MAYFIELD DUPLICATE
BRIDGE CLUB
NEWSLETTER No. 56 JULY 2012
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
The 28th Annual General Meeting of the Club was held on 17th April 2012, and 43 members were present.
The following Committee was elected: Keith Jackson (Chairman), Adrian Patrick (Secretary), Peter Cogliatti (Treasurer), Roger Morton (Captain), Alan Bailey, Tim Cook, Cindy Gregory, Pam Jardine, Helen Seymour, Roger Sugden and Philip Tilbrook.
John Timberlake was asked to present the Club Trophies.
CHAIRMAN’S NOTES
AGM
The Treasurer reported a deficit of £519 over the year ending 31 March 2012. This deficit is in accordance with the policy of gradually reducing the net assets, which at the end of year stood at £10,173. The subscription and table money would remain unchanged. However, the deficit for the current year will be higher because the cost of buying-in machine-dealt hands will reflect a full 12 month period (instead of a 6 month one), and an increase in the table money will probably need to be considered at next year’s AGM.
There were three items under Any Other Business:-
i) The Committee had decided to make Liz Phillips a Life Member of the Club.
ii) Various special events were considered, the most popular being a Swiss Pairs competition (see below).
iii) The method of selecting a representative team for the Garden Cities Trophy was queried. Selection was the prerogative of the Club Captain. Prospective team members needed to show good performances not just in club events but in Surrey or national competitions as well. As the club could enter more than one team, it was concluded that entering a second team centred around the winners of club events might be the way forward.
Best Behaviour at Bridge
BB@B was introduced by the EBU some years ago and I think it is worth reminding ourselves of some of its main elements:
- greet others in a friendly manner prior to start of play on each round
- be a good ‘host’ or ‘guest’ at the table
- make bridge enjoyable for yourself, partner and opponents
- it is rude to criticise your partner or opponents in public, to be less than polite at the table, and to dispute or argue about a Director’s ruling.
Other reminders
i) The Director aims to start the club session at 7.40pm, and so could members please assist in setting up the room and sit down as soon as possible.
ii) It is only courtesy to listen to anyone who needs to make an announcement, and polite to ask for ‘Director please’.
iii) Members having a drink are obliged to not only wash up their cup/glass but also to dry it and put it away.
iv) Prize vouchers are only awarded when there are 5 or more complete tables.
SWISS PAIRS COMPETITION
Following the discussion at the AGM the Club is holding a Swiss Pairs competition on Tuesday 30th October. It will be open to non-members, and we are aiming for 15-20 tables.
The event is being organised by a subcommittee under the leadership of Alan Bailey and, as we hope that we may attract some potential new members of the right standard, it is proposed to offer cash prizes. Any offers or ideas for sponsorship would be most welcome.
We are aiming for a 7.15 start playing 5 x 5-board rounds. Entries will open in early September with priority given to MDBC members. We will then advertise the event on a wider scale later that month through the SCBA website and at local clubs.
FORTHCOMING EVENTS – to end of year
Liz Phillips and Committee Cups – Tuesday 24th July. The ranking determining the split between these two events will be decided on the night in order to even out the number of pairs in each. Please enter your names on the entry sheet on the board so that the Director(s) can plan the split beforehand.
Pick-Up Teams – Tuesday 31st July
Surrey Simultaneous Pairs – Tuesday 18th September
Pro-Am Night – Tuesday 16th October. The ranking between Pro and Am will be determined by members’ % on Tuesday club sessions (rather than their Master Point ranking). Again please enter your names on the entry list to help the Director(s) make the split.
Swiss Pairs Open Competition – Tuesday 30th October
No Bridge – Friday 16th November
Party Night – Tuesday 11 December: cocktails 6.30pm, bridge 7.15pm
Bridge as usual – Friday 28th December (and Tuesday 1st January).
CAPTAIN’s REPORT
Mayfield Results
Mayfield Teams Cup 1st Alan Bailey, Roy Smith, Dean Morley and Julian Hemsted
=2nd John Timberlake, Sylvia Timberlake, Tony Belton and Roger Sugden
=2nd Bernard Pike, Liz Phillips, Roger Morton, Malcolm Pryor and Bill Hodgkiss
Mixed Pairs 1st Ann Madden and Tim Cook
2nd Kerstin Tompsett and Philip Brooks
Dorothy Williamson 1st Sylvia and John Timberlake, Rosemary
Rice and Roger Sugden
2nd Ulla Adilz, Kerstin Tompsett, Pam Jardine
and Joan Cullen
Mens Pairs 1st Peter Lee and Arun Suri
2nd Bernard Pike and Tony Scouller
Ladies Pairs 1st Elizabeth Johnson and Kerstin Tompsett 2nd Maria Martin and Liz Martin
Surrey Results
Surrey League Div 1 Winners Ian Swanson, Bill Hodgkiss, Charles Chisnall and Team
Div 2 Section 2 Winners Roger Sugden and Team
Div 3 Section 3 Winners Keith Jackson and Team
Div 3 Play-off Finals Winners David Dick, Peter Cogliatti, Ann Madden and Mary Street
Lady Rose Plate Alan Bailey, Tim Cook + 2
30K Pairs Peter Cogliatti and Philip Tilbrook
30K Teams Peter Cogliatti, Philip Tilbrook, Andrew Barnett and Gillian Hutt
National and Other Results
National Pairs Final 1st Peter Lee and Partner
6th Arun Suri and Partner
Hants and IOW 1st Tim Cook, Malcolm Pryor + 2
Swiss Teams
Note: We will soon be putting entries in for the 2012/2013 Surrey Leagues, so get your team together! It has been agreed that the Club may put in more than one team into the Affiliated Clubs’ Championship next year, usually in January. This is the County qualifier for the National ‘Garden Cities’ Competition. Contact the Captain, Roger Morton, if you are interested.
And finally, some ramblings from the new editor, Tim Cook
Straight from the Text Book!
Once in a while, you come across a hand which offers an advantage to regular readers of play problems..
|
ª A 10 9 3 2 © 10 8 2 ¨ A § A K 6 4
ª 8 © A Q 9 3 ¨ Q J § Q J 10 9 5 3 |
West North East South 1ª Pass 2§ Pass 3§ Pass 3©* Pass 3ª** Pass 4©*** Pass 6§**** All Pass *shows better than minimum with feature/stop **control for § *** ♥ control with slam interest but no diamond control ****no problem! |
The lead is a trump. Unless LHO has 5+ spades, this is laydown. Win lead in hand, Aª, ª ruff(high!), § to dummy, ª ruff, ¨ Ace, ª ruff (they break 4-3), ¨ ruff, discard © 3 on established ª and play any © from Dummy covering East’s card.
The perfect elimination and end play! Except……. East held both ©honours and team mates led a © against the same contract. Ah well!
Do You Break Transfers?
Once it was clear to all that transfer bids had more uses than simply to ‘right side’ contracts taken out of 1NT, the way was open to develop a wide range of constructive auctions, often leading to higher things. Amongst the new ideas was to ‘break’ the transfer, usually showing 4 card support for the ‘transfer’ suit and a maximum 1NT bid.
‘Breaking’ can take several forms which have been devised to identify different strengths and hand patterns but the popular methods all require a maximum strength 1NT. One example is to ‘break’ to 2NT with 4 card support and no weak doubleton, ‘break’ to 3 of the suit with a weak doubleton etc.
Those familiar with Larry Cohen’s excellent tome The Law of Total Tricks (LTT) will appreciate the value in bidding freely to the level of your known trump fit with partner. Thus, on the certainty that the player initiating the transfer will hold a minimum of 5 cards in the transferred suit, your side will be ‘safe’ at the 3 level whenever you hold 4 cards, irrespective of strength. This all relates to the balance of strength between N/S & E/W. Put simply, the less tricks you can win – the more they can, so it may be poor maths for opponents to take an inadequate penalty.
For those unfamiliar with LTT I recommend that you read the book and, without burning the midnight oil, adopt the basic principles outlined therein.
And so to business! Playing IMPs at game all you hold
♠ A1097642
♥ Q
♦ 9542
♣ 6
and partner opens 1NT (12-14). RHO passes and you bid 2 ♥ for transfer. Partner now bids 2NT showing 4 spades and no weak doubleton.
Ardent counters of HCP will retreat hastily to 3 ♠ but wait… Is game not a fair shot? It will all depend on partner’s diamond holding which might range from xxx to Ax. I am no advanced mathematician but the odds look reasonably good to me.
Let us suppose that partner’s spades are weak, say Jxxx. There will now be 11 HCP elsewhere and even one Ace will be good news. Stronger trumps will weaken the outside suits but lessen the likelihood of a trump loser. Then, partner’s hand will need to realise 3 tricks with one likely source being diamond ruff(s). A bold call of 4 spades will reveal a dummy of:-
♠ KJ85 ♥ 9743 ♦ KQ ♣ K98
Game made on a combined 18 HCP(16 really because the heart Q in declarer’s hand is without value!).
The power of distribution and the value of breaking a transfer with any 4 card support.