TRAVELLERS

There have been occasions recently when a traveller has gone ‘missing’ and the scorer has had to ring around to establish scores on that board. Please would you keep your own scorecard for a couple of days just in case this situation arises again.

CLUB TIES

Rosemary has a number of Mayfield club ties handed down from Pam Southon. If you would like one of these we are selling them for the princely sum of £2.

PETER SOUTHON

Obituary by John Timberlake

Peter died, aged 83, on Friday 18 November in hospital at Barnstaple after a short illness. This is about a lovely man who was a good friend for the last 20 years – it is not a complete record of his life, but it includes what was gleaned during this friendship.

Primarily, he was a Committee member and the Chief Director for the Mayfield for 18 years, as well as being a good bridge player to Life Master standard. He directed most of the Tuesday and Friday duplicates, probably about 1,000 times, with humour and patience as well as with a high degree of technical competence. As a player, mostly partnering Pam, he won each of the Club competitions at least once.

He served in the RAF as a radar operator in India during World War II and told many good yarns about that experience. After demob, he joined his father and brother in the family business which was a men’s tailor and outfitters with shops in Sutton and Streatham. After his dad’s retirement, he and his brother continued the business until his own retirement.

Outside work and bridge, he devoted himself to his family and certain special interests. Having met Pam at the tennis club, that well known hotbed of romance, they married in 1952 and had 2 daughters and several grandchildren. His “ special interests” included carpentry and fine red wines. Apart from many meticulously made wooden constructions, the Mayfield benefited from innumerable repaired tables, the notice board and, in particular, he built our storeroom at St John’s.

His presence is greatly missed.

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MIKE STILWELL

Obituary by David Dick

Mike died on the 2^nd of October after a brave battle with cancer. He had been a member of the Mayfield bridge club for many years, partnering a number of people. He regularly played on Tuesdays and Fridays and in one of the club teams in the affiliated league. He entered the club and county competitions and won a number of trophies. He was also a member of the Cheam & Bletchingly bridge clubs.

He first learnt to play bridge with his parents. His bridge career was shaped as an undergraduate at the London School of Economics where he joined a school who played for money. The group included some very good players who gave nothing away and expected you to play to a high standard. He was successful and able to supplement his income and as a consequence became “hooked” on the game.

During his National Service he managed to find a bridge club and the addiction was complete when he found duplicate bridge. Mike was a very competitive bidder who enjoyed the battle for the hand and was prepared to make the unusual bid and take the consequences when it didn’t work.

I am sure we will all remember him with affection, he could be relied upon for his good humour and friendly manner. For those of us who had the pleasure to partner him you could be assured of a fun evening with the real possibility of an “oddball” bid or two. No matter how things turned out he was always relaxed and indulgent about his partners mistakes- a true gentleman.

He met his wife Pat at the LSE and they were married after Mike finished his National Service. Their three daughters and six grandchildren were a source of great joy to them. He was devoted to his wife and family and very proud of the achievements of his children.

OUR CHAIRMAN’S NOTES

Since the last newsletter two stalwarts of the Club have passed away, Peter Southon and Mike Stilwell and elsewhere in this newsletter there are obituaries.

§ ¨ © ª Christmas Party § ¨ © ª

It was nice to see so many members at the Christmas Party and be able to chat to some of you rather than just passing pleasantries at the table. I am sure that you will agree with me that it was a good evening for which I can claim no credit as all the work and organisation was done by the other members of the Committee, especially Rosemary, who organised the food, and Chris, who gave up the pleasure of playing to direct and entertain us with his anecdotes.

§ ¨ © ª Pam & Peter § ¨ © ª

Since the last Newsletter Pam and Peter Southon, our Secretary and Chief Tournament Director respectively, decided to move to Devon to be close to their daughter and thus resigned from the Committee. We were lucky that Rosemary Rice agreed to take over as Secretary for the rest of the year. The position of Chief Tournament Director was more problematic and I will fill this position until the AGM, when it is hoped that a new Chief Tournament Director will be appointed.

As this left two vacancies on the Committee, the Committee decided to co-opt two members for the rest of the year and we were very lucky that both Terry Kedgley and Mary Street agreed to help us out.

§ ¨ © ª AGM § ¨ © ª

The date of the Annual General Meeting is 25^th April, at 7:00pm and we hope to start the bridge at the normal time.

The Nomination Sheets for Officers and Committee Members will be put on the Notice Board in the near future. This will give members a long time to ponder the situation and put themselves forward for consideration for one of the positions.

It would appear that we will be short of at least two Committee members as Mary Street has indicated that she does not wish to continue after AGM and Joan Underdown has said she is not standing for re-election. Joan has been on the Committee for nineteen years, and has looked after our stationery, boards etc. She will be missed and thank you Joan for all your help in keeping the Mayfield functioning smoothly.

§ ¨ © ª Costs § ¨ © ª

Despite the cost cutting measures the Committee put in place at the last Annual General Meeting, the Club will run a deficit again this year. The situation has not been helped by the rent increase that came into force at the beginning of the year.

We have said in the past that we need 18 tables a week to break even and we rarely achieve this figure. The numbers on Tuesdays showed a slight decrease in 2005, but on Fridays the average number of Pairs fell from 10½ per evening to 9½ per evening. It is getting to the position where we will have seriously consider the viability of continuing with Fridays. So if you want a friendly game on a Friday just turn up, there is always a host and the regulars will be pleased to see you.

§ ¨ © ª Norman Cup § ¨ © ª

The heat of the Norman Cup (the Club Pairs Championship) will be held on 14^th February with the final on 14^th March. In view of falling entries the number of Pairs qualifying for the final will be based on the number of entries. If the heat is 10 tables or less, ten pairs will qualify for the Final; between 10½ and 12 tables, twelve pairs will qualify; and more than this fourteen pairs will qualify.

§ ¨ © ª Dorothy Williamson § ¨ © ª

The numbers of entrants for the Dorothy Williamson Teams Cup have fallen over the years and last year there were only seven teams. The date of the event this year will be on 30^th May and it has been decided that this year the event will not be a Pivot Teams but a Handicap Multiple Teams. Handicaps will probably be based on your past performances at the Mayfield and not your EBU ranking. So every team will have a chance of winning and you will be able to pick your own teammates and only play with one partner.

§ ¨ © ª The Web Site § ¨ © ª

The Web Site has been up and running for five years now and the service that is provided on the Web Site has vastly improved. In the beginning the only results that appeared were the Ranking List and we took two days to put this on. Now our aim is to have the Ranking List, the Travellers and the Hands on the Web Site the same night, and we know that some people do wait up to view the results. We do not always achieve this, sometimes this is due to technical difficulties that we encounter with the Internet and Emails, sometimes due to problems with the scoring, usually occasioned by Travellers going missing, sometimes illness. The experiment of putting the hands on the Web Site has proved a success and we will continue to do this.

§ ¨ © ª Psych Book § ¨ © ª

As a Club we have very few reports of Psyching but to comply with EBU directives and to highlight persistent offenders we have introduced a Psych Book and all Psyches should be reported to the Tournament Director. Chris Pullan has provided an article on Psychic Bidding – see page 7 below.

§ ¨ © ª The Yellow Book § ¨ © ª

A new Yellow Book will be published by the EBU in August 2006 that will have two major changes.

The First will be the revamping of the Licensing Procedures. From 1^st August the current Licences Levels of 1 to 5 will be replaced with broader bands which will mean that the current Level 3 will disappear. Level 3 is the level that is used by most Clubs and used in most County Events. It is likely that Surrey will go to level 4 for all events except the Newcomer Events. Clubs will have to decide whether to go to Level 4 or to a Simple Level. The Mayfield currently allows Level 4 so there will be no need to change.

A new procedure for alerting will be introduced on 1^st August. In some situations Announcements will replace alerts. If you respond 2¨ to your partner’s opening bid of 1NT, your partner will say and do nothing if the bid is natural; say “transfer” if the bid shows Hearts; show the alert card if the bid is more complicated than a simple transfer; for example, if the bid shows either Hearts or a raise to 2NT without a four-card Major. A series of articles have started to appear in English Bridge (the EBU bi-monthly magazine).

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Mayfield fail to qualify for the Garden Cities

by Peter Lee

Although Mayfield sent out a strong team for the Surrey Team of 8 (Bob Rowlands and myself, Sean O'Neill and John Frosztega, Liz Phillips and Tim Cook, Malcolm Pryor and Rolf Alexander), we could only manage second to Selsdon among the eight teams who entered. Only Selsdon qualified for the regional stage of the Garden Cities Trophy so Mayfield must wait another year to repeat their national wins in earlier years.

In our section we in fact beat Selsdon 20-0 with overkill, gaining 37 imps in 6 boards when only about 20 were needed for a maximum. However Selsdon got 109/120 in the other 6 matches! In the other section we also beat Selsdon, by 18-2. Our bête noire were Richmond A to whom we lost by a combined 36-4 (whereas Selsdon beat them by a combined 40-0!).

Anyway, to a hand or two. First a lead problem.

I held ♠K 10 7 4 ♥9 4 ♦6 2 ♣Q 7 6 4 3 and after a pass by me I heard an uncontested auction by the opposition of 1♥-1♠-2¨-3NT. While I normally lead fourth highest from my longest and strongest, I felt my club pips were poor, my entries were thin on the ground and the auction suggested declarer had good clubs. So I tried a diamond. The effect was interesting. Dummy laid down ♠A ♥K J 8 6 5 ¨K 8 7 5 4 ♣K 9 and declarer won the Ace of diamonds over Bob's 10. When declarer now ducked a diamond, Bob, who started with ♠Q 8 2 ♥ A 10 3 2 ¨Q J 10 ♣10 8 5, saw no point in switching to a club (as I had not led one) and tried a low spade on which I encouraged with the 7. When he came in with the Ace of hearts, Bob then played the spade Q and another spade so I could cash out for one off. Had I led a club, it would have been very difficult for Bob not to continue clubs.

Another interesting hand was the following freak where we had a 7-6 diamond fit. Despite having 25 points, three aces and three singletons, 6¨ which we bid, had no real play. However, E/W with their combined 15 points and only an 11 card spade fit were cold for 5♠. Sean and John in fact bid up to 5 ♠ in the other room, but the opponents bid 6¨ to go off for a flat board.

♠ A Dealer North

♥ A 8 4 3 Love All

¨ K Q 10 6 5 3 2

♣ 6

♠ K 9 7 6 2 ♠ J 10 8 5 4 3

♥ K 10 7 6 ♥ J 9 5

¨ ¨

♣ A Q 4 2 ♣ J 10 9 5

♠ Q

♥ Q 2

¨ A J 9 8 7 4

¨ K 8 7 3

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Psychic Bidding

by Chris Pullan

Bridge has lots of opportunities to irritate or annoy such as sitting out and not playing all the boards. Another is being the recipient of a psychic bid. But as the Orange Book says: “A psychic bid is a legitimate ploy as long as it contains the same element of surprise for the psycher’s partner as it does for the opponents.”

So what exactly is a psyche? “A deliberate and gross mis-statement of honour strength and/or suit length.” Its more common use is to try and fool the opponents into not agreeing a suit or a game because they “believe” the opposition has values or length in a particular suit.

Psyches are not permitted in game forcing or nearly game forcing bids such as Acol 2 clubs. Also you must not indulge in frivolous psyching when you have lost interest and wish to enjoy yourself at the expense of others.

If following a psyche, there is evidence by either partner of authorised or illegal understanding then the partnership is said to have “fielded” the psyche. The TD can then award an adjusted score – 60% to the non-offending side and 30% to the offending side is the normal pairs ruling. It would be called a “red” psyche.

Where there is nothing untoward following the psyche, it is a green psyche and where there is some evidence, it is an “amber” psyche.

Of the Lapin Luxury

by Roy Smith

As dealer, Colin (west) opened the bidding with 1C on this modest collection: ♠ A 8 7 ♥ 10 9 ¨ K 9 ¨ Q J 9 8 6 5

and he was not surprised to hear the always aggressive Piggy overcall as north with 1S. Colin’s light opener appeared to have paid off when the auction, with both sides vulnerable, quickly reached 6H doubled, as follows:

W N E S

1C 1S P 2H

P 3S P 4H

P 4S P 4NT

P 5S P 6H

P P X (All Pass)

The bidding requires some explanation. Piggy is by some way the club’s most gifted technician – and knows it! In the pick-up pairs he had, as usual, drawn Lapin, the club ‘rabbit’ tolerated as a member only in deference to the entente cordiale. Piggy was determined to compensate for the unfortunate draw by hogging all the contracts.

But Lapin is a simple soul and Piggy’s jump re-bid in spades persuaded him to think in terms of a slam. Colin was sufficiently alert not to ask the meaning of 4NT, and Piggy’s attempt to subside in 5S was assumed by Lapin to promise three Aces. He had nevertheless decided to play safe by bidding only the small slam. His decision not to redouble the final contract was, he felt sure, equally cautious.

Colin sensed a predictable misunderstanding by N/S and confidently made the ‘safe’ lead of the club Q whilst quietly enjoying the prospect of a substantial penalty. 500, or even 800, perhaps? As he suspected, Piggy could offer but a single Ace and with a shrug of resignation he put down this dummy -

♠K Q J 10 6 2 ♥ 2 ♦ J 10 ♣A 10 7 4

and when, as E, the careful Birdy followed with the 2, Colin could be sure this could not be from a doubleton and so Lapin was marked with the only missing card – the 3.

Lapin had already forgotten the finer details of the bidding and dutifully mouthed his thanks for his disappointing dummy. He won the first trick in hand with the Ace of clubs and was evidently unsure what to do next. In fact he was racking his memory to try to recall what he had once read about progressive squeezes and the need to play off winners. So eventually he began by cashing the AK of trumps.

Birdy followed to these two tricks with the 8 and then the Q of hearts. Suddenly, to his dismay, Colin had to face the problem of finding discards. He was right to be anxious: time now to disclose Lapin’s hand –

♠ - ♥ A K J 7 6 5 4 3 ¨ Q 8 7 ♣ K 3

On the Jack of hearts continuation Colin knew that he would probably have to find six discards on the way to being squeezed in spades and clubs. What should the discards be? Perhaps the discard of the diamond King (retaining the 9) would cause Lapin to go astray? But if declarer had as little as Q x x of that suit, this discard, if made too early, would present him with an easy twelfth trick – assuming a fairly certain void in spades – by using a trump to re-enter the closed hand. So there was no choice, the first five discards had to be two clubs, two small spades and the 9 of diamonds.

When Lapin played the 3 of hearts at trick nine, Colin’s last five cards were ♠A, ¨K and ♣ J 9. Even Lapin would know to cash all three clubs if Colin parted with another of that suit so away at last went the diamond King. After another club discard dummy came down to ♠ K Q and ♣A 10: perhaps even now Lapin would forget to take the club finesse? Or then play the Ace prematurely?

No such luck. After the finesse, the play of the ♠ K left Colin on lead with only clubs left. Lapin was resigned to losing a diamond, but instead the club Ace allowed the ♠ Q to complete the slam.

After checking that Birdy’s hand had been ♠ 9 5 4 3 ♥Q 8 ♦A 7 5 4 3 2 ♣2

Colin was quick to apologise to him. ‘Of course, I should have led the King of the unbid suit, diamonds, and when I ruff the third round we collect an easy 500. Even a trump lead would have been good enough for 200. Sorry!’

For Piggy, the golden opportunity to display his analytical skill proved irresistible. ‘If Monsieur Lapin had gone on to 7H you would no doubt have started with the Ace of spades, with even more disastrous effect’, he observed mischievously. And then, without waiting for Colin’s sharp denial, he congratulated Lapin on his ‘excellent declarer play’ and added ‘you cleverly worked out that after his opening bid and initial lead Colin clearly could have only one top diamond and so was certain to hold the Ace of spades. The clever play of all your trumps would then always leave him with no effective answer’.

Monsieur Lapin was not used to such lavish praise from his partners, especially Piggy, and he gratefully and modestly nodded his assent.

Author Roy Smith notes:

“Any resemblance to a person, whether living or fictional, is entirely coincidental. But this hand was dealt at the table in a recent competition and played as described.