BRIDGE TIP FOR DECEMBER

Honor combinations such as A-Q, K-J-X, and K-X

should be promoted in value when your right-hand

opponent bids that suit, and demoted in

value when your left-hand opponent

bids it.

William Root

DID YOU KNOW...

The November 2010 issue of ACBL’s Bridge Bulletin lists the top 100 Life Master list as of October 1, 2010. Number 43 on that list is our

own Ron Smith who has over 23,000 master points. Just shy of the top 100, Linda Smith came in at number 106 with almost 18,000 master points. Ron has been playing bridge for over 40 years, Linda over 30, and they have been a team for about 28 years. Chattanooga’s Mike Cappelletti is number 47 on the list, and Norman Coombs, who frequently plays with members of the Chattanooga Bridge Center and attended our May tournament, is number 62.

BOOK OF THE MONTH

Take Your Tricks Edwin B. Kantar

The subtitle for this book is Over 550 De-clarer Play Tips You Can Take to the Bank. Each tip is numbered beginning with number 1 on page 1 and ending with number 550 on page 169. Chapter 1 be-gins with 20 warm-up tips that focus on the basics, some as simple as “Hold your cards back when you play, way back. A word to the wise.” And, “Do not snap your cards when you play.” Later chapters get into deeper subject matter including everything from counting to finesses to card combinations and safety plays. The back cover notes that this book “is aimed at almost any player beneath ex-pert level who genuinely wishes to improve his or her game a notch or three.” This will be a beneficial book for anyone wishing to improve his/her play of the hand.

UNIT 206 CHIT CHAT Volume 1 Issue 8 Monthly Publication of ACBL Unit 206 December 2010

Editor: Sandy Cervantes

Assistant Editor: Cheryl Whitfield Staff: Teresa Moore

Features Editor: Marcia Lanphear Myra Reneau

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

In preparation for the 2011 club year, the

board has decided to continue with half of the games as extra- point games and half

as regular games. We will also continue to promote play through use of one weekend

party event on Saturday each quarter, our regular par-

ties on the 4th of July, the Christmas meeting, and the New Years game along with 10 to 12 smaller parties at

various games.

In order to simplify the cost structure, we will charge $4 per game for all pair games except those with ACBL

hand records. This is lieu of charges by type of game This is not intended to be a cost increase as the club will

still only breakeven given our payments to the ACBL for

various types of games.

We also expect to provide all of the smaller parties and

most of the larger for no extra charge to the member-

ship. As expressed above, there is no attempt to make more money, just to simplify the payment process. The

calendar and game schedule will be available in the near future. As always, we remain open to your input and

willing to make changes to meet your needs.

Bill

ANNUAL MEETING

Everyone is sure to have lots of fun at the Christmas

Party on December 18, but all play and no work

make for a dull … or is it the other way around?

Apart from the festivities, we do have to conduct

some unit business, including the election of new

board members. The Nominating Committee will

present the following slate:

Dan Chandler

John Felker

Gloria Poynter

Sue Shramko

Cheryl Whitfield

Nominations can be made from the floor. Hope we

see you at this important meeting.

NOVEMBER SPOTLIGHT

JANUSZ KOT

Janusz Kot has been a familiar face around our Unit bridge games for several years. Like many Europeans,

he is multi-lingual: Polish, English, Czech and Russian; has an interesting air of mystery about himself,

and has agreed to share some of his story.

Janusz Wladyslaw Kot was born in Kielce, Poland on January 6, 1936. When World War II started, his

father Wladyslaw worked for a factory operated by the German army. As a member of an underground

organization, he frequently spent time in the forest to avoid arrest or the concentration camp. The family

also lived in fear that they'd be executed for sheltering a Jewish family; and they did lose an uncle who

died on a train to Auschwitz. This was a very anxious time for all, and eventually Janusz and his older

brother Zbigniew were sent to their relatives in the country, where food was more available. For a long

time Janusz suffered nightmares.

Zbigniew eventually became a journalist; lived until seven years ago, and their younger sister, Krystyna.

became a nurse; now retired.

Janusz graduated from Warsaw Technical University as a mechanical engineer in 1961, later upgrading

his education to nuclear engineering, and he spent the rest of his professional career (in Poland) as a nuclear researcher in the Institute of Nuclear

Research in Warsaw, and part of his work experience includes a stint of 18 months in Plzen, Czechoslovakia.

Presently, Janusz is a single man. Many years ago in Poland, he married Jadwiga; and their son Robert was a result of this union. Years passing, Janusz

married Bogna, a Polish woman who lived permanently in the US. Janusz was immediately contacted by the Secret Service to ask his "cooperation" in

return for a passport to the states. The US embassy, familiar with the tactics of accusing someone of possessing military secrets and therefore block-

ing their visits to the West for several years, gave their advice, and although it took a year, Janusz got his tourist visa and two weeks later his plane

landed at JFK, where his green card and permanent visa awaited him.

It's now 1977; Janusz is newly arrived in the US of A and is unfortunately finding it difficult to find a job as a nuclear engineer. His first interview with

Sargent & Lundy Engineers in Chicago is for a mechanical design engineer position with a small salary. He did not accept. However, he eventually was

interviewed at length by the nuclear department and this supervisor noted that the resume stated an interest in art, music, sports, and bridge. The

latter caught his eye, he closed the door, got out a deck of cards, and a bridge game ensued. He asked Janusz if he'd be interested in playing in their

lunchtime bridge game... It came to pass that Janusz was offered a job at double the salary of the first offer; making him the first nuclear engineer from

Eastern Europe hired by this company.

Janusz says, work here was on the edge of fantasy; every day we dealt with atomic particles which we can't see, touch or smell. To keep proper per-

spective, balance, and stand with both feet on the ground, we frequently visited the Art Institute or spent an evening at the Chicago Symphony which

were both within one block of our office.

In 1987, Janusz accepted an assignment in South Korea. The scope of work included radiation protection, shielding calculation, equipment qualifica-

tion and radiation source analysis. The Far East was a fascinating part of the world. It was a stressful contract, but a major reward of this assignment

was vacations in Bangkok, Hong Kong (hills villa with a view on the bay), Tokyo and Singapore.

In 1995 Janusz was invited by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to participate as agency expert in a safety review of missions of the nucle-

ar power plants designed and built by the former Soviet Union. He and his company, Sargent

& Lundy, were congratulated on their excellent work they did in Korea, and it was indeed

music to their ears.

Janusz started playing bridge as a teenager. His friend's parents thought this would keep

them out of trouble. Says significant improvement in his game came with college, but there

wasn't much time to play.

Ten years ago, he retired, moved to Tennessee, still works for TVA sporadically. He started

raising bees, and he hopes that, if there is an upside to getting bee stings, he will maybe get

some protection from arthritis. He also began water-colour classes at the Athens Art Center.

Both have given him a lot of pleasure.

He enjoys both the Chattanooga and Cleveland bridge games; says he's learned a lot from

us. Ron Smith, Kyle Weems, Myra and Larry Reneau, and Michael Sherman have been espe-

cially helpful.

Thanks for letting us know a little more about you, Janusz... and it is fitting that this man of

the world gives us a quote by the French mathematician and philosopher Rene Descartes,

"cogito, ergo sum:" - I think, therefore I am. Janusz paraphrases and personalizes this by

saying, "I can play bridge, therefore I am... I am 74 years old, so I can use this analogy."

Janusz Kot

STUDENT TEA

Everyone had a wonderful time at the Student Tea on November 5th. There were 11 tables of

bridge students paired with more experienced players to help them traverse the sometimes muddy

waters of duplicate bridge. One hand was played at each table and students were allowed to ask the

opposing mentor questions if they were unfa-

miliar with a bid or puzzled about what to do.

Scores were kept on travelers and recorded in

the computer—a novel experience for some.

North/South winners were Shirley and Ever-

ett Hixson who had come to support their

daughter Laynie who is taking bridge classes at

Chattanooga State. Shirley, Everett and

Laynie are pictured at left with Jean Gam-

mon (on the left), another Chattanooga State

student. East/West winners were Bill Adams

and Pat Niemczyk.

Afterward, players were treated to an after-

noon tea. Scones with lemon curd (prepared by

Chef D’Vine), sandwiches, cookies, tea

breads, a delicious pumpkin dip and pumpkin cheesecake were on the treats table. English tea, herbal tea and mulled cider were

the beverages served. Cheryl Whitfield was in charge of decorations and did her usual fantastic job, magically converting our

bridge center into a beautiful English tea room complete with candles, floating flowers and tiered servers atop colorful tablecloths.

Many thanks to all the mentors who dedicated a Friday afternoon to help these novice players feel more comfortable at the bridge

table. We all remember those early days and how nice it was to see a

friendly face and hear a kind word. A very special thanks is owed to

Julie Adams, at right with Sandy Cervantes. Julie generously vol-

unteered to share kitchen duty with Sandy.

The club bustled with excitement as mentors and mentees discussed

their convention cards and planned their game strategy. Shown below

are (from left) Myra Reneau, Jim Poteet, Susan Ewing and Pat

Fricks.

Mentors took their roles seriously looking for every opportunity to

help the students think through the play of the hand in pursuit of

that elusive extra trick. At right is David Vine explaining a fine

point to Ellen Martin.

HIGH GAMES FOR NOVEMBER

Chattanooga

Open Cal Brassfield/Bob Kemp 70.25

NLM Carmen Leff/Toby Leff 68.52

Cleveland Dick Mellor/Barbara Creagan 68.75 Fairyland Linda Smith/Stephanie Felker 69.55

Unit 206 Special Events

Mark your calendars now and

make sure you don’t miss our upcoming special games during this very busy holiday season.

December 15 — Reba’s Christmas Party — Come at 11:00 for the regular Wednesday game and enjoy a wonderful holiday party hosted by the hostess with the mostest, Reba Jernigan. Meat and drinks will be provided. Please bring a bring a covered dish or dessert. No extra charge.

December 18—Saturday is our Unit 206 Annual Meeting and Christmas Party. The fun starts at 5:30 and the game at 6:30. We will elect new board members and President Bill Adams will review this past year. Drinks and main course are provided by the club, but please bring a covered dish, appetizer or dessert. No extra charge.

December 31—Our famous New Year’s Eve celebration will start at 6:30 and following the game, Chef D’Vine will prepare his highly ac-claimed New Year’s Breakfast. There will be a small charge to cover the breakfast cost.

Warmest wishes

for peace in your home, in your

heart, and throughout the

world. And may the magic and joy of this glorious

season last throughout the coming year.

CORRECTION

An error was made last

month in the High

Games for October col-

umn. Earl and Susan Rothberger

had the top score in the open

competition in Chattanooga with

a score of 74.6% on October 6.