ayrshire district bulletin · ayrshire district bulletin editor: jim tudor. 3 mount ave, symington,...

AYRSHIRE DISTRICT BULLETIN

Editor : Jim Tudor. 3 Mount Ave, Symington, KA1 5RU. Tel. 01563 830 130

Email : [email protected]

Assistant Editors : Alison Tudor Henry Crone www.ayrshirebridge.co.uk

In this issue :

Ayrshire Pairs Semi &

Ayrshire Cup…….……...2

Defenders in a Knot

By Finlay Marshall……... 3

Reading the Cards………4

Watch the 5 card Majorers

By Sandy Anderson………5

The EBU National Grading

Scheme

By Ian Dalziel…………5-6

Shut your Facebook ……7

The Fall of the King of

Clubs.

By Janice Thomson………8

What would you bid now?

by Brian Senior……...9 - 11

Council minutes……..…12

Results & League results 13

Survey……………. ….. 14

..

The SBU simultaneous pairs is usually quite popular but this year Director Jim Wilcox was left scratching his

head when 36 pairs turned up to play! With only one

set of boards and 2 sections required for this number, a bit of quick thinking and re-planning was needed to

duplicate the boards after the first round. Anyway, all

went very well after that initial hiccup and everyone seemed to enjoy the event. Three days after the

Simultaneous pairs the bridge centre again saw 18

tables at the ever popular Play and Learn session. With these large numbers interested in playing at the

bridge centre it perhaps seems an odd time to publish

an Ayrshire opinion survey, to try and establish why the competition numbers are falling. We do see odd

blips where many turn out for certain events but if

these sessions were enjoyed then you would think that people would want to play in more.

On the back page of the bulletin you’ll see the survey

sheet. There will also be sheets distributed in the coming weeks so don’t feel you have to rip apart your

bulletin copy!

In addition to the Ayrshire bridge centre heat of the

Scottish simultaneous pairs, a heat was also played at

Newton Stewart. It was from there that the overall national winners came. Congratulations to Alan

Williams and Barrie Stewart on winning with 71.99%.

At the SBU Autumn congress at Peebles Maureen

Rennie and Sharon Lindsay finished first in the ‘No Fear’ event.

November 2012

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.pleasanttimes.com/images/playing-cards.jpg&imgrefurl=http://post-notes.blogspot.com/2008/01/justice-dealt-following-attack-on.html&usg=__2g67f76T_qzVnrAOQTAhDXAwCSA=&h=650&w=689&sz=33&hl=en&start=3&um=1&tbnid=8KawzTZ12A6vEM:&tbnh=131&tbnw=139&prev=/images?q=playing+cards&ndsp=20&um=1&hl=en&sa=N

mailto:[email protected]

of 14 Ayrshire District Bulletin

Saturday 10 November 2012

Sam & Kate Malkani (Kilwinning)

John Stevenson & Margaret Armstrong

(Kilwinning)

Sheila Templeton & Rae Haswell (Kilwinning)

Tommy Morgan & Jack Cree (Kilwinning)

Anne Phillips & David Sands (Doon)

Heather Wolstenholme & Marjorie Rae (Doon)

Monica Geoghan & Maggie Graham (Doon)

Campbell & Helen Kay (Doon)

Sandy Anderson & Stewart Duguid (Kyle)

Tom Lindsay & Steve Gray (Kyle)

Joyce Hodgson & Stephanie Peaker (Kyle)

Gordon Smith & David Wiseman (Riggs)

Angela Knox & Robin Gardiner (Riggs)

Fred Dean & Valerie Wood (Riggs)

Margaret Withers & Margaret Stevenson (Riggs)

Yona Sturgeon & Nan Tait (Riggs)

Anne Fraser & Nice McCall (Riggs)

R McColl & J Lynch (Prestwick)

C Scott & N McLeod (Prestwick)

B Docherty & M Fisher (Prestwick)

G Leitch & M Hogg (Prestwick)

J Cook & R Sinak (Prestwick)

Fred Milne & Rhona Gourlay (Largs)

Ayrshire Pairs semi-finalists Wednesday 21 November 2012

Chris Gurney & Thomson Kerr (Kilwinning)

Jonathon Kelk & Rita Stuart (Kilwinning)

Malcolm Campbell & Eddie Carroll (Kilwinning)

Donnie & Ann Graham (Kilwinning)

Paul Wilson & Jim Barclay (Doon)

Ella Dunlop & Joan Kirk (Doon)

Hazel Penman & Agnes Love (Doon)

Ian Burn & Bobby Moore (Kyle)

Eddie McGeough & Janice Thomson (Kyle)

Jim Tudor & John Bryson (Riggs)

Fiona Abbott & Pauline Phillips (Riggs)

Sam McNair & Anne Braid (Riggs)

Caryl O’Donaghue & Sue Fraser (Riggs)

Sandra Wiseman & Stuart Pinkerton (Riggs)

Maureen Murray & Fiona Paton (Riggs)

J Dickinson & J Bruce (Prestwick)

A Cattanach & N Falconer (Prestwick)

K Bain & E Orr (Prestwick)

A Boyd & M Little (Prestwick)

Ian Jones & Paddy Walsh (Largs)


I was thinking the other day about bow ties, and how so many people think that they can’t tie them. Double ended bow ties are a bit tricky inasmuch as both ends should match in length, but otherwise tying one is just the same as tying a pair of shoe laces. Further if you have a short shoe lace, you can always try tying a single ended bow. As I was pondering this, I picked up this hand, when the bidding (North the dealer, Game All) was (playing 4 card majors): The full hand was : ♠ A3 ♥ AKQ43 ♦ AQ ♣ 9742 ♠ T95 ♠ KJ854 ♥ 98765 ♥ none ♦ 942 ♦ KJT ♣ QJ ♣ K8653 ♠ Q76 ♥ JT2 ♦ 87653 ♣ AT And West for reasons unknown, chose to lead a club, the Queen. East was pleased but did not show it. Seeing what looked like a clear way to 9 tricks, South (me) led a spade to the Ace, and a spade off the table. East rose with the King, and played a small Club back to West who, to East’s then surprise, and at that point much pleasure, produced the ten of spades. After winning the Queen, hearts were run, and suddenly East was further surprised but not infused with more pleasure, as he began to find discards on the hearts increasingly tiresome. Eventually he was left with ♠ J, ♥ none, ♦ KJ, and ♣ K with a discard still to be made. Slowly realisation dawned that all he had in his hand was not three tricks but one, as after the discard of the J of spades, the small club was led from table! 10 tricks. An unusual squeeze inasmuch as the threats and the squeeze card were all in the same hand. What you could call a single handed (or ended) triple squeeze!

Quotes from Zia Mahmood.

"Bridge is impervious to society's traditional barriers of age, colour, religion or beliefs. Put it

down to the magic, the spell that the game mysteriously weaves, bewitching all those who come

into contact with it."

"We were a bunch of misfits brought together by fate with no partnership understanding --

how could we lose? ………………….………………I, as team captain, was responsible for making sure

everybody followed my example of never going to sleep before 3 a.m., getting up early to play

golf, drinking wine between sessions, and, above all, keeping conventions to the minimum…………

…………..Unfamiliar partnerships often can reap big rewards. The reason?

No understandings -- no misunderstandings!"

Defenders in a Knot By Finlay Marshall

N E S W

1H 1S 1NT Pass

3NT Pass Pass Pass


Dummy

North

♠ 8 3

♥ K 10 6

♦ Q 8 7

♣ J 9 5 4 2

West

♠ K 6 5 2

♥ Q 8 5

♦ J 10 9

♣ K 7 3

South

♠ A 4

♥ A J 7 4

♦ A K 4

♣ A Q 10 8

West

♠ K 7 5 2

♥ Q 8 5

♦ J 10 9

♣ K 7 3

Reading the Cards I got no feedback from last month on whether or not to continue

with the educational features on topics taken from the weekly

Ayrshire post articles. So I’ll change the request : If you want me

to stop, you’ll have to tell me!!

Question 1

South opens 2NT (20-22 HCPs) and is raised to 3NT by North,

ending the auction. You, as West, select the ♠2 (fourth highest)

as your opening lead. Your partner plays the Jack and South wins

the Queen. Declarer crosses the ♥K in Dummy and runs the ♣J.

What do you play next when you get in with the ♣K? Question 2

The bidding and opening lead are as previously but this time your partner plays ♠9 and Declarer wins the Ace.

Now when you gain the lead with the ♣K what do you play?

Both of these questions are about understanding what partner’s holding is in the Spade suit and appreciating that

in this kind of situation he/she will play high (“3rd

hand plays high”) but this is not necessarily their highest card.

For with touching cards your partner MUST play the lower of touching cards.

Applying this to our 2 problems above ; in Question 1 the play of the ♠J denies the ♠10 (i.e. holding ♠10 and ♠J

partner will play the ♠10), and as they would have played high in this instance you know they don’t hold the ♠A.

So after Declarer wins the ♠Q at trick 1 then you know Declarer has ♠ A Q 10 and perhaps another small card.

Therefore continuing Spades will give away another trick. So play ♦J. This may not beat the contract but looks

like the safest exit card.

Question 2, what is partner’s holding in Spades? Almost certainly partner will have Q J 10 9 . If Declarer had

♠ A Q x then they would have won the first trick with the Queen (there is an exception to this, but very rare). So

cash the ♠K and continue Spades.

So as a Defender it’s vital that you always play the lower of touching cards so your partner can work out where

the important cards are.

The whole Deal may be something like this :

North

♠ 8 3

♥ K 10 6

♦ Q 8 7

♣ J 9 5 4 2

East

♠ Q J 10 9 6

♥ 9 3 2

♦ 6 5 3 2

♣ 6


WATCH THE 5-CARD MAJORERS ! By Sandy Anderson

Because most pairs have an aggressive bidding style based on the knowledge of the 5-card major in openers

hand

1. The Single Raise :

i.e. 1S-2S and 1H-2H

I have played this as low as 4 to 7 points so watch out for weak raises, especially after a double and be prepared to

respond to the double, the DOUBLER should be ready to double again because they have at least an eight card fit.

2. The Raise to the 3 Level either directly or via 3 clubs or 3 diamonds :

These bids are mostly conventionally weak based on 4 card support and must be alerted and don’t be fobbed off by

mutterings like “It’s a Bergen raise, agreeing HEARTS”, don’t sit there nodding your head knowingly. Opener

knows the exact range of these bids, make sure you are told. Also double these 3 level bids when possible as lead

directing help to your partner, and knowing they now have at least a 9 card FIT if you happen to have something

like xxx your partner has one at most, this could help you find a bid.

Sandy Anderson.

This last tip from Sandy is extremely useful when re-assessing your hand during the auction. If the opponents have

shown a 9+ card fit and you have 3 of that suit then your partner will have a singleton or void. Similarly from his

first example you may be able to assess your hand to decide if you should compete or not.

Example :

You as East hold an uninspiring 12 count :

♠ 8 7 4 3

♥ A Q 6 5

♦ K Q

♣ J 10 8

Your ‘uninspiring 12 count’ is now looking a lot healthier. Your partner is marked with a singleton or void in the

opponents’ suit and also will have some points as the opponents have quickly given up on looking for a Game in

Spades. Also, partner’s values are likely to be in Clubs, Diamonds and Hearts. i.e. no wasted values in Spades so

that their values will be working nicely with yours.

So, in the above auction make a take out double. Even with your doubleton Diamond this should be quite safe

because if partner does respond in Diamonds then it’s likely that they’ll have a 5+ card suit.

The above example is applicable whether your opponents are playing 5 card majors or not.

N E S W

1S Pass 2S Pass

Pass ?

The EBU National Grading Scheme by Ian Dalziel.

I played in the Ayrshire Chess League for 3 years before giving it up for bridge in 1978. In chess you had a

grading, but unlike bridge, it could go up and down. It only reflected your results over recent years and if you

stopped playing you eventually dropped off the list. Hence I was somewhat surprised to discover my bridge

ranking (determined by master points) only went up and never went down!

The chess ranking only applied to league matches and tournaments, club games were not included. Without a

computer a “current form” ranking system in bridge would have been impossible to administer. None the less

Continued on page 6


Continued from page 5

it’s true that in bridge the more you play the better you get and as long as your health is reasonable you can play

a good game well into your eighties and beyond. Some say your master point ranking reflects how long you

have played rather than how well you play and it’s true that up and coming players have a ranking well below

their true ability. Sadly the number of ‘up and coming players’ are few and far between which makes the

Master Point ranking list a good reflection of most player’s ability.

However with almost every club using computer scoring surely things have to change from “lifetime rankings”

to “current rankings”? The EBU are leading the way. As from 2010 there are no paper master point certificates

in England. The results of all master point sessions are scored by computer, the results emailed to the EBU and

the whole master point process works automatically. No human has to write out master point certificates, no

certificates are sent by post and no one has to total them up.

This might seem a great opportunity to switch to “current rankings” where only master points awarded in recent

years are counted. However the EBU are not doing that, it would be politically unacceptable, there would be

mass resignations from the EBU as players saw their rankings drop!

Instead they are running a parallel system called the “National Grading Scheme” (NGS) where your ranking is

based on the last 1,000 boards you played (about 40 sessions of bridge). Any results over 3 years old don’t

count.

This ranking is a percentage which is your “expected match point score” if playing with a partner of the same

grade in an “average field”. Average means the average ranking of all EBU players which is 50%. If you have

a ranking of 55% this is your par score, if you exceed 55% your ranking will go up a little, if you score below

55% you ranking goes down.

If it’s a stronger field, of 53% (3% above average) then your par is 3% less than 55%, namely 52% and if you

beat that you increase your ranking. If you play in a weaker field of 47% (3% below average) your par is 3%

higher than 55%, namely 58% and you must exceed that. If your partner is of different ranking your par is the

average of both your grades. It’s similar to the handicap system in golf.

To work out the strength of the field, “the field” is the players you are competing against which in a Mitchell

Movement (not arrow switched) are those playing your way. Hence if you draw the weaker field you will need

a high score to raise your grading, if you draw the stronger field your par is not so high.

If you play in the Sims it’s your local result which counts towards your grading not the national result. This is

because your national result is as much to do with the strength of your heat as your skill on the night. I have

been saying this for years; finally I have some backing from on high!

They even have a method to convert aggregate scores to percentages for the NGS! Yes they do play aggregate

in England; Tues evenings at Sheffield Bridge Club. Sheffield also apply limitations which they call the

“windfall tax”!

EBU members can check their grade on line, see the rankings of their club, county or nationally. For descriptive

purposes the grades have been divided into 13 playing cards with ‘Ace’ at the top (over 61%) and ‘two’ at the

bottom (below 39%). The Aces have been divided into 4 further bands with Ace of Spades at the top (over

67%). The leading player in the EBU, Hugh McGann, (Irish International now living in Leeds) has a grade of

77% so if he partners Justin Hackett (a mere 72%) at an average club they need to score 75% or their gradings

will go down!

If you want to see the grades go on the EBU web site and select NGS from the left menu, it’s quite impressive.

They are not saying this of course; but I suspect when this National Grading System really takes hold the

existing master point system will be quietly dropped and quite right too, it has had its day.

Will Scotland adopt a similar system? I hope they do so eventually, it sounds like a lot of fun.

Footnote. The NGS is explained in a 34 page document on the EBU web site which contains quite a lot of


An Open Forum for anyone who would like to submit any opinions, questions, gossip, suggestions, comments, abuse……… (Submissions can be sent by email to : [email protected], or phone me on 01563 830130)

Bulletin on Line : If you have a computer I strongly recommend you view the Bulletin on the ABU web site or

print your own. The on line version is in full colour, the pictures look so much better as do Jim’s excellent

graphics and all the hand diagrams have coloured suit symbols which make them easier to follow. If you want to

save paper print the odd numbered pages first then feed them back in your printer and do the even numbered

pages on the other side (better to use 90g paper or you will get show-through). Don’t feel that the ABU will lose

money without your £5 subscription; it costs the ABU about £10 for the postage and stationery alone! There is

also the time involved to photocopying and collate the pages and write the address labels. I also feel the magazine

will get a lot of new readers from those miserly people who grudged the £5!

Ian Dalziel

When will we get the results and resulting actions from the SBU opinion survey?

Justin Thyme

I don’t know Justin, we’ll publish here once known …. Ed.

Club Results on Line : It’s great to see more clubs publishing their results on the ABU web site, 11 of the 17 clubs

now do so. From the number of hits, lots of people read them, not just those who played in that club. At my age I

don’t get out much in the evenings now, but love to see my former students progressing. Those clubs using

bridgemates are uploading results as soon as play finishes, others are doing so promptly. Indeed the new Doon

club uses bridgemates and published the results promptly, an example to all. The new intake of bridge players

are all very computerate and if clubs want to attract new players they will need to modernise. So come on “secret

six” why don’t you “come out” and join the on line revolution?

Ian Dalziel

In the bridge centre can you please leave everything the way you found it. Especially the ladies toilets!

Lou Pea

What has happened to the ABU website, I’ve lost my favourites link and can’t get access to the Riggs results?

Mrs D. Oldways

I have spoken to Mrs Oldways about this, but does anyone else have problems with the new layout?

Let me know if you do …..Ed.

Coming Up :

National Pairs qualifier Wednesday 7th

November ABC

Ayrshire Red pointed Swiss teams Sunday 25th November ABC

Play and Learn Friday 30th

November ABC

Breene and Buchanan Pairs Saturday 1st December ABC

Pan-Celtic simultaneous pairs Wednesday 5th

December ABC

SBU Winter Congress, Peebles Friday-Sunday 7th

– 9th

December

mailto:[email protected]


The fall of the King of Clubs. By Janice Thomson

There are many stories and tales surrounding the king of clubs. For starters, it has featured in a

short Agatha Christie story involving the intrepid Hercule Poirot who makes use of the card to

solve the mystery he is investigating. It has also gained some belief with bridge players as the card

involved in the so-called “Rabbi's Rule”. This “rule” states that the club king is most often a

singleton and will usually fall if the ace is played. This last is not really supported by statistics but

it is famous enough to instil the notion in the minds of players. The last time it happened to me at

the table, it sure enough was an off-side singleton and my left-hand-opponent (Dave Wiseman) at

the end of the hand, joined in verbal unison with myself to declare “The Rabbi's Rule” as per the

singleton club king had duly fallen under the played ace !

There are other stories involving this card but here is one worth a mention. I read about this one in

an article written by Eddie Kanter of U.S.A. Eddie is a prolific writer of books and articles on

bridge as well as a many-times-winner of nearly all of the major world bridge championships.

In 1975 he was playing in the Bermuda Bowl and was, with his team-mates, close to victory. The

team had a lead of 73 IMPs with 48 boards left to be played. Victory seemed fairly secure but as

you all well know, things can happen !

The second placed team at this point was the Italian team...In those days, the Italians were

perennial winners of events like this. Their team included two giants of the game in, Belladonna

and Garozzo.

In the first of the remaining three sets of 16 boards, Eddie and his team lost 27 IMPs reducing their

lead to 46. In the next set, a further 22 disappeared. Now there was only a lead of 24 with 16

boards to play.

Eddie and his partner, Billy Eisenberg now sat down to face the aforementioned pair of Belladonna

and Garozzo. Things proceeded to go not too badly until board 92 came up. The intrepid

“Bellozzo” bid to 7C. Eddie thought his luck was really in sitting behind the original club bidder

holding the K,10 doubleton of clubs. Oh joy he thought as he visualised the win and the relating to

friends and family...till he made his lead and Dummy went down to reveal the A,Q doubleton of

clubs on the table. The grand rolled in on the club finesse to take the Bermuda Bowl for Italy.

When Eddie and Billy went to score up with team-mates Bob Hamman and Bobby Wolff (who

were in 6NT on this hand)), they all bemoaned the king of clubs being part of an onside doubleton

and not within a three-card holding. Bob Hamman eventually

quipped, “This calls for a human sacrifice” whereupon Eddie

took the club king from the analysis table and flicked it out of

the window !

It's good to laugh...


What would you bid now? By Brian Senior Welcome to the long-time conductor of this feature, Stuart McCreadie, who joins the panel this month. I hope he

enjoys this new role as much as his previous one.

The basic system is Acol (incorporating 3 Weak 2s, so 2C is the only forcing opener) with a 12-14 NT; Stayman;

red suit transfers over 1NT/2NT; weak jump overcalls; RKCB; splinters.

In competition: negative/responsive/competitive doubles/support doubles and redoubles; Lebensohl after an

overcall of our 1NT and after our takeout double of their weak two’s. Michaels.

To add interest, marks will be awarded out of ten. The bid with the most votes will automatically receive 10

marks. To break a tie, I will use my casting vote. I will use my discretion to award the other marks. If I like a bid, I

will give it a high mark even though there are not many votes for it.

Here are the problems. Decide your answers first and read on…

Problem 1. All vul; imps

Dealer South

W N E S

1D 1H 1S* 2H

?

*5 Cards

West

♠ AKQT

♥ AJ

♦ AQ754

♣ 32

All vul; imps

W N E S

1D 1H 1S* 2H

?

*5 Cards

West

♠ AKQT

♥ AJ

♦ AQ754

♣ 32

① West

♠ 3

♥ AKJ972

♦ QT75

♣ K5

None vul ; imps

W N E S

1H 2C X* XX**

?

*Usually 4 spades

**Values

② West

♠ Q93

♥ J863

♦ 85

♣ AT72

None vul; imps

W N E S

- - 1D X

?

③

Marks: 3H – 10, 4H – 8

This first one looks to be

relatively straightforward in that

everyone agrees that we are too

strong to merely raise to 4sx. So

how to get that message across?

Jim: 3H – A slightly distorted

2NT opener might have got this

hand ‘off my chest’ to an extent.

As it is I’ll try and convey the

strength of my hand with 3H

before supporting spades. Partner

wouldn’t need a lot for slam to be

on, but North has made a

vulnerable overcall so should

have some values outside of

hearts that make a slam less

likely, especially on the expected

heart lead.

Distorted 2NT openings are one

of my pet hates. I basically never

open 2NT when holding a singleton,

for example. While I understand

Jim’s point, I can accept one flaw and

still open 2NT, but not two. Here, the

weak doubleton is a flaw, and the 5-4

shape means that, where a fit is

found, the hand is far too good to be

treated as 20-22. So I am happy with

the 1D opening.

Stuart: 3H – An advance cuebid. If

partner rebids 3S or 4D, I will now

bid 5S. I hope my partner understands

this to be a request to bid the spade

small slam with a club control. If,

after the 3H bid, my partner bids

3NT, showing a stop/semi-stop in

hearts, I will simply bid 4S – still

showing a very strong hand, but it

would now be up to partner to decide

whether to advance. Is 5S safe? I

think it would be unlucky to go down.

Stewart: 3H – Forcing, agreeing

spades and hoping for more than 4S,

inviting a cuebid. This should show a

big hand.

Sandy: 3H – A cuebid; if partner bids

3NT or 3S I will now bid 4D and he

will realise we need a club control for

possible slam in spades.

John: 3H – Agrees spades, intending

to raise 3S to 4S, Pass 4S, bid 4D

after 4C.

Stewart hopes for more than 4S,

Stuart intends to jump to 5S if

partner rebids 3S, while John intends

to raise 3S quietly to 4S. That

suggests that we may not all be on

the same wavelength. Is 3H GF, in

which case partner’s 3S is more

encouraging than 4S, or could it be a

good raise to 3S, as John seems to

think?

There is no right and wrong answer

to that one. I am sure that the

majority would treat 3H as GF but

some would argue that they play

immediate raises as weaker and

cuebid with constructive raises in

many other competitive situations so

why not here? It looks to be just a

matter of partnership agreement.

Sam: 3H - A hand with good support

for spades. 4H would be a splinter

with a singleton heart, so I feel 3H is

a better gap filler.

Janice: 4H – Inviting but giving

partner space.

I think the popular view would be

Sam’s, that 4H here would be a

splinter, in which case 3H is the best

action with the actual hand.

However, while I believe that 3H

does agree spades, there is another

Continued on page 10


continued from page 9

hand-type that would like to be able

to make that call, e.g.:

♠ Q 8

♥ 6 2

♦ A K Q J 10 8 7

♣ A 6

You would like to stay below 3NT

with this one and double with such a

big single-suiter is not ideal. If you

want to allow this hand to cuebid 3H,

then 4H becomes the only clear-cut

spade slam try.

Problem 2 None vul; imps ; Dealer South

Marks: 2H – 10, 2D – 8, 3H – 2

John: 2D - If hearts is a better

strain Partner will let me know.

Sam: 2D Describe your hand,

need I say more!

Stewart: 2D Would love to show

my six hearts easy with five-card

Majors, but suppose I have to stick

with 2D. If partner bids on I can then

show my six hearts.

But:

Sandy: 2H – what else? Both

opponents are bidding and the only

good thing about this hand is the

heart suit.

Janice: 2H – My club king is not

worth much and I have a good six-

card suit.

Stuart: 2H – I have decided that

this is a partscore hand and I want to

emphasise the good heart suit. There

has been too much bidding activity

from opponents. I can see that if

partner has no values in spades and

something like H Q-x and D K-J-x-x,

then a game in hearts is close. In

which case I might have been better

to rebid 2D, but then they can make a

good number of tricks in the black

suits. I am not going to stretch to look

for a non-vul game.

Jim: 2H – I could pass and see if

partner can support hearts; or bid a

diamond suit; or perhaps even pass

for penalties, but this could put

him/her under pressure when holding

4-2-3-4 shape with a poor club suit. I

prefer to bid 2H to show my good

suit. So far the bidding has not

improved my hand at all, so I

wouldn’t jump to 3H. If South

competes in clubs I’ll show my

diamonds as we’d then be more likely

to have a heart and/or diamond fit.

While dismissing the possibility, Jim

mentions a jump to 3H. I am sure that

he is right to do so as the hand has

potential, but only if partner can bid

again. After all, the extra shape is

balanced by the fact that the club

king may be a poor value.

It comes down to rebidding the strong

six-card major or introducing the

second suit. What would we have

done in an uncontested auction?

Personally, I would have rebid 2H, as

even facing a small singleton I want

to play in hearts unless partner has at

least four diamonds. I would then

think to mention the diamonds, almost

as an afterthought, if partner gave me

another chance. This game is about

majors and no trump, with the minors

only coming into play as a last resort.

The only reason to rebid 2D would be

if we thought we were strong enough

to invite game with 3H if partner then

gave simple preference to 2H so

wanted to describe our hand to help

him to judge the final level. It seems

to me that the opposing bidding does

not really affect things all that much

– this is still a heart hand with very

secondary diamonds. I like Jim’s plan

to rebid 2H but introduce

diamonds at his third turn if the

opposition keep on bidding. I don’t

quite see the point of passing when

I have something worth telling

partner about.

Problem 3. None vul; imps; dealer East.

Marks : 1H – 10, 1NT – 8, Pass – 6

Stuart: Pass – This is a fairly

grotty 7-count. I am going to make

an effort to be disciplined and for

once select that green card. Partner

would expect slightly more if I

were to bid 1NT after East’s

double. I don’t like 1H with the

anaemic heart suit. If opponents

win the auction, I certainly don’t

want a heart lead. And if indeed

opponents do buy the contract,

then declarer may take wrong

guesses in the play if I pass.

Finally if partner has a big hand I

am sure he will find another bid.

Sam: 1H - I bid normally as

if there had not been a double. Not

enough points to redouble.

Jim: 1H – Where practical I

prefer not to let the opponents talk

me out of my natural bid. We

could have a heart fit, or they

could have a heart fit which I’ve

just talked them out of finding!

Stewart: 1H – It is all the

hand is worth (just) 1NT would be

a mistake.

Sandy: 1NT – Would have bid

the ropey hearts without the

double, but this tells partner I have

clubs and cuts out a possible spade

bid.

Continued on Page 11

W N E S

1H 2C X* XX**

?

*Usually 4 spades

**Values

West

♠ Q93

♥ J863

♦ 85

♣ AT72

West

♠ 3

♥ AKJ972

♦ QT75

♣ K5

W N E S

- - 1D X

?


Continued from page 10

Unfortunately, John seems to

have misread the question and

has responded as if to the take-

out double, so I’ll give him an

abstention and assume he would

have bid 1H.

This is a very common, every-day

situation. The majority are clear

about just ignoring the double

and bidding their hand naturally.

That is what I tend to do at the

table but I have some sympathy

with a 1NT bid – it describes the

all-round limited nature of the

hand with scattered values and

avoids over-emphasising the

heart suit. And cutting out an

easy 1S response to the double is

not to be sneezed at. I’m not a fan

of passing when I have the values

to bid – if I don’t tell partner I

have a little something now, there

will never be a good

time to come into the auction, so it

is likely to be now or never, and I

vote for now. The odds on finding

a heart fit are affected by what

you would open with 4-4 in the red

suits and a strong no trump. If 1D,

then there is much more likely to

be a heart fit to be found now than if

1H. So perhaps opening style

should be taken into account when

deciding whether to bid 1H or

1NT here

Scores

Pos Pair Players Score %

1 12 Donnie & Ann Graham 68.18

2 6 David & Ira Clement 60.00

3 5 Janice Thomson & Eddie McGeough 56.82

4 9 Sam & Kate Malkani 56.36

5 2 Pauline Phillips & Stewart Duguid 52.27

6 1 Frances Murphy & John Stevenson 51.82

7 3 Henry Crone & Stephen Cole 48.64

8 4 Irene Davidson & Jean Parker 46.82

9 8 Fred Dean & Valerie Wood 45.91

10 11 Jackie Ridge & Jane Lynch 42.27

11 7 Iain Stewart & Bill Ramsay 36.36

12 10 Jim & Alison Tudor 34.55

Results of the British Simultaneous pairs

from Wednesday 10th

October – Scored locally

Unfortunately Donnie Graham and Ann Graham’s percentage went down to 59.89% when

scored nationally.

On the bright side Jim Tudor and Alison Tudor’s percentage went up to 40.47% !


Extracts from October’s

DecemberNovember’s

Leagues The Savoy club have entered a team in

the leagues. There’s now seven teams

in the first division and seven in the

second.

Where’s the Point? Juniors playing in trials and

international matches don’t receive

master points. This is being

reviewed by the SBU.

BridgeMates The ABU voted to go ahead with

the purchase of the Bridgemate

2s. They are now in operation in

the centre.

300 Club, £25 Winners, September. A Morgan (188), D Caplan (173), P Thomson (146)

Website The ABU website has been

given a bit of an upgrade. The

menus are along the top and

make for speedier viewing of

the contents. Any comments?

+ News

VASA The ABU had a stall at the VASA

open day this year (the open day

was advertised as being aimed at

‘older people’). Unfortunately little

interest was shown in the stall

from the visitors.

Diamond Senior Pairs Russell McClymont and Stuart McCreadie were

the highest placed Ayrshire pair finishing 5th

overall when the scores were merged.

Rayne teams Ian Burn, Sam Malkani, Stewart Duguid & Sandy Anderson finished first in the qualifier and play in the final in January.

Dupli-missing There should be 20 sets

of Duplimate boards at

the bridge centre but we

have only 17. Anyone

know where the other 3

are ?

One Direction There will also be a Basic Club Directing Seminar (single session) in the Ayrshire Bridge Centre, Prestwick on the afternoon of Friday16th November between 1.30 - 5pm. This is aimed at players just starting to direct in clubs. If there is sufficient interest, a full SBU Club Directors course will be held in the same venue on Saturday/Sunday 17/18th November lasting from 11am-5pm each day. The cost of this is £25 per participant including coffee and snack lunches. Please contact Sandy Anderson on 01292 285715 if you are interested in attending any of the above.

Mini-bridge Mini-bridge is under way at

Barassie, Wellington and

Glenburn. Also hoping to get

Doonfoot, Heathfield and Troon

primary started.

Too Bored Playing 2 board matches in the

Viking teams was thought to be

unsatisfactory. The alternative not

to play every team but have 3

board matches was thought to be

slightly worse.


League Results 28.10.12

Division One

Kyle Arran v. Kyle Bute 20-0

Kilmarnock Annanhill v. Kilmarnock Grange 12-8

Kyle Bute v. Kilwinning Corsehill 12-8

Division Two

Ardeer v. Riggs 12-8

Portland v. Savoy 10-10

Pos Players Score %

1 Janice Thomson & Eddie McGeough 65.28

2 Sandy & Jane Anderson 61.57

3 Ruth McColl & Jan Cossar 56.48

4 Donnie & Ann Graham 56.02

5 David & Ira Clement 55.56

6 D Winhall & J McCrindle 55.32

7 Anne Braid & Sam McNair 54.63

8 David & Sandra Wiseman 53.94

9 Neil Falconer & Ann Cattanach 52.78

10 M Brown & S Martin 49.77

11 Frances Murphy & John Stevenson 48.38

12 Mary Thomson & Marion Lumsden 47.45

13 M Fisher & B Docherty 44.91

14 Donald Cattanach & N Lawrie 43.52

15 Sharon Lindsay & Maureen Rennie 41.20

16 Linda Agnew & Fred Dean 38.43

17 Robert Coulter & M Tennant 38.19

18 K Duncan & M Hogg 36.57

1 Jim & Alison Tudor 63.89

2 J Dickinson & J Bruce 60.65

3 Irene Sword & Frances Duck 60.19

4 Ann Boyd & Margaret Little 57.41

5 Jane Cook & R Sinnak 53.47

6 Shirley Moore & Steve Gray 53.24

7 B Balfour & A O'Hara 50.46

8 Sam & Kate Malkani 50.00

9 J Carr & A Hugh 49.54

10 J Ridge & J Lynch 48.61

11 Valerie Wood & Jean Parker 47.69

12 Marion Strachan & Sheila Lothian 47.45

13 S Martindale & P Thomson 47.22

14 Iain Stewart & Bill Ramsay 45.60

15= K Bain & E Orr 43.06

15= S Cole & S McKechnie 43.06

17 N Tait & J Barclay 40.97

18 A Craven & J McMahon 37.50

Local results for the

SBU

Simultaneous

pairs

Tuesday 23rd

October

Green

Section

Red

Section

Comment made from the ABU

President to the Red section

winners “How come you 2 always

either finished first or last?”

Shocking!!!

http://www.ayrshirebridge.co.uk/index.php/district-competitions-3/resulkts/1431-sbu-sim-prs-sect-a-green#P14



















We Need Your Opinion!

Please circle the most applicable.

1, Do you play in competitions outside of your own club/clubs? This includes local competitions like the

Ayrshire pairs, Tourney cup and the Ayrshire congress; and also National events and qualifiers held in Ayrshire,

for instance the National pairs and Scottish Swiss pairs.

Often Sometimes Rarely Never

2, If you answered “Often” please go to question 3, otherwise could you please answer questions A to E in this

section.

A. I don’t play in competitions because the unfamiliar bidding systems put me off.

Strongly agree Agree Unsure Disagree Strongly disagree

B. I don’t play in competitions because I feel the standard is too good for me.


C. I don’t play in competitions because the opponents are sometimes unpleasant.


D. I don’t play in competitions because there are too many boards.


E. I don’t play in competitions because I don’t have a partner, or my regular partner is unwilling to play.


Please tell us of any other reasons that deter you from entering competitions

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

3, If competitions with a different format were introduced, might you enter?

For instance : A competition with restricted conventions? Yes No Maybe

A competition on a weekday afternoon? Yes No Maybe

Please tell us what other changes we could make to competitions that would make them more appealing to you.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………….....................................................................................................

Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions. If you have anything else you’d like to add please write

below. Or email the Ed.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Your Name : ………………………..

Optional

Please return completed form to an ABU council member or post to Jim Tudor, 3 Mount Ave, Symington, KA1 5RU

ayrshire district bulletin · ayrshire district bulletin editor: jim tudor. 3 mount ave, symington,...

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