Bridge Blog 554: Jarful of July

Right on schedule, the folks at American Contract Bridge League computer central have posted the monthly updates on master points and the master point races. They even included my measly little .84 of a point from the Syracuse Regional, giving me a total of 17.47 for July. For the year, I now have 113.67 total points for Mini-McKenney competition, and 92.07 club points for the Ace of Clubs derby.

So where do I stand? On the Unit 116 (Buffalo) level, in the 1,000 to 2,500 point division, I’m sixth in Ace of Clubs. Carlton Stone is first with 109.84, followed by Mike Silverman (104.74), John Ziemer (98.13), Vince Pesce (96.91) and Jim Gullo (93.02). Behind me are Liz Clark (82.74), Barbara Libby (80.05), Michael Ryan (77.17) and Carolyn Siracuse (73.01).

As for the Mini-McKenney, I’m eighth. Dian Petrov continues to lead this list with 226.09. Right behind him is Judy Padgug with 217.68, thanks no doubt to those 60 gold points she earned at the nationals in Philadelphia. Then come Ziemer (161.30), Gullo (129.61), Ryan (118.06), Silverman (116.29) and Stone (115.70). Rounding out the top 10 after me are Liz Clark (100.90) and Vince Pesce (the same 96.91 he has in Ace of Clubs).

On the District 5 level (Buffalo, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and environs), Buffalo dominates the Ace of Club list for 1,000 to 2,500 point players. Although Robert Maier of Morgantown, W. Va., tops the field with 135.25, only one other non-Buffalo player, Francine Feldman of Pittsburgh with 97 even, landed in the Top 10. I’m eighth. Among the 25 names of the district list, 15 are from Buffalo, including Judy Padgug (66.74), Paul Libby (63.42), Gene Finton (62.40), Chuck Schorr (54.75) and Luke Danielson (51.77).

District 5’s Mini-McKenney list has less of a Buffalo slant. Only eight of us are among the select 25 and I’m the eighth one in 23rd place. Leader once again is Michael Craeger of Brecksville, Ohio, with 352.72. He picked up 60 gold on the team with Judy Padgug in Philly. A distant second is Robert Maier with 235.61, dropping Dian Petrov to third place. Judy Padgug is fourth and Marc Sylvester of Edinboro, Pa., who we see a lot at our sectionals, is fifth with 206.72. Francine Feldman is ninth (169.57) and John Ziemer is 11th.

On the national level, good old Charlie Christmas of Tallahassee, Fla., is on top of Ace of Clubs in my division with 211.66, followed by John Petrie of Long Beach, Calif., with 201.54. Carlton Stone makes the list at 73rd, while Mike Silverman is 93rd. You need at least 103.56 points to make the Top 100.

Over in Mini-McKenney, there are new leaders – Zachary Grossack of Newton, Mass., with 420.52 and Margaret Hart of Baton Rouge, La., with 406.03. District 5 leader Michael Craeger is 11th. Dian Petrov is 80th. Judy Padgug is 89th. You need 213.29 points to land on this list.

Bridge Blog 553: Summing up Syracuse

A total of 579 people earned master points, or some fraction thereof, in the Syracuse Regional last week. Judie Bailey and I, with our 0.84 of a point, were tied for 538th. Compadres Judy Kaprove and Ruthie Kozower earned 1.03 and were tied for 515th.

Points could be piled up in Syracuse, even if we weren’t the ones piling them. The three guys tied for first had 70.61. Best of the Buffalo area players were – surprise! – Larry and Dottie Soong with 17.83, tied for 80th. They finished ahead of perennial local tournament winner Saleh Fetouh, who had 16.92, and Dian Petrov, with 16.45, who partnered on a few games. The Soongs did it by coming in second with Sharon Chang and her daughter, Jacqueline, up from New York City, in one of the knock-out games, and finishing second in the Thursday Gold Rush teams.

Bridge Blog 552: Don't try this

I never should’ve done it, I confessed to partner Beverly Dale after our first board Tuesday at the Airport Bridge Club. I never should’ve opened 1 No Trump on that hand. But I’m always feeling daring on the first round of the day and a hand with 17 high card points, two King doubletons and a solid six-card Diamond suit looked like it might pay off handsomely in No Trump.

It didn’t. The opponents immediately found the suit in  which Bev and I had no stoppers, then nailed me on one of my King doubletons. Down five. Bottom board right off the bat.

It wasn’t our last bottom board. We wound up in another 3 NT contract after I misunderstood Bev’s negative double as a support double. Down six vulnerable. Our opponents didn’t even need to double us to win big.

After playing three rounds at 27.7%, after we resigned ourselves to coming in dead last, we pulled up our socks and played a respectable near-average game, but it was too late to salvage anything but our pride. We finished at 42.5%, seventh out of nine North-Souths.

Bridge Blog 551: Roller coaster

The roller coaster effect that Judie Bailey and I saw on our final day at the Syracuse Regional Tournament on Wednesday didn’t end for me right away. Playing with Alicia Kolipinski at the Airport Bridge Club on Thursday, I continued to scale to stellar heights and plunge to abysmal depths, a ride which had Alicia hanging on for dear life. “I’m not used to this,” she exclaimed after I put her into a 6 Spade contract. She rose to the occasion, though, and made it for a top board. Most other pairs didn’t bid the slam, let alone make 12 tricks on the hand. We finished with a 48.15% game, earning .84 of a master point.

With Usha Khurana on Friday, it was low upon low. In 24 hands, we had six bottom boards (two minus 800s from overbid hands that were doubled), two ties for bottom and just one top, thanks to an offensive lapse by our opponents. (For another bottom that antagonized Usha, see Blog 550). Amazingly, our 37.5% wasn’t dead last. Another pair had 35%.

Called in on Sunday to help fill what turned out to be a three-table Howell game, I was paired with Nancy Wolstoncroft, who said she wanted to play a game with very few conventions. I began to wonder how few in a hand where I opened 2 No Trump, she answered 4 Hearts, I transferred to 4 Spades and she bid 5 Hearts. She didn’t intend a transfer. No harm done, however. She had the Hearts. I had the high cards. She made the contract.

Aside from the torrential thunderstorm that hit in the middle of the game, blacking out the lights for about 30 seconds, the rest of the session was flat, mostly because Nancy and I weren’t getting good hands and partly because of the flubbed defensive tricks that Nancy pointed out to me on several occasions. These three-table Howell games have a way of flattening things out anyway, just because there’s not that much reward for winning a hand when top score is 2 game points. We wound up tied for second place with an even 50%. This being another North American Pairs qualifying game, it was good for 1.43 master points, half red, half black.

Bridge Blog 550: Laid low

Usha Khurana and I had a terrible game at the Airport Bridge Club on Friday – 37.5%. And we knew we were having it. That didn’t diminish the distress that Usha felt on this hand, Board 20, which we played against the only people who had a lower final percentage than we did. They shall go unnamed, but since we did only 25% in our two hands against them, we did our best to lift them up.

Both vulnerable. West is dealer.

West (Usha)

Spades: K-Q-5-2; Hearts: A-8-5

Diamonds: 4; Clubs: K-J-10-5-3

North

Spades: J-8-7-6-4; Hearts: Q-9-6-3-2

Diamonds: 10-3; Clubs: 7

East (me)

Spades: A-3; Hearts: J-4

Diamonds: K-J-9-7-6-2; Clubs: A-8-6

South

Spades: 10-9; Hearts: K-10-7

Diamonds: A-Q-8-5; Clubs: Q-9-4-3

Usha opened a Club, I responded with a Diamond, she bid a Spade and I rebid my Diamonds, showing the 6-card suit. At that point, South doubled. Usha bid 2 No Trump and, having 13 high card points and a long suit, I bumped her up to 3 NT. Chances are, everybody else would be in 3 NT.

North led a low Heart and Usha played low from the Dummy. South, being cagey, played the 10 and Usha won with the Ace. She then tried to set up her long Clubs with a safety play, losing the first trick, but lost to South’s Queen. South then cashed the King of Hearts and led her final Heart to North, who ran the suit, then led a Diamond. Usha had been throwing off Diamonds on the long Hearts and the remaining honors were finessed. In the end, Usha only picked up four more tricks in Spades and Clubs. Down four.

At the other five tables, three East-Wests wound up at 3 NT, going down one or two. The ones who succeeded played it in Diamonds, bidding three, making three or four.

Bridge Blog 549: No cigar

How close did we come to winning gold master points Wednesday in the Syracuse Regional Tournament? So close we could taste it. So close we could tell which hands in the afternoon session cost us the extra 7½ game points we needed to catch 3.64 gold (see Blog 548).

Yes, we had five zero-point bottom boards. So how did we come so close to getting gold points? We also had eight top or near-top boards. After a 47.73% morning game that left us within striking distance, we had 51.7% in the afternoon. Improve just a couple of those zero boards and we’d come home with gold.

Meanwhile, the tournament, which had been running at about half to two-thirds capacity on the first two days, totally filled up the large ballroom at the Liverpool Holiday Inn. Are there any empty tables, one of our opponents wondered. I looked around. There was just one.

After speculating whether any Buffalo players at all were going to show up in Syracuse, we had company on Wednesday. First people I saw were Tova Reinhorn and Carol Bedell. Then I spotted Mike Ryan from a distance. Partner Judie Bailey saw Bob Feasley. And playing not far from us were Marietta Kalman and Elaine Kurasiewicz. And Bob and Judy Padgug. All of them must be playing the team games. None of them appear in the results for the pairs contests.

Bridge Blog 548: Agonies, ecstacies

Our darkest moment in the Wednesday afternoon pairs game at the Syracuse Regional Tournament came against that brusque young Toronto guy and his partner, the older black-haired studious woman. We’re vulnerable and, sitting in third seat after two passes, I open a borderline 1 Club. The Toronto guy overcalls 1 Heart. Both partners pass again. Holding a singleton Heart, I double to see if partner Judie Bailey can muster a Spade bid or support my Clubs. But she does neither. She passes again. So does the studious woman.

I certainly don’t want the Toronto guy to play 1 Heart doubled vulnerable (the hand record afterward shows that he can make 1 Heart). No Trump isn’t an option, so I rebid my Clubs, even though I only have five of them. Bad move. Judie passes. Down three doubled vulnerable. No question that it’s a bottom board. The hand record shows us making 2 Spades.

Both vulnerable, South dealer, I’m North

South

Spades: J-10-9-7-6; Hearts: K-Q-6-4-3

Diamonds: 4-3; Clubs: 10

West

Spades: 8-4-2; Hearts: J-5

Diamonds: J-10-9-7; Clubs: J-8-3-2

North

Spades: A-K-3; Hearts: 2

Diamonds: K-8-6-2; Clubs: Q-7-6-5-4

East

Spades: Q-5; Hearts: A-10-9-8-7

Diamonds: A-Q-5; Clubs: A-K-9

On the other hand, I also should have avoided screwing up mini-Roman bids. Our mini-Roman empire declined and fell more than once. This is perhaps the most egregious tumble. The opponents bid 2 No Trump over Judie’s opening 2 Diamond bid and I double, intending to show that I wanted to bid 2 NT to ask her for her singleton. But she left the double in and the opponents made their contract. With an overtrick. Another zero.

I should have bid my five-card Heart suit instead of doubling, Judie contends, adding that I didn’t need to know which suit she was short in. And if she has a singleton Heart (which she does), she would bid Spades. Nevertheless, we were doomed just for bidding on that hand. Judie opened a light (9 high card point) mini-Roman in the third seat. We’re vulnerable and can make only five Heart tricks or six Spade tricks.

          North-south vulnerable, North dealer, I’m North

North

Spades: K-10-9-7; Hearts: K-6-5-4-2

Diamonds: 6-5; Clubs: 5-4

East

Spades: Q-J; Hearts: J-8-7-3

Diamonds: K-J-10-7-4; Clubs: A-K-8-7

South

Spades: 8-6-4-2; Hearts: 10

Diamonds: Q-8-3-2; Clubs: A-K-8-7

West

Spades: A-5-3; Hearts: A-Q-9

Diamonds: A-9; Clubs: Q-J-9-3-2

So much for bidding without high card points. Do we ever do anything right? Actually, yes. Here are our two absolute tops. First one is against Torontonians Dick Wilson (east) and Marilyn Goldman (west).

East-west vulnerable, South dealer, I’m North

South

Spades: Q-J-7-5-3; Hearts: K-Q-2

Diamonds: Q-8; Clubs: K-10-5

West

Spades: None; Hearts: 6-4-3

Diamonds: A-9-7-5; Clubs: A-Q-J-7-4-2

North

Spades: K-10-2; Hearts: J-9-8

Diamonds: 10-6-4-3-2; Clubs: 9-8

East

Spades: A-9-8-6-4; Hearts: A-10-7-5

Diamonds: K-J; Clubs: 6-3

It’s a total East-west hand. They can make 4 NT, 4 Hearts and 5 Clubs. But, not being vulnerable, we enter the bidding, although I don’t remember it exactly. Perhaps Judie opened 1 Spade and West doubled. I recall pushing it to 2 Spades, just to make life a little more difficult for the opponents. They pass. We play it there. Down two (as it should be – the hand record says they can make seven Spade tricks). But it's only minus 100 points.

The other one also was an offensive triumph. We played it against a couple guys – Robert Nowacki and James Bridges – who entertained us with a groaner of a joke in the morning (“As the butcher said when he looked at the sausage – it could be wurst.”).

None vulnerable, South dealer, I’m North

South

Spades: 8-3; Hearts: 10-8-2

Diamonds: Q-6-4; Clubs: A-K-9-5-2

West

Spades: Q-4; Hearts: Q-3

Diamonds: A-K-J-10-9; Clubs: J-10-4-3

North

Spades: A-K-9-7-6-5-2; Hearts: 7-4

Diamonds: J-9; Clubs: 9

East

Spades: A-10-3; Hearts: 6-5

Diamonds: Q-8-4; Clubs: A-K-J-7-5

Judie passed, West probably bid a Diamond and, loving a long suit, I bid either 3 Spades directly or bid 1 Spade and worked my up the bidding ladder against the opponents, who would be bidding Diamonds and Hearts (they can make 3 in either suit). Spades are only supposed to make 2, but I wound up with an overtrick after they led Diamonds. They played third round of Diamonds, giving me a ruff from the dummy and the discard of a Heart from my hand. After drawing trump in two rounds, I have only one more trick – a Heart – to lose.