December 21st, 2012 ~ linda ~
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In a moment of lunacy I decided that I would write a bridge story for each of the twelve days of Christmas. The idea was that I would write a blog each day from December 25th until Januray 5th that would loosely match the appropriate line in the song “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” So my first blog would in some way relates to “a partridge in a pear tree” and so on.
It didn’t take long for me to realize that this would be quite a challenging task. I also realized that in most cases the main things was to find a good bridge hand – the story would follow. Starting with a story was not nearly as effective.
There are many real people named in the blogs. Some of them are bridge players and in some cases the stories relate to the way they play bridge or think about bridge. In some cases I have used friends or family members who don’t play bridge in real life (sadly for them) but the comments I make about them are true. For example my sister Judy is one of the nicest people I know and my friend Margaret really is going to try to find the perfect climate in the South of France, this year.
Most of the hands in the blogs are made up although one or two occurred at the table.
I hope you enjoy the stories and I hope you have a wonderful holiday season.
November 9th, 2012 ~ linda ~
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If I were asked to provide a model for the ideal bridge teacher I would pick Eddie Kantar. I have watched him do many sessions for the bridge teachers and others. He is always funny … the stories he tells! He is always interesting and can see so many things in a bridge hand. He is always patient, carefully explaining ideas and answering lots of questions. He knows so much about bridge but he has a way of reaching students of all levels and experts too. If you are lucky enough to have a chance to listen to an Eddie Kantar lecture don’t pass it up!
If I were asked to name my ideal bridge teammate Eddie would be on the top of my list. The few times I have been fortunate enough to play a team game with Eddie at the other table it has been fun and educational. Discussions with Eddie are never about assigning blame they are always thoughtful and interesting.
If I had to pick a fourth for bridge Eddie would be on the top of my list too. Always carrying a deck of cards, Eddie is ready to play bridge most any time. And there is often a lively discussion following interesting hands. You have the privilege of learning from one of the world’s best players.
Eddie is one of the world’s foremost technical experts about the game. He has thought about subjects like keycard Blackwood in more depth than anybody else ever will. He has written one of the definitive tracks on forcing passes and someday I would like to talk to him about that since I still don’t quite understand some of the finer points.
Eddie is one of the most generous people I know. He is not just generous with his time, he is generous with his material. If you have a question about one of his books Eddie will take the time to answer you. And if you want to see a lot of interesting bridge ideas and jokes for free just visit his website.
Eddie does of course write material for bridge magazines but he does keep threatening to stop bridge books but somehow there is always another new book or revision in him… revisions because he can always see a way to do it better. Eddie never stops learning.
So happy birthday Eddie and thank you for teaching me, challenging me, giving me a laugh, writing all that wonderful material, playing bridge with Ray and me and being my friend.
August 23rd, 2012 ~ linda ~
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As the bridge championships started in Lille and even after the first few days I had a few expectations and some hopes. I expected Monaco to dominate. This was a hand picked team of some of the greatest players in the world. Paid mercenaries they were there not to be the pride of Monaco but to establish a bridge dynasty in the footsteps of the Dallas Aces and the Italian Blue Teams. I thought that the Canadian Open Team was a strong representative and that they would do well. I hoped that the Nickell Team would do well representing the USA. The team was changing after this year and it would probably be Bob Hamman’s last chance to play in the Open World Championship. We spent some time with Phillip Alder in Lille He was captain of the USA Seniors and they hung in so well. I always cheer for the North American teams across the board. I also cheer for the underdogs most of the time in other matches. Go Irish.
And in the end as the results came in they were surprising. The Canada Open Team certainly met my expectations but it was heart breaking to see them lose to Monaco in the Round of 16. They led going into the last segment. And then it was as if they just couldn’t find that last little bit of something that would see them through to the finish line. This is a team with promise for the future.
But in the end Sweden surprised me by winning the Open. Beating first Monaco and then Sweden. England was the expected winner in the Womens beating Russia. And Philip, you must be quite proud to be the only non European team on the medal stand with a second place in the Seniors behind the winner Hungary. Well done.
And Canada had something to cheer about too. A Mixed Team including Judy and Nick Gartaganis, surely one of Canada’s best mixed pairs, the mother-son team of Gavin and Hazel Wolpert and Linda Wynston and Danny Korbel (the latter four players on the Canadian Open and Womens teams) came second just missing first place on the last couple of boards in the Transnational Mixed Teams. The winner was Milner:
Going into Board 27 of the last the sixth last board of the Transnational Final Team Canada led Team Milner by the slimmest of margins 152 to 150. Board 27 was the start of the Milner drive to the finish. It was a test of bidding and play.
Lall held this hand
And heard this auction.
Hamman’s double showed three spades. What now? Lall decided to bid keycard (yes with a void). Now when partner showed two keycards without the spade queen with a 5♥ bid he decided to trust that the opponents held the diamond ace and so he was not off two aces. Perhaps not the most scientific auction. He was rewarded when the opening lead was the ♦ A. Now all he had to do was make it.
Lall ruffed the diamond lead and played a heart to dummy. Both followed. He played a club from dummy to the ♣K and the ♣ A. Judy returned a trump which was best and Lall won the ♠ K and led the ♥ J covered by the ♥ K as Nick Gartaganis followed with the ♥ 5. At this point the missing hearts were the ♥ 10 and the ♥ 7. Lall drew the last trump with the ♠ A and led the ♥ 9 off dummy as Nick followed with the seven. Who held the last heart? If it was Judy (East) then Lall could ruff the heart ruff a club and the hearts in dummy would be high for club discards and the contract. If it was Nick (West) then Lall needed to let the ♥ 9 run. From the auction it looks like the diamonds are 5-4 with East holding the extra one. East also has two spades to West’s one. So either West is 1-3-4-5 or 1-4-4-4. I can’t think of a good reason to go one way or the other. At this point it is table feel. This guess was a 22 imp swing and the match. And Hermant Lall came up with the right answer. He ruffed the heart. This was the whole hand.
That ruff was worth its weight in gold.
August 16th, 2012 ~ linda ~
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If you have been following the Canadian Open Team as Ray and I have (and in North America if you were up very early) you will notice that the Canadian Open Team was leading Monaco up until the last board of the first set this morning. On that board the pair of Dan Korbel and Danny Miles played a six heart slam in Exclusion Blackwood when they passed out 5♣. That cost 19 imps and they ended the set with a cumulative net of down 4. Still they are in a virtual tie have played arguably the best team in the world level for 3 sets.
Why did Miles pass? He said he had a lapse of concentration and I am sure he immediately knew that he had made a mistake. These things happen. So what should the captain do? I asked the NPC Nick Gartaganis. He decided to put Korbel and MIles back in. He believes that they need to stay confident and not brood about their mistake. He isn’t sure he made the right decision. But I think he did.
Nick and Judy are terrific people and terrific captain and coach.
They told me that they have received support from many of the other teams who are hoping for a Canadian victory. Perhaps they would like to see the tough Monaco team out of the tournament. But I think there is a bigger thing happening. They are supporting the “little team that could”. The gallant giant killers. The Canadian David.
August 16th, 2012 ~ linda ~
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we hope for victories from all of the North American teams in the competition but who cannot cheer the six (mostly young) Canadians who are taking on the mighty Monaco and more than holding their own. At this point whether they win or lose we will all be very proud of them. They went to bed last night with the lead after one day or play.
So send them your best wishes. Just leave a comment on Nick’s blog (or on mine). I have some deals to write up but just right now there match is on BBO and so I will save a longer blog for later.
August 15th, 2012 ~ linda ~
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After two sets the Canadian Open Team is doing remarkably well against Monaco. They just finished a huge set winning 57 to 29 to take the lead 69 imps to 57 imps. Wow! Go boys. Nick and Judy are doing an amazing jobs as coach/NPC. And the team members are excited and eager to play.
At the same time the Canadian team won a spot in the quarterfinals. Katie Thorpe, the team captain, is off to the captains meeting where they will find out who their opponents are and then not much later they will start to play them.
I talked to Hazel Wolpert who is so proud of Darren who is on the Canadian team and Gavin her younger son who is doing so well as a pro in the US. “They are both winners,” she said. “And I am so happy.”
The American Open team is leading India 59 imps to 25 imps while the US ladies are trailing 35 imps to 59 imps after two sets. The US Senior finished fifth and will go on to the knockout phase.
I hope to see all the North American teams have a winning day and that the good luck continues tomorrow when the quarterfinals end.
August 15th, 2012 ~ linda ~
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As always there was a lot of excitement when the round robin drew to a conclusion yesterday and the final qualifying positions were decided. But for Canadian supporters there was some jubilation as the Canadian Open Team managed to hand on to the fourth and final qualifying spot in their group of sixteen. We anxiously watch the Canadian scores come in while watching team USA on vugraph. Congratulations to both Open teams and to the USA women who also qualified. The round robin in the seniors continues today.
Team Canada now has the opportunity to play what is quite possibly the best bridge team in the world, Monaco. If as seems probable they go no further in the competition the will have done well. Nobody expects them to win; there is no pressure and they should go out and enjoy the experience. Having been in a somewhat analogous position myself, I don’t think they will do that, they will go out there believing they can accomplish a miracle. Is such a miracle possible. I would never say never.
August 13th, 2012 ~ linda ~
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Ray and I started in Iceland which was very interesting and quite fun. The weather was cool with a high of no more than 15 degrees Celsius with many hours of daylight. It actually felt refreshing after the hot weather in North America. We saw hot springs, geisers and deep lakes in the divide between the continental plates.
In France we toured the Palace of Versailles. saw great cathedrals, a beautiful garden including a lily pond and the home of Monet and much more. But we were happy to make arrive in Lille and be among bridge folks.
With two matches left to play in the Open (sponsored by MPP) the team has a good chance of qualifying. This is not all that easy a feat since only four teams in each section of sixteen or so go on.
The Women need to make the top five in their group and at this point they will need two very good sets and a fair bit of luck.
About half the field in the seniors will go on and so with our matches to play the Canadians are well placed.
Here was a tough hand for the Canadian Ladies in Match 11.
I hope I got this auction right. North opened a strong club and East (For Canada) bid one diamond showing majors. South doubled showed cards. West bid three hearts, North bid five clubs and South pushed on to the club slam.
Select (you can triple-click it) and over-write this text below the diagram.
The opening lead by the Canadian East was a tough heart which was ruffed. North played the ♠ 4 to dummy and East rose with the ♠ K and West played the ♠ 9. What would you do next as East?
…………………………….
You have to return a small spade to break up the squeeze. Did you find this?
At the table the Canadian East did not find this very tough play and after that North can win a top diamond and play all her clubs. Dummy’s last four cards are spade a heart a top diamond and another diamond. On the last club East has to keep a top heart and two spades and South holds the ♥ Q, the ♦ K and a spade. But now North plays a diamond to dummy’s ♦ K. This puts impossible pressure on East who finally must give up hearts or spades. A spade return by East when in on the ♠ Q removes a critical late entry to the North hand and breaks up the squeeze.
A tough way to lose imps. At the other table the Poland West bid 4H on a similar auction and when North bid 5♣ it was much harder for South to push on. Nevertheless, the club slam while difficult to defeat as the cards lie is not a very good spot.
Hazel Wolpert seemed much calmer than usual at an important tournament. Her secret: getting some sleep, take a bathroom break when she was unhappy at a result and thinking calming thoughts. Well done. I will have to work on all these methods the next time I play.
Good luck to all the North American teams and to all my other friends around the world as the tournament round robin stage enters its final stages,
August 6th, 2012 ~ linda ~
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Ray and I are leaving for parts West in a few hours. We are heading to Iceland where we will explore for a few days and then to France, starting in Versailles and making our way to Lille over the next few days.
Assuming good connections I will do my best to blog about our trip and about the bridge at the WMG and after I get to Lille about the the experience of the World Mind Games.
Don’t forget to enter the contest .. its free and its fun and prizes are always nice.
July 26th, 2012 ~ linda ~
1 Comment
Today I decided to look at my favorites from the last time I did reviews of bridge sites a couple of years ago.
Sites reviewed in this post:
Rating System:
 |
Don’t miss this. Lots of useful content (5 stars) |
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Good site. Useful content (4 stars) |
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Worth a look if you are interested in the topics on the site (3 stars) |
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Limited interest (2 stars) |
|
Needs work (1 star, or less) |
Rating:
Appearance: Simple but easy to navigate. Music and pleasing illustrations from bridges to puppy dogs.
Content: The problem with reviewing Richard Pavlicek’s website is that I can’t help myself: I have to play. As soon as I enter the page I find myself doing a quiz on forcing notrump fare. I am doing perfectly until hand four of twelve comes up. Should I respond 1NT to 1♠ with a very nice 11 count 2-2-4-5 or should I bid 2♣ (is the name of the quiz a clue?) I do great on the first play problem I try (Ice Cold Contracts).
I LOVE this website. I could spend days on this website. Problems, quizzes, polls, articles, matches, theory, conventions … I love it all. Don’t miss the humor. Have a laugh with the tipsy story – ‘Twas the Mabel Before Christmas”.
Matches and exhibits include some interesting technical material. For example, if you have a choice of opening 1♥ or 1NT, which one is likely to work out better? (You can see how experts fared). Also very interesting was an analysis of which expert pair did best in major events from 1996 to the present.
Just a few more of the wonders of this site: A variety of “bridge toys,” including hand evaluation and suit combination calculators to help you out; Odds and Theory (have a look at lead safety analysis); and checkout Richard’s comments in the tab “for advertisers”.
Rich, you bring out the Nerd in me, you delight the bridge player in me, you entertain me and you teach me. Thank you so much Rich. If I was trapped on a desert island with only one website, this would be the one I wanted.
Tags: Quizzes, Games, Conventions, Bidding, Play, Defense, Calculators, Humor, Bidding Practice, Utilities
Level: Intermediate, Advanced, Expert
Site Review: ACBL
Rating:
The ACBL website has come a long way since its early days. It now seems to me to be a great professional website representing bridge in North America.
Appearance: Great looking, with clean lines. I love the pictures. They manage to provide a lot of content and still provide a great visual experience.
Content: The ACBL website has a lot of content. I couldn’t begin to do it justice. Just to sample some of it:
For newcomers: free “learn to play” software and a 36 page Members Guide which has an explanation in alphabetical order of everything from the ACBL Bridge Series to Zip Swiss. For club managers, a special events schedule (keep October 4 free for the ACBL-wide instant matchpoint game). For players: Find a club by city or zip/postal code, a list of tournaments from intermediate events to nationals. Want to know about conventions or find out how the recorder system works? This is your site. For members: Download bridge bulletins back to January 2005 and for fun, play “It’s Your Call”, a chance to make the next bid in 5 selected problem hands and eventually compare your results with experts. Teachers will find a wealth of material. Lots for everybody.
During NABCs, I am on this site every day, downloading the daily bulletins and checking the results.
Tags: Rules and Regulations, Tournaments, Conventions, Club Material, Teacher Material, Learn to Play, Magazine
Level: All
Rating:
Appearance: Primitive user interface. Content is in an ordered list.
A story: There was a very old computer in the third sub-basement of a building. You had to climb down rickety stairs to get to it. The type on the keys was worn off and you could hardly read the tiny screen. But there was a long long line of people waiting for their turn on the computer. Each person was only allowed 60 seconds to use it. When I asked why so many people were lined up at the computer the answer was: “If you type in the name of a stock, it gives you a quote for it.” “Really,” I said, starting to walk away. The next response stopped me: “The price of the stock at the end of trading – tomorrow!”
So, is the content of Jeff Goldsmith’s Homepage good enough to overcome the rather primitive interface?
Content: There are a lot of interesting ideas and useful content on this website. Not all of it is about bridge. Other topics include figure skating, computing and, of more interest to bridge players, other games, including a strategy guide to Barbu). The section on bridge software appears outdated now. You can, however, try the Kaplan/Rubens Hand Evaluator along with the Danny Kleinman Evaluator. There is a long list of problems and polls to try. I enjoyed the ones I tried, only partly because I did quite well. There are also quite a number of bidding/convention ideas. Other interesting bits and pieces. I agree with this bit of wisdom from Jeff: “Partnerships are very synergistic. The sum can be anywhere between a large negative constant and something much greater than the sum of the parts.”
Tags: Conventions, Bidding, Quizzes, Polls, Hand Evaluation
Level: Advanced, Expert
Rating:
Appearance: The design of the website is pretty basic but there is no problem finding your way around it.
Content: This is Hugh Darwen’s website, devoted to Double Dummy problems. It was started in 2001 and it is still frequently updated. The purpose of the site is ambitious. I quote:
There is always a competition problem. You submit your solution by the date allocated and you are awarded with DD (double dummy points) towards the year’s “Problemist of the Year”! Certificates are awarded as you rank up as a problem solver.
Yes, you can, of course, use computer assistance from programs like Deep Finesse but as Darwen points out, mistakes can still be made. I think it is more fun to try the solve the problem myself but I would probably check it out with software.
Tags: Double Dummy Problems, Card Play
Level: Advanced, Expert
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