May 2007 - 28

Club News continued
Big games
The Bridge Bulletin publishes pair
games held in clubs that are 75% or
higher. To qualify, the game must be
ACBL sanctioned with five or more
tables. Note: There was an exception
to the 75% rule for Dominic Papa
(see below) because he is blind.
Rayna and Glenn Martin had
a monstrous 83.04% game at the
Plandome Bridge Club in Manhasset
NY. The Martins are a mother and
son partnership. Club director Jo-Ann
Damato reported that there were 11
tables in play and that this set the
record as the highest game on record
in her club.
Peter and Dawn Phemister of
Clarksburg ON also scored big with
an 81.7% game at the Blue Mountain
Duplicate Bridge Club in Collingwood ON on December 5. Mary Van
Patter, the director, reported that there
were 7.5 tables in play. The Phemisters
are both involved in directing, teaching and bridge governance.
Marilyn Reedinger and Joel Slutz
had a 78.79% game (208 on a 132 average) in a 13-table game at Yorktown
Bridge Club in Jenkintown PA. Ellen
and Sid Gordon own the club. Gouverneur Cadwallader directed. Thanks
to Rich Rothwarf, who reported it.
Jean Williams and Roslyn Cantor
scored 76% at an eight-table game
at the Blue Ridge Duplicate club in
Hendersonville NC. Cantor is from
East Flat Rock NC. Williams lived in
Hendersonville at the time, but has
since moved to Orange City FL.
Dominic Papa and Ed Hornidge had
a 73.5% game playing at the Colonial
Bridge Club in Johnstown NY. The
89-year-old Papa lost the sight of one
eye as a youth, and in 2000 he fell and
injured his other eye. When surgery
to repair it failed, he was left blind.
Papa, a Silver Life Master, had to
learn how to play with Braille cards.
He practiced every day for 10 weeks
and was able to return to the bridge
table. He sorts his cards in a card rack
and others at the table announce their
bids, the cards in the dummy and the
cards as they are played. "Thank God
for bridge," said Papa.
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28

Art by Shane McDermott

Bidding Lab
Ideas and innovations from ACBL members
By John Torrey

3NT or four of a major?
A perennial problem in bidding
quizzes - and sometimes in real life
- arises when partner opens 1NT
and you have a game-worthy, very
balanced hand with four hearts or
spades, something like:
Q 10 3 Q 6 4 3 K J 5 K 10 9
Should you ask about a heart fit or
just blast out 3NT?
Partner knows the answer, so my
solution is to bid Stayman, find the
fit, and then ask partner whether 3NT
is better than 4, based on partner's
cards. I ask the question by bidding
three of the other major, in this case:
West
East
1NT
2
2
3
Partner, holding:
A J 5 K 9 7 2 Q 10 7 3 A J
will bid 3NT. With:
A J 5 K J 7 2 7 3 A Q 7 5
partner bids 4.
Reasons not to play this convention:
1. You use that bid in the other major
as part of the Indonesian notrump.
2. Who needs another convention,
anyway?

3. When you end up in 3NT, you've
told the opposition something
about your hands.
Reasons to play this convention:
1. You don't use that bid in the other
major for anything else, do you?
2. You will remember when partner
uses it, because the bid is selfalerting.
3. On balance, it is good to get to the
right contract even if we disclose
information to the opposition. If
the opener rebids 3NT with a hand
like the previous example, it's hard
to see how the defense can benefit
from their information.
Summary
The two auctions where this convention applies are:
West
East
1NT
2
2
3
and
West
East
1NT
2
2
3
The author is a retired software
developer who lives in Chapel Hill
NC. He is a Silver Life Master and
an ACBL tournament director.
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Bridge Bulletin
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of May 2007
