September 2008 - 8

Letters to the Editor

10-6-2: Preference for the highest
non-trump suit.
6-10-2: Preference for the middle
non-trump suit.
2-10-6: Preference for the lowest
non-trump suit.
6-2-10: Standard trump echo showing three cards.
10-2-6: I have three suits of odd
length.
2-6-10: (a) I forgot our system (b)
I'm afraid to signal or (c) I
have nothing to say.
JEFF HACK
San Jose

Warm welcome

E-LM?

Omission

To the Editor:
I live outside the U.S. but I frequently visit the Bay Area of San
Francisco. When my wife and I are
there, I try to find clubs in the area
where we can play bridge.
On my recent visit, we found the
Bayshore Bridge Club in Burlingame.
My wife and I were welcomed
warmly and introduced to the players
by Patricia Frederick and Ted. We
enjoyed it so much, we went back
two more times. The atmosphere was
super.
HENRY D. KELLER
Tel Aviv, Israel

To the Editor:
As an online player and an ACBL
member, I hope the ACBL will
consider awarding E-Life Master
status based on masterpoints earned
in ACBL-sanctioned online tournaments. Current ACBL policy allows
only limited, non-pigmented points
to be earned online. This doesn't
provide any incentive to those of us
who play only online (by choice or by
circumstance). The number of online
players is huge and increasing, and I
hope current policy can be changed
so online ACBL members feel properly rewarded.
SHAILA GADRE
Seattle WA

To the Editor
In the Jim Gordon piece (June,
page 24), declarer catches West in a
show-up squeeze. Declarer "knows"
that West holds the A because East
did not cash it at trick two to set the
contract. If the queen will "show up"
from West, then a finesse will also
pick it up.
The advantage of the squeeze play,
of course, is that it will also work
when East has a doubleton Q. That
was not made clear in the article. See
Julian Laderman's book, A Bridge to
Simple Squeezes (second edition) for
a full discussion of this squeeze.
STEPHEN KLEINMAN
White Plains NY

Countdown

OKC is OK

To the Editor:
Playing in the total points tournament at Bridge Base Online, we
wrote to the opponents (as we do
every round), "Welcome all, we play
2/1, UDCA, undos in bidding only."
They apparently understood that
to "undo" is to change a bid, but
there was a request: "Please explain
UDCA."
We answered, "Our carding is
upside-down count and attitude."
They wrote, "Count of what? Highcard points?"
KAROL CROUSE
Eugene OR

To the Editor:
My wife and I attended the Oklahoma City Regional recently. We
were very pleased with the tournament except for the turnout, which
was lower than expected.
It was a well-run tournament at
a site that is convenient. My wife
is semi-handicapped (she rides a
battery-powered scooter around the
hotel) and had no problems whatsoever.
The hotel provided hot and cold
breakfast. The tournament committee
provided sandwiches at noon, coffee all day long, spaghetti or other

good foods daily after the afternoon
session, and snacks and drinks after
the evening session. Needless to say,
we did not leave the hotel during the
tournament and spent nothing on
food while there.
Thanks to Oklahoma City, District
15 and the units involved, to the committee and to the TDs for a first-rate
tournament.
DAN E. GOLDSMITH JR.
Weatherford TX

Step right up
To the Editor:
I believe that Problem 1 from the
Bidding Box in June (page 29) is
missing a score. Playing 6NT after
the best lead of a diamond, declarer
can run seven heart tricks reducing to
A K Q 4 - - K
facing
J - - Q 10 6 4
This produces a stepping-stone
squeeze whenever the A is with
the long spades, a position which exists 45% of the time. Declarer has to
read the ending but can do no worse
than make half the time by randomly
choosing between playing the J and
a club and playing spades from the
top.
CURT HASTINGS
Bethesda MD

Smith resigns
Board position
Roger Smith, who represented
District 21 on the ACBL Board of
Directors for nearly 12 years, resigned on Aug. 15. The Sacramento CA resident had plans to move
to Ohio and did not plan to run for
re-election to the board this year.
Smith served his district in a number of administrative capacities,
including president, and was president of the Western Conference
(at the time, Districts 17, 20, 21 and
22). He served as ACBL President
in 2005.
Bruce Blakely, first alternate in
District 21, will replace Smith for
the meetings in Boston this fall.

Bridge Bulletin

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of September 2008