NEWSLETTER NO 38 - July 2003





ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The 19th Annual General meeting of the Club was held on 22 April and, in the absence of the Chairman, was excellently chaired by Malcolm Channing.


The trophies were presented by Margaret Lee in her retirement year as follows:

Norman CupJohn Timberlake and Sylvia Timberlake
Mayfield Teams CupMalcolm Channing, Ron Maclaren, Sylvia Clark and Dick Clark
Mayfield CupLiz Phillips
Mayfield Handicap CupChris Pullan
Kath Coward CupJohn Timberlake
Kath Coward Handicap CupPhillip Brooks
Mens PairsPeter Southon and Mike Stilwell
Ladies PairsAngela Samuelson and Sylvia Timberlake
Mixed PairsKath Coward and Geoff Whitehead
Committee CupJoan Underdown and Mike Stilwell
Liz Phillips CupLiz Phillips and Bernard Pike
Dorothy Williamson CupJohn Davies, Jill Leslie, Tim Cook, Roy Smith, Malcolm Channing and Ron Maclaren
Pro-Am CupTony Belton and John Frosztega

Margaret was thanked for her sterling efforts as Captain and presented with a garden voucher.

Peter Lee was welcomed on to the Committee as the new Captain and the rest of the Committee were elected en bloc as before, there being no other nominations.

Mike Stilwell raised the subject of insurance against libel/slander which was already being discussed in Committee and this has now been taken out.

It was decided by the Meeting not to hold a heat of the Jubilee Pairs this year mainly because the qualification ratio is so low.

The Meeting was informed that the Dorothy Williamson Teams competition will now be a one session event held on Tuesday 29 July. See below.


FORTHCOMING EVENTS

Dorothy Williamson Teams - Tue 29.6.03. The format for this event has changed several times over the years for differing circumstances. It is hoped that making it a one session event will make it easier for members to get a team together and encourage more members to enter. Therefore this year it will be a Pivot Teams event and it is hoped that you will give it your full support. Peter has enough movements prepared so that you will all play with each member of your team.

Committee & Liz Phillips Cups - Tue 19.8.03. For the benefit of new members these are ranked pairs competitions. The Committee Cup is for pairs with a ranking of Regional Master and below and the Liz Phillips Cup for pairs of Premier Regional Master and above.

EBU Simultaneous Pairs - Tue 16.9.03. A volunteer, who will not be able to play in this event, is required to duplicate the boards. As reported in the last Newsletter a fee of £10 is paid for this task. Please make your offers of help to Peter Southon.

Pro-Am Cup - Tue 23.9.03. This will be organised by Peter Lee and John Timberlake using your EBU rankings as a guide line. It is a tricky job and often made more difficult when members turn up having not put their names on the list.

Friday 21 November 2003 - NO BRIDGE.

Christmas Party - Tue 9.12.03. This is restricted to 36 pairs so make sure your name is on the list early.

Friday 26 December 2003 - NO BRIDGE.

Members are reminded that it is very helpful if you put your names up early for competitions and also to make a note of dates of competitions. Be warned that the next time a mixed pair turns up to play on the night of the Mens and Ladies Pairs, there will be a skirt on hand for the gentleman and they will play as a ladies pair! Only joking!


NOTICE BOARD

A wipe-off board has been purchased as a more noticeable reminder of forthcoming events and important announcements. Please read it carefully. Our thanks to our in-house carpenter, Peter Southon, for making the stand for it. Is there no limit to his talents!


MEMBERS ACHIEVEMENTS

National

National Pairs1st Peter Lee, Bob Rowlands
EBU Spring Sim Prs 1st John Frosztega, Sean O'Neill with 73.33%
Gold Cup 4th Round Peter Lee's team beat Glyn Liggins team
Portland Pairs 4th Liz Phillips, Bernard Pike
Seniors E'bourne Sw Prs 2nd Audrey Vaughan and partner
Sw Tms Top Vets Prize Peter & Pam Southon and team

Surrey

Victor Ludorum Liz Phillips
Surrey 1-day Sw Tms 3rd Liz Phillips, Bernard Pike, Rolf Alexander + 1

Club

Mixed Pairs 1st Jill Leslie, Tim Cook
2nd Helen Seymour, Roger Sugden
Ladies Pairs 1st Rosemary Rice, Mary Street
2nd Sylvia Clark, Julia Brough
Mens Pairs 1st Roger Sugden, Tony Belton
2nd Arun Suri, Bernard Pike

DIARIES

The EBU diaries are on order and will be available from Pam Southon in August at £2.85 each. She only orders a limited number so to avoid disappointment you can reserve one.

NICKO/AFFILIATED LEAGUE ENTRIES

Members are entitled to enter a team in either of the above competitions and should let Pam Southon know if they wish to do so. The entries for the NICKO have to be in by August and for the Affiliated League by September.

SCBA COMMITTEE

Congratulations to Malcolm Channing on being elected to the Surrey Committee where he joins our other Surrey Committee Members, Mary Street and Julia Brough.

HOST LIST

Aug 5Dick ClarkSep 2Mike StilwellOct 7Denny Wade
Aug 12 Joyce MunnsSep 9Kerstin TompsettOct 14Bengt Udilz
Aug 19NO HOST Sep 16NO HOST Oct 21Sylvia Clark
Aug 26Mary StreetSep 23NO HOSTOct 28Mike Cowley
Sep 30Committee Pair (Teams)
Nov 4David ElvinDec 2Pam Hoskins
Nov 11George FootDec 9PARTY NIGHT
Nov 18John FrosztegaDec 16Keith Jackson
Nov 25Malcolm GloverDec 23Terry Kedgley
Dec 30Rosemary Lyttle

Please let Malcolm Channing know early if you are unable to fulfil this duty.

There is also a Friday host list so please take advantage of this if you are at a loose end on a Friday. It is a very relaxing enjoyable evening.


CHAIRS

Would members ensure that all chairs are put away in the church storeroom except the 2 chairs with arms which go in our storeroom. Until recently it was permissible to leave some at the side of the hall. However, there is now a notice in the storeroom that all chairs should be put away in there. It also states that there is a trolley for taking them in and out. Having looked at it, I think it is just as easy to take them in and out by hand!

E-MAIL ADDRESSES

The Committee has a list of members e-mail addresses so that we know who to print information for and who can view it on our web site. If you think that we may not have your address, please let Sylvia Timberlake know. Also, it seems that members frequently change their e-mail addresses and it would be appreciated if you would let Sylvia know of any changes. Thank you.



The Club Web Site

Those of you who access the Club WebSite would have noticed that over the last few months the Site has been completely revamped.

This means that the Site is, hopefully, easier to navigate and is now definitely easier to maintain and extend. But for every leap forward in Computer Technology there is a price to pay, and on this occasion the price is that the Site will not display on Netscape 4 browsers, but as the number of people still using this old edition of Netscape is likely to be few we have decided to go ahead with the changes.

The additional features include direct links to the latest results for Tuesday and Friday, a link to the photographs taken by Roger Morton at the last two Christmas Parties, and the host being shown on the Diary of Future Events.

Another addition is the Latest News Page which, as well as giving a list of winners of the Club Events, also gives details of how Club Members have fared in National and County Events. From the feedback that we have already received this is a popular feature. But whereas details of some Tournaments are available from other Web Sites, it is difficult to find out how members have done in events like the Gold Cup, Crockfords Cup, NICKO and the Lady Rose, so we would be obliged if members could let me know their progress in Leagues and Knock Out competitions.

As the format has been streamlined we have been able over the last few months to have results of the Tuesday and Friday Pairs on the Web Site within two hours of play finishing. But we must stress that this is the service your committee would like to provide but cannot guarantee to do so. The drawbacks to this faster service are that mistakes will occur more often, so if you spot an obvious error just Email the Club and it will put right as soon as possible. On at least two occasions the results were delayed because of inaccuracies in the scores, so bear in mind if an error is made on the Traveller it may mean that the results are delayed on the Internet.

Another new feature that we have introduced is a counter which tells us the number of times the the Web Site has accessed. On average the we have about 70 "hits" a week and the most popular day is Wednesday.

If anyone has any comments or suggestions as to what they would like to see on the Web Site, please Email the Club using the contact facility on the Web Site.


The Biltcliffe Coup

The Biltcliffe Coup has three components. First,the pair perpetrating it has to protect when it can pass the opponents out in a partscore. Second, the pair has to double when the opponents then arrive in game. Third, the pair has to misdefend to let the game make. David Bird, in his Abbot stories, tells the story of Brother Biltcliffe who immortalized the coup, achieving all three components of the coup by himself. As there used to be a county player called Biltcliffe, one can only assume that the coup happened in real life.

In our recent round 4 Gold Cup match, which my team (Bob Rowlands, Tony Lunn, Sean O'Neill, Frances Hinden and Jeffrey Allerton) won over the seeded Liggins team, Crouch and Whittaker achieved the coup. In both rooms the bidding started, at game all, No 1© No No to the following hand ªKx ©xx ¨AKxxx § xxxx. In this position I passed for various reasons - bidding 2¨ or 1NT (natural) is not without danger, game is unlikely (though possible if partner has a hand just short of a 1NT overcall), and partner could not overcall 1 ª suggesting the opponents may have a spade fit (Bob overcalls at the drop of a hat). As the opponents were playing the popular expert system of weak twos in ª, © or ¨, with only one strong bid (2 §) and no Acol twos, opener might be strong with game on. In the other room they protected and the opponents now bid to 4 ª doubled. The full deal was

ª J x
© A x x
¨ Q J x x
§ A J x x
ª A Q 10 x x ª x x x x
© K Q J 10 9 x © 8 x
¨ x ¨ 10 x x
§ Q § K 10 9 x
ª K x
© x x
¨ A K x x x
§ x x x x


Note that EW cannot actually get to dummy to take the spade finesse, so should go one off. However North took the heart King with the Ace on the first round, allowing entry with the 8 to score +790. If North ducks, dealer must fail. If, instead, West tries a low heart towards the 8 instead of the King, North must rise with the Ace.

This was not the only amusing board. On another hand I doubled Liggins and Fawcett in 3© for a heart lead with ªQxx ©QJ109x ¨ AKx §xx, in an artificial sequence where I thought they had not shown hearts naturally (due to alerts), when they actually had done so. This was redoubled, and went 2 off for 600 on the lead of the diamond Jack through Qxx with declarer having a 5-5-3-0 shape with three low diamonds. 3NT had 9 top tricks their way. In the other room, team mates played in 4© undoubled, my hand fearing they had a better spot to go to.


Peter Southon writes - BIDDING AFTER HESITATION by PARTNER

Players can legitimately convey information in a limited number of ways, but variation in the tempo of bidding or play is NOT a legal option - indeed, we are enjoined to bid and play "in tempo". All players must bear in mind that passing after a trance puts their partner under pressure.

Nevertheless, hesitations do occur, and the subsequent actions frequently give rise to dissension. So common are the problems, the Director's Guide devotes over three A4 pages to this subject.

If a hesitation has occurred, the T.D. should be called to the table; this should NOT be done in an aggressive manner. Nobody should get upset - calling the T.D. is not an accusation of cheating ! After the hesitation is agreed, the hand should normally be played. If the innocent side considers that it has been damaged following the violation of tempo, the T.D. will proceed to the controversial bit.

He/she will consider the auction, in particular bids made by a player whose partner has hesitated; you are NOT allowed to make bids which could have been suggested by the hesitation.

The T.D. must decide whether most players, in receipt of legitimate information ONLY, would have made the bid in question. Note the distinction - most other players, 7 out of 10 is suggested. You might habitually bid vulnerable with 1 point, but the T.D. will not allow it!

So - must you pass? No, but you must be aware that you will have to be able to justify your choice of bid when it succeeds!

HAND OR CURTAIN CARD SWITCHING

Members are asked to take great care when removing a hand or curtain card from the board after completion of play on that board. In the Mens Pairs competition it was obvious that two hands had been switched but it was impossible to tell when this had take place and therefore the necessary adjustments could not be made. Peter Southon took the trouble to score the event with and without the fouled board and fortunately it made no difference to the actual winners but you can imagine the dilemma if it had worked out that the winners were different pairs.

A directive in the Orange Book states that cards or curtain cards of other players may not be taken out of the board during or after play without the permission of the TD. At the end of play, however, you may ask an opponent to show his hand to check on a revoke or to ascertain the number of tricks won or lost.

So be warned, that if you do not adhere to this directive and there is a fouled board because hand and/or curtain cards have been switched, then a fine will be imposed and the wrath of the TD and scorer will be incurred if the results are affected and it is not possible to determine easily who is the culprit.

HERE ENDETH TODAY'S LESSONS!



BRIDGE COUNTDOWN

(Devised at Wimbledon - no not the bridge club but during a 2½ hour rain break at the Championships!)

Below is a quiz broadly based on the popular TV programme COUNTDOWN. All the answers are associated with bridge.

For those not familiar with the show, in the letters section a bridge term must be found using as many of the 9 letters as possible.

EXAMPLE E A L S S P D R O
ANSWER SPADES

In the numbers section you have to work out what number is required from the score and then compute it from the 6 numbers given using +, -, x, ÷. You do NOT have to use all the numbers.

EXAMPLE 75, 3, 6, 9, 4, 4
ANSWER 3NT Vul = 600 = 9 - (4 ÷ 4) = 8 x 75 = 600

BRIDGE COUNTDOWN QUIZ

 1.       ANYMASTER
 2.       THRASHMEN
 3.        SLAMRICHE
 4.        BEERGRADE
 5.        2NT DOUBLED NON-VUL   50, 8, 7, 4, 3, 2
 6.        FRANSREST
 7.        NOTABREAK
 8.        TUESPOPPY
 9.        BYJOVEACE
10.        2 HEARTS + 4    25, 5, 4, 3, 2, 2
11.        ACELLOVER
12.        PLAYCHESS
13.        EIGHTSOME
14.        6 CLUBS NON-VUL    75, 9, 8, 3, 3, 1
15.       COPIERSIN

The first two correct solutions drawn out of the hat on Tuesday 19 August will get a free play. Answers to Sylvia Timberlake. Don't forget to put your name on your entry!



REASONED REGICIDE from Peter Southon

We were playing in the Swiss Teams at Eastbourne last Sunday. The Seniors/Veterans Congress. no less. A suitable occasion, you would agree, to suffer from a senior moment.

This was hand 7, all vulnerable. West dealt and opened 1 Heart, playing 5-card majors. I bid 1 Spade, which seemed normal, and East on my left bid 2 Hearts South passed. West rebid 2 no-trumps, and East very properly bid 4 Hearts. In a 7 board Swiss, this was probably the decisive board.

My lead! I could find good reasons for not leading spades or hearts or diamonds or clubs! This was the classic 'prisoner's dilemma' - the rope or the axe! My choice was the club King. Dummy revealed 7 - yes seven - clubs, headed by the QJT! Regicide number one, as it was declarer who held the club A.

Declarer, reasonably enough, led towards the heart J, so I took my Q and led my second and last club. Declarer played the second trump from dummy, and put in the ten. I fingered the trump K, but decided that another royal sacrifice was required, and ducked. My trump K fell under the A, of course, but all was well, as declarer could no longer reach dummy. One down!

Our team mates, the Heaths who were former members of the Mayfield, had also bid 4 Hearts. Their auction had gone 1H - 1 S - 2H - pass: Stop, 4 H. North had led a small spade, West overcame the entry difficulty, scoring +620, which meant 12 IMPs, and we won the match.


ª K 7 6 3 2
© K Q 2
¨ K 10 3
§ K 9
ª A J 9 6 ª Q
© A 10 9 6 3 © J 5 4
¨ A 4 ¨ J 6
§ A 6 § Q J 10 8 7 5 4
ª 8 5 4
© 8 7
¨ Q 9 8 7 5 2
§ 3 2


Editor's Note: You will see in the 'Successes' that the team went on to win the Top Veterans Prize in the Swiss Teams. Well deserved after this brilliant defence



AND FINALLY



TUESDAY - 6 MAY

Our apologies to members who turned up on this date. Unfortunately we were informed by the church only about a month in advance that the church hall was needed to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of St John's. Our only method of letting members know was via the web site, by regular announcements and with a notice on the notice board but, needless to say, there were still one or two of you who slipped through the net. We always check with the church of any dates that we may not use the hall and, so far, this has been confined to a Friday in November. This we are able to put in the fixture card and you will see that this year it is Friday 21 November.



© Copyright Mayfield Duplicate Bridge Club 2003