742
♦	AKQJ4			♦	3
♣	K98			♣	QJ32
		Crazy Guy 1
		♠	Q65
		♥	AQ5
		♦	T9862
		♣	76

 

Hero	Crazy 2	Linda	Crazy 1
		2♦	Pass
2♥	Pass	Pass	2♠
3♦	3♠	Pass	Pass
Pass

 

Let’s discuss the auction first. 2♦ from Linda was a multi with no strong option – pretty filthy I know, but we allow ourselves some latitude in first seat and back ourselves against the online fields to make a lot of bad contracts. Your hero pondered what to respond but settled on 2♥ correctible, on the basis I might raise 2♠ to 3♠ invitational later on if given the chance.

Not surprisingly, Linda passed, confirming the weak 2 in hearts and now Crazy Guy 1 sprang to life with 2♠ on that solid Q65 suit. I offered Linda choice of contracts by bidding 3♦ and Crazy Guy 2 found a rather wet 3♠. But as they say in the classics, the play’s the thing and ladies and gentlemen of the jury, let me proceed.

Your hero found an Ace next to his mouse pointer so clicked on it to grab a peek at dummy. Wow, five trumps, this is bad: if Linda has something like ♥AQTxxx we may have missed a game but then that makes for another of those on-line 50-point decks.  A second diamond seemed sensible and Linda discarded a discouring heart. This was weird but I suspected now that declarer had balanced with a four card spade suit and partner had some sort of 1615 bad hand. I was sort of committed to a diamond defense now and not wanting declarer to pitch from dummy, I played the ♦Q, which may have been signal for a heart switch but really I didnt want Linda knocking off my ♦J.

Declarer tried the ♠8 but Linda overruffed with the Ten, exited a heart to dummy and now my head exploded when he pulled a trump from dummy and Linda scored her now bare Ace. She exited a heart which declarer won in hand with his Ace, to play the ♠Q and then a diamond ruff on the deck. At this stage we had him down 3. I knew what was going on but poor partner didnt realise I had a trump still.

Crazy 1 pulled a club from dummy and Linda could see a sure set by splitting and played another club when her ♣J held. Actually, I could have guaranteed down 2 by covering her Jack with my King. Here’s where the cute ending arose: 

		Crazy Guy 2
		♠	K
		♥	-
		♦	-
		♣	T4
Hero				Linda
♠	J			♠	-
♥	-			♥	T
♦	4			♦	-
♣	9			♣	Q5
		Crazy Guy 1
		♠	6
		♥	Q
		♦	8
		♣	-

Declarer ruffed a club with his last trump and smothered my ♠J by playing his master diamond. I searched for the CLAIM button and conceded the balance. Not a classical smother coup but still a bit stifling.

So there we have Exhibit A. Let’s adjourn until I dig up another compelling piece of evidence, no doubt the next time I log on.

Postscript.
In this 47-table game beating 3♠ a trick was still worth 2.5 IMPs.

Is it all doom and gloom?

I don’t know why but I’ve been following the Chess Olympiad from Dresden – and by the way, why does the Chess fraternity organise an Olympiad six weeks after the MSO? Is this a commentary on the MSO, the world chess body or am I just fishing for conspiracy theories?

Anyway, what prompted this post was the overwhelming perception I took away from trawling the site – and admiring the extensive photogallery – was that the chess world is full of young people – unfortunately not the image one gets from from scanning the room at a bridge club or bridge tournament.

I can’t help wondering if bridge will exist in 50 years time. Card games will continue no doubt but who’ll be playing bridge as we know it? What can we do to attract school and university kids to our game? Here in Australia we have an incredibly large chess in schools network that will ensure the game will continue to prosper. I cant say the same about bridge.

What’s happening where you live? Will your children and grandchildren be following in your footsteps?

A post on Posters

I haven’t seen bridge featured on the cover of a mass-circulation magazine for… well actually I never have – I’m too young. I did, however, recently come across these covers from The Saturday Evening Post that have been turned into A3 size posters for sale.

Click on each picture for a larger image. The description on the right hand side is the About this week’s cover that appeared inside the magazine.

 

		The Saturday Evening Post May 15, 1948 Norman Rockwell’s bridge-game picture is going to make a lot of card players nervous. Surely declarer, with the red hair and the gardenia, isn’t going to be dope enough to play a small card from the dummy and let the blonde score with that king? Not with ten trumps on your side, lady, please. You need that trick, so quit trying to read minds and get going with that ace. This is a painting Rockwell had had in mind for at least three years and when he did deal the cards, he gave North and South a pretty happy hand, if only the redhead doesn’t fluff it. The ending and flawed analysis appears below [NF]
		The Saturday Evening Post December 14, 1950 Bridge is a complicated game. Technically the lady who has laid down her hand becomes the dummy. Yet a situation has arisen in which her husband becomes the dummy. He could lead to strength – make a grand slam on the woman’s head with the flower vase – but that is not according to Hoyle or Emily Post. If he should try to finesse his way out with a few reproving words, she would probably trump his words. He can win only if she loses his hand.
		The Saturday Evening Post December 1, 1962 “Madam is remorseful about her own greed” comments famed contract-bridge authority Charles H. Goren about the dilemma of the sleepless bridge player depicted by artist Constantin Alajálov. “It has dawned on her that had she been satisfied with two diamond tricks instead of three, she could have easily made her game at three no-trump, by playing the ace from the dummy. She would then have been in position to take the important club finesse. But when she all too frugally won with the king in her own hand, she had no way to reach dummy without letting East in, and that character rudely led back the queen of hearts, so that Madam lost five tricks.”

 

---

Here’s the hand from the 1962 cover:

Contract: 3NT by South Opening Lead: J

                               J72
                               74
                               AQ75
                               QT88
                   863                     T954
                   A853                    QJT9
                   JT986                   432
                   3                       K7
                               AKQ
                               K62
                               K
                               AJ9652

---

And the eight-card ending from the Norman Rockwell cover:

Contract: 2 by Redhead

                               AQ963
                               6
                               -
                               K8
                   8                       K
                   J7                      QT
                   A84                     J
                   6                       J432
                               T752
                               -
                               T
                               Q7

Having lost the first five tricks, Redhead has played the J to dummy on the current trick, West playing the 4 and now she is contemplating her next move. The magazine’s analysis suggests that declarer, with a ten-card trump fit, should play for the drop.

One for the home handyman

I recently came across this item from the December 1933 edition of Modern Mechanix. The magazine’s byline is Yesterday’s Tomorrow Today.

“At a recent international bridge match the problem of letting people watch the play without interfering with the players was satisfactorily solved by the use of a horizontal periscope with one end suspended over the table and the other fitted through one wall of the room, so that the observers need neither be seen nor heard by the players.

From the observer’s standpoint this method of watching a bridge game is more satisfactory than standing by the table, as it permits a view of the cards held in all hands as well as a better look at those played.“

 

Summer’s not a bummer down under

Winter in Florida, summer in Australia?  Winter in New York, summer in Australia? It’s not even close.

There’s a bunch of great reasons to pack away your winter woollens and head to Australia in the coming months.

• The plummeting Australian peso (you can pick up an Australian dollar these days for about $US 63c, down from 95c a few months ago)
• Summer down under, yum
• Two of the best bridge tournaments on the international calendar

First up in January is our Summer Nationals in Canberra. Week One is Juniors, Women’s, Seniors, Restricted Teams – each a three day Swiss followed by finals. Then comes the Pairs weekend, Matchpoints on the Saturday and the Australian Swiss Pairs (IMPs, 300+ Pairs) on Sunday.

Week 2 is our premier event – the South West Pacific Teams – one field of over 200 teams – a 14-round Swiss of 16 board matches with the top 20 teams feeding into a double knockout finals series over four days. All up, a great event in a great city. In 2009 we have an all-star team coming from Norway, plus top teams from England and Egypt.

Details here.

 

If you can’t make it here in January, then try a few weeks later for our Gold Coast Congress in Queensland. Now, this is the real deal – mornings are free to sleep off last night’s late dinner/ drinks or grab a dip at the beach across the road from the playing venue. This is the most fun and best organised week of bridge on the Australian calendar. Over 400 teams, but all in a relaxed holiday atmosphere.

And 2009 will be better than ever as the week before we host the prestigious Yeh Brothers Cup at the casino next door and many of the participants are staying on to play the Gold Coast event.

Details here.

See you there.

Hard Yakka

For a country with such a long and rich heritage of participation in Contract Bridge, Australia has really failed to produce its share of world class players, let alone a decent result on the world stage. Let’s see, which really really good Australian bridge players of the past forty years could be classified as world class:

• Tim Seres
• Ron Klinger
• Stephen Burgess
• Ishmael Del’Monte
• Bobby Richman
• Paul Lavings
• Michael Courtney
• Peter Gill
• Dick Cummings and Paul Marston (initially overlooked, thanks Bobby Wolff)

Ignoring the fact that most of these players were born overseas, I’m struggling to come up with any others – although I’ll happily entertain suggestions. And exactly what results have we achieved on the world stage? A couple of world championship minor placings in Seres’ heyday but since then, not a lot. Not even a Far East Championship since 1971.

It’s notable that most of these players are bridge professionals. I’d say these days to succeed at most endeavours you have to take a professional approach and I’m all for talented bridge players attempting to pursue a vocation as bridge professionals.  It looks like a hard slog on the local scene though, and I’m not convinced it’s in the best interests of their bridge games or bridge future. I see too many pros in Australia slogging it out three to four times a week playing club duplicates with clients who seek results, Masterpoints, tuition or a combination of the three. And when they’re not playing locally, they may be massaging their client’s ego by sharing a Devonshire Tea while at an out-of-town tourney. Australia tried to harness this talent a few years ago with the OZ-1 programme but what did we achieve? Or is our best simply just not in the same league as the breadth of professionals that the OZ-1 players came up against at the NABCs in which they competed? Apart from winning the 2007 Autumn Teams in Adelaide, I dont think their success in Australia was overwhelming either.

I have made acquaintance with a lot of up and coming North American and European players over the past few years and their approach is quite different, albeit circumstances are different on the US circuit. There, it seems, they latch upon uber-wealthy clients and travel the circuit of regional and national bridge tournaments. Often they are picked up as a pair and enjoy being paid to play with their peers while Mrs MoneyBags is at the other table. To give you some idea of the Bridge Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, I came across these photos of some friends in Facebook.

Jenny and Justin are just 23 years old and are seasoned pros. These guys live, breath, talk, sleep, eat bridge full-time. They are on the road for months each year. Perhaps a few years ago we needed to peel off a roll of the OZ-1 funds and send our brightest pair Tony Nunn and Sartaj Hans upon a bridge apprenticeship in the US for six months. I bet they’d have come back hard.

Hold the front page

Hi.

I should lay my cards on the table at Trick 1 and confess that I spend far too much time surfing the net, and in particular reading bridge blogs. It’s disappointing, however, at the lack of blog-talent from this end of the word. Ron Klinger’s site is a notable exception, and I apologise if I’ve missed any others (ahem, that’s a hint for you to make yourself known).

I’m not sure what the content of this blog will be – I expect a mix of interesting hands, comment and opinion plus some live blogging from events I play or attend. I’m particulary excited about being asked to run the VuGraph presentation of the prestigious Yeh Bros Cup from the Gold Coast next February. But that’s the bridge junkie/ groupie in me.

Stay tuned.