January 5th, 2009 ~ linda ~
5 Comments 
We are all working hard now on getting our new ebook website up and running. It will be called www.ebooksbridge.com. If you click on this link right now you will get a message saying that the website is coming soon. In about two weeks we will have our new website up and running. Over the next few months we will get all of the books we have published available as an ebook, even the ones that are out of print. Also all of our software. So, if you like the new media you will be able to get Master Point Press books that way. We are very happy that we will be able to make our out of print books available to you as ebooks. Even if only a few people want a book we believe they should be able to get it. This makes that possible.
You don’t even need an ebook reader to read an ebook. All of the ebooks are PDF’s. That means you can read them on a PC or you can print off some pages that you want to refer to. Ebooks have some nice features like hyperlinks which allow you to navigate around the ebooks in ways that are not possible with a paper book. It also means that you can have the book in minutes whenever you want it. Will this be the wave of the future?
When we start out only some of our books will be available but it won’t take long before all are there. I am sure there will be a special offer on the site so that you can try out an ebook at a low price and see if you like it.
I am also planning to post all of the deals that won IBPA awards this year so that you can read about them. However I am going to post them with my commentary. In order to qualify for an award the deals were written up by the press and submitted as candidates by the author for awards. I will post a link to the IBPA writeup of the winning hands which I believe are finally online.
My student Kathie and I had a fun session practising last week. I particularly liked the deal where we got to a type Meckwell 3NT. I had a nice 11 count and overcalled 1C with 1S.
S AJ872 H 1043 D QJ7 C K9
Kathy had a nice 12 count with
S 102 H J862 D AK1064 C A8
and decided that was enough for game. Actually it was enough. As you can see our 23 HCP produced nine tricks when the opening bidder showed up with the onside SKQ. Maybe 23 HCP is too much to call it a Meckwell 3NT. Well done, Kathie anyway.
As part of the mentoring program, I think I like playing and then discussing the deals with Kathie the best. Usually one of the other players hangs around for the discussion. There is always so much to talk about. If you are interested in being a mentor or helping out this wonderful program check out www.bilbridge.com. The last time I talked to the founder Maureen Hall she was looking for two things. A bit of financial support and some more mentors. There were quite a few students waiting for mentors but if you fall in that camp sign up anyway. Being a mentor is very rewarding and really not that much work – so go for it.
I have been thinking that I wouldn’t mind coaching some serious women players or partnership. I am not looking for a fee, I just think I would enjoy doing it and I think I could help out. I might follow up on it.
I have just finished the first pass at converting Larry Cohen’s wonderful software My Favourite 52 into a book manuscript. It will require one more quick pass to make it consistent and ready for the editorial group here. It is a wonderful material and actually has a lot more than 52 deals since Larry snuck in some bonus deals. I am still not sure that I have found the best way to present the material in book form yet but the team at MPP will work it out. I love the way Larry writes, his sense of humour and the ideas he presents about bidding, play and defence. I keep learning new things. In fact I like everything Larry writes.
But I do want to make one comment about his article in the January 2009 article in The Bridge World. I am once again wading into the sticky waters of professional teams. Larry, I think it is fine to say that some sponsors are experts and a few may even be players who would have been chosen for a top team even if they were not dishing out the money. But let’s face it the qualifications to be a sponsor are not to be a star player. Only high rollers need apply. So sponsors run the gamut from near novices to experts and rarely even top experts.
Here’s one interesting hand to bid from Larry’s article. You hold S 865 H KQ10 D Q3 C KAJ85. At unfavourable vulnerability the auctions starts 1S by partner 4H by your RHO. What do you do?
000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
I think there are only two choices double and 4S. I kind of like double in that you have a flat hand with what looks like a lot of wasted heart values. You only have minimal support and trump often doesn’t split well on those hands.It is also flexible because with a distributional hand partner can bid and with a balanced hand partner can pass. Bidding 4S doesn’t give partner many choices. Double was the action chosen at the table and it turned out to be the right action. Partner had SA10974 H 85 D A95 C A103 and you cannot make 4S. However I can see arguments for bidding 4S too. Just because double was right on this hand doesn’t mean it is always right.
December 30th, 2008 ~ linda ~
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I read Luise’s thoughtful New Year’s resolutions. They said all that needed to be said so in response I decided to write my less serious New Year’s Resolutions and I am basing it on funny quotations so here goes.
1. When Dealing with my children remember what Harry Truman said:
“I have found the best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it.”
2. When playing bridge with Ray remember
“Bridge is a game that separates the men from the boys. It also separates husbands and wives.” -George Burns–
3. When I play bridge on BBO remember what Mae West said:
“Good sex is like good bridge, if you don’t have a good partner, you’d better have a good hand.”
4. Rejoice in my friends who are as Bernard Meltzer said:
“A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked.”
5. When I am working remember what Scott Adams, my favourite work humorist, said
“Accept that some days you’re the pigeon, and some days you’re the statue“
6. When my grandchildren visit remember:
“The reason grandparents and grandchildren get along so well is that they have a common enemy.”
-Sam Levenson–
7. When planning for the future remember a favourite quote from the great philosopher Yogi Berra:
“If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.”
Some other quotes to keep in mind in 2009
Eighty percent of success is showing up ….. Woody Allen
Didn’t come up here to read. Came up here to hit. …. Hand Aaron
Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, and half shut afterwards …. Benjamin Franklin
To sum it up for those who know me I resolve to stop doing this:
“That’s the secret to life… replace one worry with another….”
-Charlie Brown
And do this instead:
“Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint you can on it.”
-Danny Kaye
December 29th, 2008 ~ linda ~
3 Comments
It has been really crazy at holiday time this year. I seem to have gone to more parties, more dinners, more visits than usual and I am reminded that I have a limited tolerance for them. It’s not that I don’t like going out to eat, visiting with friends and family and all that. It’s just that I need a lot more on my own time than most people. Fortunately most people who know me are very tolerant. I am blessed that way.If we are all happily singing carols at the piano and I wander off after a while or we are having a lovely meal and I decide I have to go walkies, they forgive me.
I did get a few excellent presents but the best one was a camera setup so that I can have teleconferences with my daughter and her family in Vancouver. Here I am testing out my new equipment. The smile means that it was easy to use.
.
As we are getting very close to the New Year I have been thinking about all the things that have happened in the past year. Things may not always have gone exactly as we would like but the world is still an amazing place and exciting and wonderful things are happening all the time. I thought I was a bit ahead of the times when I suggested that we start working on ebooks. Now I am thinking that are timing is perfect. My friend Margaret just got an ebook reader for Christmas. Margaret is a cool lady but she isn’t that much ahead of the mainstream. Ray and I were fascinated by the Sony reader when we saw one recently. I read some material about the Amazon Kindle today. You can download books at any time to your reader. It operates like a cellphone so you don’t even need WI-FI available. How awesome is that? As we are creating our ebooks we can add extra features like hyperlinks which make the book even better than the paper version. Maybe we won’t all find paper books quite as cuddily as we used to think. Maybe we will be happy to cuddle up to our readers and feel good that we are saving a bunch of trees at the same time.
I had a chance to fall in love with Australia and New Zealand all over again in 2008 and I really look forward to some great trips in 2009. It didn’t quite make up for losing the Canadian women’s team trial but it almost did. One way or another I have spent a fair bit of time thinking about bridge this year, writing, teaching, reading, blogging and playing. I have experimented with a lot of different systems. I realize that I am still learning. I think I am playing better – maybe better than I have ever played.
2008 was really the year of the blog. Judy Kay-Wolff has been talking about how great it is to have bridgeblogging site and how much fun she has been having. Me too. We have a lot of ideas for new things for next year and we would love to hear from you about what you would like to see. I vote Judy the blogging star of the year.
I have been thinking about what’s new in bridge in the last couple of years. Some times it seems like nothing really changes but then you look back and see that things have changed quite a bit over longer periods of time. Perhaps the biggest thing to affect the game is the use of technology especially online technology in so many ways. It is a wonderful tool to be able to look at all the hands and all the results in the Sydney bridge tournament we played in or reviewing results of top players at important tournaments. finding information about conventions and systems instantly, using deep finesse to see if you missed anything in a hand and so many other things.
I was intrigued but what Stacy Jacobs mentioned in one of her blogs Stacy’s Blog about suit combination flash cards. I asked her to tell me more about them. It sounds like a good idea. Stacy’s blogs are always interesting with lots of comments and discussion.
December 22nd, 2008 ~ linda ~
1 Comment
"Count your winners as well as your blessings. Remember to say thank you to your partner. And enjoy all the great cards that you are dealt." … Linda Lee
" I hope everyone has finished their shopping and can relax with people they like and a warm drink of choice. Enjoy the sights and sounds of the season and have a full and happy year of reading, playing, and blogging in 2009!" … Claire Sheldon
"Wishing you all a happy holiday and hoping you find some time to relax with family and friends (and play some bridge?)." … Sally Sparrow
"For those watching their waistline: with all the sweets and treats that are around this time of year, everything looks so good and tasty. However, if you taste something that isn’t a 10, don’t feel obligated to finish the inferior dessert. Wait until that 10 comes around!" … Luise Lee
"Happy holidays and all the best for 2009" … Ray Lee
December 22nd, 2008 ~ linda ~
4 Comments
You are almost certainly not aware that Master Point Press sponsors an award for the International Bridge Press Association (IBPA) Book of the Year. The only other award for authors of bridge books is provided by the American Bridge Teachers’ Association and it is as you would expect aimed at books for newcomers or intermediates. We felt that authors of other bridge books should be honoured for their achievements.
Sadly the IBPA does not publicize its winners (there are other awards as well) and the awards are not even listed on their website. (Don’t bother to go there, it has nothing on it at all for non-members. Not even an email address where you write and complain.) Only members see their Bulletin where winners are announced. The award is announced at the World Championships and in past years the winners have been included in the Daily Bulletin, but that did not happen this year.
Fortunately we have a subscription to Australian Bridge which I find to be an excellent magazine.
Australian Bridge Magazine
and in their December Issue David Morgan, their book reviewer, reviews all of the nominated books. David’s reviews are always insightful. Here is a list of the nominated books for this year and I will talk about the winner at the end:
The Bridge Adventures of Mr. Badhir (The Numb) – a homage to the Rueful Rabbit. I have not read this book and David’s assessment did not inspire me to get a copy.
Heavenly Contracts by David Bird – another monk book, just as good as always.
Misplay These Hands With Me – by Mark Horton. This is a Master Point Press book and in my opinion one of Mark’s best. In this homage to Terence Reese (Play these hands with me) the narrator makes lots of mistakes ending in failure and then explains his mistake to the reader. Some hands were more interesting to me then others but it was a fun read.
I have not read A Bridge Too Far by Tom Hanlon which follows his experiences as he starts to play professionally. He did this by playing with a regular expert partner and trying to win prize money rather than by playing on a sponsored team. From David’s description this sounds like an interesting book with lots of interesting deals. I intend to get a copy.
Next is another Master Point Press book, The Lone Wolff Bobby Wolff’s autobiography. I think this is a fascinating book and so does David Morgan who calls it “an extraordinary book”. That it is. Bobby definitely doesn’t hold back — he talks about everything and everybody in his long and fascinating career. Everyone who reads this book has strong opinions about it but that is because Bobby says exactly what he thinks. There is no political correctness here. That makes the book as David Morgan describes “deeply engaging, like reading a thriller”. I know that this book opened my eyes about a lot of things. But I would be surprised if you will share Bobby’s opinion on every subject. Great books about important matters cause great controversy. This book has done just that.
The winning book is A Great Deal of Bridge Problems by Julian Pottage which David Morgan describes a treasure trove of 168 bridge problems. Julian always comes up with fascinating problems and while I haven’t read this book I am certain that it continues the trend. Julian previously won the Master Point Press book of the year award in 2004 with Play or Defend ? (Master Point Press) and is the author of several others.
Julian Pottage
In fact, Master Point Press will be publishing an interesting new book by Mr. Pottage (together with Nick Smith) called Bridge Behind Bars. This one is a humorous fictional account of a new convict who finds himself in a very serious jail bridge game. As you can expect from Julian, I am sure the deals will be wonderful.
While I am sad that one of our authors did not win this year, I am glad that Julian won. He is a very nice man and an excellent author. Ray thinks that he is currently the premier bridge puzzle composer. There are several other contenders for that title including of course Eddie Kantar. But it could be Julian. Anyway, well done.
Now write the editor of your favourite bridge magazine and tell them you want to hear about all the IBPA award winner. Besides Best book there are prizes for Bridge Personality of the Year, Best played hand, Best defended hand, Best bid hand and Junior Deal of the Year (as submitted by bridge writers). Don’t you want to see them all? I do. I even want to see all of the nominated deals. Write the IBPA – I figured out that you should email IBPA Chairman Per Jannersten and ask him to publish all the nominees and the deals where appropriate. Here is his email address: [email protected] The players, journalists and authors involved deserve recognition. Besides I want to see all the deals!
December 20th, 2008 ~ linda ~
2 Comments
Some days you shouldn’t get up. I think a lot of people around here felt that way today. They called it Snow-magedon. No really they did.
Here was the radar at 7:45 AM. See Toronto in the middle of the bulls-eye.
The Lee’s had one casualty. Ray lost his Blackberry. I am sure it is out there somewhere under a pile of snow. We did search for it but believe me the snow was falling so fast and was so deep that the poor thing is buried.
I am not allowed to snicker about this, even though Ray always gives me a hard time when I lose something. But I did have to hide the small grin that was on my face.
So, with not much happening at work or at play I tried to play some pickup bridge. The first episode was brutal. Okay, I was wrong on this one. But I didn’t deserve what followed. After five very good results including one where I played the pants off of 4
. This innocent deal came up. Here is my hand
We were not vulnerable against red opponents. This is how the auction started with me in first chair.
| Me |
RHO |
CHO |
LHO |
1 |
Dbl |
pass |
2 |
| 3 |
3 |
dbl |
rdbl |
| ? |
|
|
|
Now I never pull redoubles. I always figure that we are smarter than the opponents. But partner had passed the double of 1. Since he probably had five spades he couldn’t have almost any high card points or he would have bid 1 himself. Yeah, okay maybe I shouldn’t have pulled it. As it turns out on the lie of the cards 3 is one down. But this launched a tirade of inappropriate vocabulary which didn’t stop even after I made him an enemy and left the table.
Want to know what partner had (just for interest).
Later on I thought things might be better and tried again. This time I had a very pleasant partner but he definitely wasn’t playing bridge as I know it. But no hard feelings and no need to make him an enemy.
I wrote a blog on www.masteringbridge.com about balancing. I discovered that Kathie and the other student at our table last night hadn’t ever heard the term. When I went to write lesson 1 for them I realized how very complex this topic is. You can let me know if you think I did okay. I stuck to the situation that actually occurred in our practice game. The opponents were about to play 1 so I bid my five to the ten spade suit. It is hard to explain to someone that you are already bidding the cards. I mean what is that … xray vision? Kind of.
Well maybe tomorrow it will stop snowing and I can go out and buy the last things I need. Do you think the toy stores will be busy?
December 16th, 2008 ~ linda ~
8 Comments
Ray and I started this site shortly before we went to Shanghai. I was playing on the Canadian women’s team and Ray was the NPC. Both of us blogged from the event. At first it seemed like there wasn’t much response. Ray actually wrote in one blog that he wondered if anyone was reading it. That brought quite a few replies which made him feel better.
I think of my blog as my bridge diary but a diary that other people can read. I decided at the beginning that I would right what pleased me and hope that it was of interest to others. I have never had trouble thinking of things to write about. I have always loved the beauty of bridge hands. So many deals are wonderful puzzles to solve. The play and defence are my favourite parts but bidding can be fascinating too. So if I am just watching people play it doesn’t take me long to think about something interesting about a deal.
Still I needed to come up with some personal rules. Of course I couldn’t say anything negative about my partners or team. It was easy enough to find good things to say about them and their play. But it was sometimes difficult to discuss what was happening in a match without pointing out a mistake. If my partner induced an error with a great deceptive play than someone had fallen into the trap, perhaps needlessly. So I wrote about the victim but named no names.
Sometimes I wanted to discuss or get input about a hand I had played where it wasn’t clear who had made the mistake so while I might name the participants I wouldn’t say who was who. This all seemed to work fairly well.
Recently, I found my dark side. It was pretty well impossible to review a world championship match without mentioning errors. Bridge is a game of mistakes and misjudgements, after all. I did try to be positive though. But then I saw what I considered to be serious mistakes by a professional. I couldn’t help myself. I named names and I said it was a costly and serious error. Since then I have done the same thing again once or twice. I need to adjust my code – like Dexter, the mass murderer of those deserving, perhaps?
But never, oh never my partners!
Even when I comment on someone else’s blog, I wonder what to say. How much should I disagree with them and how nicely. Most of the time I say what I think and damn the torpedoes.
Mostly it has been a pleasure to blog. Almost all the feedback has been great. Still it is nice to hear from readers directly and when I post and don’t get comments for a while I miss it. And I think I have been able to tell good stories and follow my code.
December 11th, 2008 ~ linda ~
7 Comments
I occasionally log on to BBO and play for a while. I don’t plan to play that many hands and it seems simplest to just join a game with an expert partner. I know that people of all abilities label themselves as expert and I don’t expect much but here are a few things that have happened recently that bug me.
1) People find defending difficult. I know it is the hardest part of the game. But here are a couple of clues for my former partners:
– take the setting trick
– if I discourage three times in a suit and you have an alternative, lead another suit. Who knows I might have a reason for the signal.
– If I lead a suit at notrump and you have nothing better to do than return my suit
2) I know it is hard to bid with a strange partner with no discussion but:
– if you make a non-forcing bid and I try for game, don’t decide to bid Blackwood now. I will treat it as natural in revenge. (Actually it was the right bid to pass as it turned out).
– If you bid your suits over and over and I finally support one of them, don’t expect me to have good trump support.
3) Generally I don’t watch when random partners play dummy, it isn’t good for my morale but please partner if you have a reasonable play to make your game, take it. Don’t just give up.
I noticed that when some of the above happen I have been developing a bad habit. I hear my phone ringing, excuse myself and leave BBO only to find that the phone bell was imaginary. I don’t give lessons. I never say anything at all. I thank everyone for the game. What do you think?
I am wondering about the BBO skill categories. Right now the categories seem to be
novice – this one is quite accurate
intermediate – about what I expect. when I play with you I will be friendly as pie
Advanced – the same as intermediate but with ego
Expert – almost everyone – from advanced to terrific. I have now taken to looking at the conventions listed on the profile. If they are too basic or too weird, bad sign
World Class – a very few really are, almost all the rest are advanced with ego
Since world class seems so pretentious maybe we need another category to divide up the experts.
Expert First Class
Qualifications:
a) Reads Bridge World
b) “Just a simple double squeeze, partner – no problem”
c) Regularly counts to 13 – (he was either 5-4-2-2 or 5-4-3-1 so I….)
d) Sees spot cards
e) Thinks … well that may be going to far
On a fun note I just got my brain exercise of the day. I liked it a lot so I pass it on. I will post the solution later.
|
Title: Baby Time
Category: Rebus
=======================================================
Can you decipher what the man did?
Baby = Slept peacefully
Child = Slept well
Woman = Slept restlessly
Man = Slept peacefully
|
December 10th, 2008 ~ linda ~
5 Comments
First I am going to start this off with the poem of the week. I have decided to memorize poetry as part of my “improve my mind” therapy. So here is the poem:
I’m Nobody! Who are you? by Emily Dickinson
I’m nobody! Who are you?
Are you nobody, too?
Then there’s a pair of us -don’t tell!
They’d banish us, you know.
How dreary to be somebody!
How public, like a frog
To tell your name the livelong day
To an admiring bog!
…………………………………………………………………………………..
Now I wonder why I picked that poem. Am I feeling discouraged? Is there a problem with my self esteem? Definitely not! It just seems to fit with the economy. I suppose we will all have to wear long skirts soon.
Kathy and I had our lesson yesterday. The idea was to begin a look at one of a minor. The problem isn’t the opening bid or even the response. It is all the paths that you can follow from there. We happened upon a reverse and I realized that it was just too much to talk about then. So we decided to do that next week. Kathie is going to work through Chapter 5 of
25 Conventions You Should Know
I plan to reread it to so that I am consistent with it. This area is so full of potholes and problems. Ray and I worked on ways to simplify the continuations since we always seem to get stuck in the mud.
At the beginning of the lesson we discussed what to do after opening one of a minor and hearing partner’s one level response. If you had a four card major you could bid should you bid that now or should you bid 1NT. I think this is a matter of partnership choice. With most partner’s I prefer to bid 1NT with a balanced hand. So if I make another suit bid at the one level I have an unbalanced hand.
There is an advantage to bidding the major. First, if you are not playing some sort of checkback you may lose the major and second if you don’t bid an available major you don’t have it.
Kathy told me she goes back and forth sometimes bidding the suit and sometimes bidding 1NT. This seemed to be the worst of both worlds. We agreed on bidding 1NT with balanced hands. We can see how that goes. I am not sure it is the right choice.
What do you think?
We talked about forcing and nonforcing bids. My simple rules was that any new suit by responder was forcing and a repeat of a suit was not forcing (unless opener had created a force). We have yet to talk about the dreaded fourth suit forcing. It seems that a lot of the time your main objective is to set up a force rather than to sensibly bid your hand.
with SAYC has a lot of holes. I think in the end you just muddle through, do the best you can and that usually works pretty well. I probably use too many conventions and understandings anyway.
KJ10
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