MAYFIELD DUPLICATE BRIDGE CLUB
NEWSLETTER No.51 – JANUARY 2010
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING – Tuesday 20 April
2010
The 26th Annual General Meeting of the Club will take place
in St John’s Hall on the above date at a start time of 7.30pm followed by
bridge as soon as possible. The usual
format will apply with the Officers’ reports being posted on the notice board
and, in some cases, on the web site in advance of the Meeting. It is hoped that these will be taken as read
at the Meeting.
Any business you wish to raise at the Meeting should be advised to the
Secretary, Rosemary Rice by 13th April. This will enable her to
include the item on the Agenda. A copy of last year’s minutes has been
available at the Club for the past 11 months and will remain on display until
after the Meeting. If you require an
individual copy please speak to Rosemary Rice.
It is hoped that the accounts will be available in advance of the
Meeting.
Nominations for the Committee should be made no later than 13 April
2010 and a list will be displayed on the notice board. New nominations are always welcome so do not
hold back!
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
Norman Cup –
9 Feb/9 Mar (final): The final will be limited to 5,6 or 7 tables
according to the original entry. There
will be Open Pairs on 9th March for those who do not qualify for the final or
who were unable to enter in the first place.
Mayfield
Teams Cup – 23 Feb/30 Mar. Teams may have up to 6 members but no player
may play in 2 different teams.
Surrey Sim
Pairs – Friday 26 Feb.
Mixed Pairs
Cup - 11 May – Members should note
that although unmixed pairs may turn up to play, they will be expected to pair
up with other unmixed pairs where possible.
Any pair left unmixed will still be able to play but without standing.
Men’s &
Ladies’ Pairs – 15 Jun.
Dorothy
Williamson Handicap Teams – 29 Jun. As in previous years we will introduce a
handicap for this event.
Note: The date of Committee and Liz Phillips Cups is 27 July 2010.
PLEASE GIVE ALL THESE COMPETITIONS YOUR
SUPPORT
CHRISTMAS PARTY NIGHT
This event was once again well supported with 16 tables in
play. Thanks for Steve Johnson for
turning up at the last minute to save the event.
Many thanks are given to all those who worked so hard to
make it such a successful and fun evening:
Rosemary
Rice who organised the
refreshment together with her team of helpers:
Mary Street, Helen Seymour, Sylvia Timberlake and Ann Madden
Ron
Maclaren who purchased the
booze.
Roger
Sugden, Malcolm Channing and Ron Maclaren who
ran the bar.
Chris for organising the competitions and prizes
and directing the evening.
George and his wife Angela for their work throughout the evening
running the catering and clearing up with their usual efficiency.
Roger
Morton for providing the photos
for the Rogues Gallery on the website.
Winners on the evening were Helen
Seymour & Roger Sugden with Alan & Dorothy Laker.
MEMBERS SUCCESSES
Surrey
Competitions
Mixed Pairs 1st Peter Lee & Liz Phillips (second
time in 2009!)
County Pairs 2nd Adrian Patrick & Dean Morley
3rd Peter Lee & Bob Rowlands
Aileen Filose 2nd Denny Wade & partner
Men’s Pairs 4th Andrew Barnett & partner
Senior Pairs 1st Liz Phillips & partner
2nd Rosemary Lyttle & Kerstin
Tompsett
Green Point Swiss Teams:
‘A’ Flight 5th Peter Lee & team
‘B’ Flight 2nd David Dick, Adrian Patrick, Andrew
Barnett &
Ulla Adilz
Teams for Mayfield
NICKO A team is still in
(round 3). B team out.
Affiliated League:
Division 1 ‘A’ team lead with 40/40
‘B’ team have 10/40 (lost
20-0 to ‘A; team)
Division 2 ‘C’ team have 10/40
Club Competitions
Committee Cup 1st John Lockyer & Chris Pullan
2nd David Dick & Adrian Patrick
Liz Phillips Cup 1st Liz Phillips & Denny Wade
2nd John & Sylvia Timberlake
Pro Am 1st Ian Swanson & Lynne Hiorns
2nd Peter Lee & David Dick
Smarting from Mayfield B (Rosemary Rice, Roger Sugden, Roy Smith, Alan Bailey) beating Mayfield A last year, and going on to win the Central Division of the Surrey Affiliated League, Mayfield A got their revenge this year, beating Mayfield B 20-0. The A team, which consists of various combinations of myself, Liz Phillips, Sean O’Neill, Bernard Pike, Roger Morton, Arun Suri and Tony Scouller, then beat Leatherhead 20-0 as well. With only 5 teams in the division, we faced Old Woking knowing that a good win would leave us almost uncatchable.
The first half of the match was poor, and we trailed by 19 imps. A major part of this was when Liz and I had a major system forget, leading to 4H-5 with 5D on! I also found a poor defence to let a no-play 3NT through. I thought we had gained when Woking went off in 4S on the following hands.
♠ AKJx Dummy
♥ xxx
♦ AKJ9x
♣ x
♠ xxxx
♥ AJ9xx
♦ Q
♣ Axx
After the sequence 2S (showing 5 hearts and 4 spades) - 4S,
I led a club. Declarer won, cashed the
Q♦, played two top spades, revealing Q10xx over dummy, and then ran the
diamonds. Liz ruffed the fourth round,
declarer having thrown two clubs (wrong!) and a heart. Liz cashed the Q♠, then switched to
the Q♥ from Q10 doubleton. Declarer,
who would have had 10 tricks trivially had he kept a club to
ruff and reach the fifth diamond, then went further wrong by ducking. Had he won and played any heart, he would
have made as Liz would be endplayed to give a ruff and discard. But he ducked and was now off, after a heart
finesse lost.
However, this proved to be a flat board when Roger and Bernard bid to 6S, which had a play, but could not make even on the totally mad lead of a small trump from Q10xx.
The second half proved much better, and Liz and I had a string of good results, with Bernard and Roger also doing well. I was allowed to make 4S when Woking had to lead from ♠A ♥Axxx ♦xxxxx ♣K10x against the sequence 2♠ - 4♠. As partner had a blank club Q and the K10 are over the J, you have four defensive tricks, but only if you take your heart A. He led a diamond and, having 6-1-2-4 shape, I pitched my singleton heart on the third round of diamonds to gain 11 imps (4♥ one off the other way in the other room).
Roger Morton & Bernard
Pike – 4 Spades bid by Peter and Liz.
For the record, on the 4 spades contract, our bidding was:
2D(multi), Pass from Bernard, 2NT Enquiry, Pass from Roger, 3C (poor weak two),
Pass from Bernard, 3H, Double from Roger (aggressive?). 3S (this is my weak
two), 4H from Bernard, all Pass. One
off for –100 and a good save against the making 3S contract.
Our Hands: Bernard
S A
H Axxx
D 10xxxx
C K10x
Roger
S xxx
H KJ109xx
D xxx
C Q
We gained two further game swings when Liz made thin 3NT contracts twice running. One of them was this hand.
|
|
N |
♠ Q5 |
|
|
|
W |
|
♥ A10872 |
|
E |
|
♠ 4 |
|
♦ AQ2 |
|
♠ AJ108732 |
|
♥ J94 |
|
♣ A64 |
|
♥ Q53 |
|
♦ J9875 |
|
|
|
♦ K106 |
|
♣ KJ32 |
|
|
|
♣ - |
|
|
S |
♠ K96 |
|
|
|
|
(Liz) |
♥ K6 |
|
|
|
|
|
♦ 43 |
|
|
|
|
|
♣ Q109875 |
|
|
With N the dealer the bidding went 1H – 2S (intermediate) – 3C (aggressive) – No – 3S (asking for a stop) – No – 3NT. I perhaps should bid 3D rather than 3S, intending 3NT over 3S by Liz, to get the contract played the right way up. However Liz would probably bid 3H then, leaving us no better placed. After a spade lead, Liz played the Q and won the third round, pitching a diamond. It is close now whether to play a club to the Ace, or do as she did and play the Q. When West covered it was all over, with 9 top tricks after knocking out the club J. But what happens if West ducks and ducks again, reducing Liz’s five club tricks to three? She can still make, if the second club is won in dummy with the 6, as she can then play a heart to the 6, setting up 4 heart tricks (and 9 in all), and keeping East off play.
With one board to play we were 27pts up, but on the last board, Liz held
♠98765 ♥J ♦AJ973 ♣74 at favourable vulnerability. I opened 1NT (12-14) and the next hand bid 4H. She bid 4♠ which on a good day may be a very cheap save against 4♥ or even make. This day, when I had 4 hearts and 2 spades, and the next hand had ♠KQJxx, was very bad indeed. -800 when 4♥ failed in the other room.
Still, we won by 14-6 in VPs and Ashford will need to beat us by at least 17-3 (and win their other match very heavily) to stop us winning the league.
NEW MEMBERS
We welcome to the club Lesley Scrivener, Graham Walker, Charles
Chisnall, Richard Wheen and Peter Slot and hope they will enjoy their bridge at
the Mayfield.
CHAIRMAN’S NOTES
A Happy New
Year to all of you. Whilst I have said
this at the club it was to a greatly reduced attendance due to the inclement
weather. I hope you had an enjoyable
Christmas despite the snow which accompanied the festivities.
On the subject
of snow, we did our best to advise you of the one day that we had to close the
club, with notices on the web site, emails and phone calls. However, in the future, if you think there
is a doubt about whether there will be bridge, please check the web site or if
you do not have a computer then to quote Chris Tarrant ‘phone a friend’ or
committee member. Apologies to anyone
who turned up on the day that we cancelled the bridge.
Christmas
Party
As usual this
went very well. It was nice to see so
many of you there. An especial thanks
must go to Steve Johnson who, for the second time last year, stepped
into the breach to make up an even number of tables. This time he did not actually win as he did at the Jubilee
celebrations.
P2P
This coming
year will be one approached with trepidation as far as the new system being
introduced by the EBU. It is hoped that
it will at least work and not cause too many headaches for the Committee. It is certainly going to be
interesting. Initially we are gong to
have to advise the EBU of the information on the forms we sent out. This promises to be a major task, so if you
have not yet completed and returned your form to Rosemary, please do so
immediately. This applies to just over
20 of you so please take note as this is your reminder.
E-mail
Addresses
To quote Tom
Jones ‘It is not unusual’ for a member to change their e-mail address. If you do so, please could you inform the
club as we have a database of these for sending out documents to you. Thank you.
Members
without a partner
You are asked
that wherever possible if you require a partner for the evening that you arrive
by 7.30pm and make yourself known to the host or director. This avoids the host being paired up and
sorting out a system and then being replaced and the procedure having to be
started over again probably delaying the start at that table and maybe the
room. It also enables the director to
know how many tables he/she has to choose a movement for.
Start Time
As some of you may be aware, a father of one of the dancers on a Tuesday night has complained about men entering the hall when the dancers are still in their leotards. We have spoken with Deirdre, the dance teacher, and discussed the situation and have agreed with her that she will stop promptly at 7.15pm and we will not go in until 7.20pm giving the girls 5 minutes to get dressed. Please make sure you do not abuse this agreement and help to set up the room as soon as it is available. Thank you.
LOCAL POINTS - please see attached.
The one person we need to run a Bridge Tournament is the Director, and at the Mayfield we have a number of members who give their time to run and organise events, in many cases to the detriment of his or her performance at the bridge table.
In past few months there have been several examples at the Mayfield when the Director’s decision has been not been accepted and a few members have been very vocal during the Tournament objecting to the decision.
This must stop, any decision made during the Tournament by the Director is final, and must NOT be challenged during the Tournament.
The correct procedure if you disagree with the Director’s decision is to wait until the Tournament has ended and appeal the decision. But if you appeal you must let the opposition know that you intend to appeal.
The EBU have produced eleven flowcharts to assist Directors. I will attach copies to each of our Book of Laws, and if you would like a personal copy please let me know.
There have been two Laws that have caused confusion over a period of time, the requirements for an Acol Two opening bid and a player’s responsibilities when there is a mistaken bid or explanation.
I have included a copy of the Orange Book’s section on the rules for opening a Strong Two and a copy of Law 75 which covers a mistaken bid or explanation in a succinct manner.
§¨©ª§¨©ª§¨©ª§©¨ª§¨©ª
A Strong Two opening bid (or an Benji 2¨ opening bid showing an Acol Two) is defined in the Orange Book, and must be one of:-
a) subject to proper disclosure, a hand that contains as a minimum the normal high-card strength associated with a one-level opening (Rule of 19) and at least eight clear cut tricks, or
b) any hand meeting the Rule of 25, or
c) any hand of at least 16 HCPs
For the “Rule of 25” to apply, the sum of the number of cards in the longest two suits plus the HCP must equal at least 25.
Clear-cut tricks are clarified as tricks expected to make opposite a void in partner’s hand and the second best suit break.
Thus a hand of ªAKQJxxxx ©xx ¨xx §xx does count as eight clear-cut tricks,
but a hand of ªAKQxxxxx ©xx ¨xx §xx does not.
A few examples should make it clear:-
AKQxxxxx seven clear-cut tricks
KQJxxxx five clear-cut tricks
AQJ98xx five clear-cut tricks
KQJTx three clear-cut tricks
KQJTxxx six clear-cut tricks
AKJ9xxxxx eight clear-cut tricks
KJTxxx two clear-cut tricks
§¨©ª§¨©ª§¨©ª§©¨ª§¨©ª
After a misleading explanation has been given to opponents the
responsibilities of the players (and the Director) are as illustrated by the
consequences of this following example:
North has opened 1NT and South, who holds a weak hand with long
diamonds, has bid 2¨, intending to sign off; North explains, however, in answer to West’s
inquiry, that South’s bid is strong and artificial, asking for major suits.
Whether or not North’s explanation is a correct statement of
partnership agreement, South, having heard North’s explanation, knows that his
own 2¨ bid has been misinterpreted. This knowledge is “unauthorized information”,
so South must be careful to avoid taking any advantage from that unauthorized
information. (If he does, the Director shall award an adjusted score.) For
instance, if North rebids 2NT, South has the unauthorized information that this
bid merely denies a four-card holding in either major suit; but South’s
responsibility is to act as though North had made a strong game try opposite a
weak response, showing maximum values.
The actual
partnership agreement is that 2¨ is a natural signoff; the mistake was in
North’s explanation. This explanation is an infraction of Law, since East-West
are entitled to an accurate description of the North-South agreement (when this
infraction results in damage to East-West, the Director shall award an adjusted
score). If North subsequently becomes aware of his mistake, he must immediately
notify the Director. South must do nothing to correct the mistaken explanation
while the auction continues; after the final pass, South, if he is to be
declarer or dummy, should call the Director and must volunteer a correction of
the explanation. If South becomes a defender, he calls the Director and
corrects the explanation when play ends.
The partnership
agreement is as explained — 2¨ is strong and artificial; the mistake was in
South’s call. Here there is no infraction of Law, since East-West did receive
an accurate description of the North-South agreement; they have no claim to an
accurate description of the North-South hands. (Regardless of damage, the
Director shall allow the result to stand; but the Director is to presume
Mistaken Explanation, rather than Mistaken Call, in the absence of evidence to
the contrary.) South must not correct North’s explanation (or notify the
Director) immediately, and he has no responsibility to do so subsequently.
§¨©ª§¨©ª§¨©ª§©¨ª§¨©ª
Table Money
With effect from 1 April 2010, table money is being
increased by 50p per session to £2.50 for members and £3.50 for non-members.
In reaching this decision, the Committee took account of
the fact that last year, the Club lost £311 on its Bridge activities (excluding
the Jubilee Party) and this year is expected to post a much larger loss as a
result of lower attendances. In addition, we will have to pay the P2P
charge of 29p per player.
The voucher, host and director systems will remain
unaltered but will be more valuable being worth an extra 50p.
BOOKSTALL
– from ROY SMITH
The December 2009 issue of English Bridge contains a review
by Dave Huggett of the recently published ‘Bridge
Behind Bars’ of which the joint authors are Julian Pottage and Nick Smith.
Mayfield members may be interested to learn that Nick, whose father is our own
Roy Smith, has happy memories of the Mayfield since it was with us that he took
his first faltering steps into competitive bridge whilst still a schoolboy at
Glyn in the mid-1970s.
The review is quite enthusiastic, reporting that the book
is both entertaining and instructional. Both Roy himself and Alan Bailey were involved in the final editing so that they
carefully perused every word of the text and the play of the hands. Roy is of
the opinion that players in the Mayfield mould will find the material
particularly rewarding: well, he would be wouldn’t he!
A hand featuring Nick which was selected by his one-time
partner Barry Rigal may entertain our readers. It
does not appear in the book. This is the layout –
AJ964
843
A65
J4
Q82 K105
972
KJ1065
J10974 82
85 963
73
AQ
KQ3
AKQ1072
and South opened 2NT. After a slam
invitation he settled for 6NT and so by-passed the boring 6C which simply needs
the Spades no worse than 4 – 2. A Diamond was led.
Declarer cashed all his Clubs before leading a Spade to
the 9. If this loses to the 10 he falls back on the H finesse. But East
concealed that card, winning with the K and switched to the J of Hearts with S
playing his Ace.
In the ending East discarded the Spade 10 (retaining the
5) and then at trick twelve South confidently put
up the Ace, thinking the failure to play the Spade 10 had been a careless play
and expecting the Q to drop. Imagine his surprise when the 5 appeared!
As Barry observed, the double deception would only work
against a decent player and South still ought to have got it right. But who was
East? Why, Nick of course!
Bridge Behind Bars is not Nick’s only venture as an
author. His title ‘Bridge Literature’ was first published way back in 1993 and
was very well received.
♠♣♥♦
LOCAL POINTS
|
EBU
No |
Name |
Awards |
LPs |
|
EBU No |
Name |
Awards |
LPs |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
24688 |
Ulla
Adilz |
6 |
58 |
|
403255 |
Liz
Martin |
3 |
42 |
|
400348 |
Alan
Bailey |
9 |
192 |
|
75393 |
Maria
Martin |
3 |
59 |
|
24040 |
Liz
Balnave |
1 |
12 |
|
93592 |
Dean
Morley |
12 |
308 |
|
13072 |
Andrew
Barnett |
10 |
189 |
|
41571 |
Roger
Morton |
12 |
300 |
|
81205 |
Tony
Belton |
7 |
123 |
|
404136 |
Joyce
Munns |
6 |
84 |
|
415277 |
Adrian
Boulding |
5 |
33 |
|
404137 |
Trevor
Munns |
4 |
52 |
|
415278 |
Jacky
Boulding |
5 |
33 |
|
107448 |
Loraine
Murphy |
3 |
68 |
|
36176 |
Philip
Brooks |
13 |
304 |
|
12791 |
Sean
O'Neill |
4 |
52 |
|
57039 |
Malcolm
Channing |
17 |
649 |
|
22456 |
John
Osborne |
3 |
66 |
|
90868 |
Peter
Cogliatti |
8 |
182 |
|
48856 |
Adrian
Patrick |
21 |
669 |
|
40503 |
Tim
Cook |
10 |
276 |
|
46971 |
Liz
Phillips |
7 |
204 |
|
26403 |
Mike
Cowley |
5 |
86 |
|
72155 |
Bernard
Pike |
8 |
212 |
|
76481 |
Joan
Cullen |
6 |
184 |
|
35309 |
Shirley
Preuveneers |
2 |
40 |
|
99954 |
Olivia
Dawson |
6 |
142 |
|
82891 |
Chris
Pullan |
11 |
230 |
|
86028 |
David
Dick |
11 |
408 |
|
414867 |
Alan
Rainbow |
4 |
112 |
|
19037 |
Gwen
Easto |
7 |
150 |
|
10669 |
Rosemary
Rice |
7 |
152 |
|
421156 |
Steve
Foster |
2 |
20 |
|
10883 |
Tony
Scouller |
4 |
78 |
|
64359 |
John
Frosztega |
1 |
6 |
|
112115 |
Lesley
Scrivener |
1 |
12 |
|
49560 |
Mae
Gayner |
1 |
10 |
|
23098 |
Helen
Seymour |
1 |
10 |
|
61432 |
Jennie
George |
1 |
18 |
|
425037 |
Peter
Slot |
1 |
6 |
|
96915 |
Audrey
Grzesiak |
1 |
10 |
|
107959 |
Brian
Smith |
5 |
72 |
|
53542 |
Julian
Hemsted |
5 |
112 |
|
96852 |
Roy
Smith |
6 |
136 |
|
118549 |
Lynne
Hiorns |
8 |
158 |
|
12392 |
Mary
Street |
11 |
247 |
|
24501 |
Pam
Hoskins |
1 |
30 |
|
54755 |
Roger
Sugden |
12 |
202 |
|
49192 |
David
Hull |
1 |
20 |
|
93169 |
Arun
Suri |
4 |
138 |
|
402788 |
Pat
Hunter |
1 |
6 |
|
79997 |
Ian
Swanson |
1 |
42 |
|
50755 |
Keith
Jackson |
8 |
164 |
|
401619 |
Philip
Tilbrook |
6 |
183 |
|
414885 |
Pam
Jardine |
6 |
95 |
|
25772 |
John
Timberlake |
20 |
391 |
|
31677 |
Elizabeth
Johnson |
5 |
102 |
|
38625 |
Sylvia
Timberlake |
23 |
520 |
|
75259 |
Audrey
Kolbe |
6 |
90 |
|
21737 |
Kerstin
Tompsett |
5 |
76 |
|
106183 |
Valerie
Lacey |
2 |
60 |
|
77515 |
Martin
Trouse |
5 |
105 |
|
15250 |
Alan
Laker |
5 |
69 |
|
49646 |
Tony
Turnage |
3 |
38 |
|
28103 |
Dorothy
Laker |
5 |
69 |
|
49564 |
Joan
Underdown |
1 |
6 |
|
52156 |
Peter
Lee |
3 |
96 |
|
61431 |
Denny
Wade |
4 |
109 |