August 2010 - 8

Letters to the Editor

other pair and compare as evenly as
possible with the other pairs.
When I discussed this with local
directors and experienced players, I
discovered that most of them were
unaware that the principle of "balanced comparisons" was considered
so important in the late Forties and
early Fifties, that open pairs finals
used McKenney-Baldwin movements where an overall winner was
determined without comparing
North-South and East-West results
by percentage.
I know there is little chance of
going back to that, but perhaps an
article in the Bridge Bulletin by an
experienced director explaining this
whole situation would be appropriate. It is important that players learn
about the history of our game and
how the importance of "balanced
comparisons" has been perceived.
GEORGE E. SNOW
Pinehurst NC

More accurate?
To the Editor:
Many of our veteran club players
tend not to attend our tournaments,
I think in many cases because their
thousands of black points cause them
to be seriously overmatched against
the regular tournament players. I
would like to suggest a way to level
this playing field somewhat.
I propose the creation of a new data
parameter in each player's profile to
be called, perhaps, Equivalent Master
Points, or EMPs. This parameter
would be computed (easy for your
computers) by means of the following
algorithm:
EMPs = 4G + 3R +2S + B divided by
10.
In other words, four times the number of a player's gold points plus three
times the number of red points plus
two times the number of silver points,
plus black points, the total divided by
10 (just to make the numbers more
manageable).
This quantity would, I believe, more
accurately represent a player's actual
8 Bridge Bulletin August 2010

standard of play, and make stratifying
and bracketing more equitable than
the present system.
A player with 400 gold points and
300 red points and 200 silver points
and 100 black points would have an
EMP count of 300, whereas the club
player with the same 1000 masterpoints but all black MPs would tally
only 100 EMPs. I think these numbers
would much more accurately represent their relative abilities as regards
to tournament play.
ROBERT KRONING
Seaside OR
Comments, readers?

Good partners
To the Editor:
Being an intermediate player at
best, my greatest skill is not in bidding or playing. It is in picking my
partners. Needless to say, they are all
intelligent. More important, they are
tolerant and kind. When I make an
error, my partners are usually sure
that I know it almost as soon as it was
made. If not, they gently point it out
or ask me a leading question. This always occurs away from the table, out
of earshot of opponents.
As for the bidding and play, I love
the challenge of understanding the
sequence of bids - what each means,
and how that can be used in the
subsequent play. Again, I trust my
partner(s) and delight when that trust
leads to a good result.
I wish everyone continued enjoyment at the bridge table, and hope
they appreciate their partners as
much as I do mine.
CARL STONE
North Tonawanda NY

Proper count
To the Editor:
I am the director for a newcomer
game that meets weekly. I often play
in the game and give tips and information to the players. At one table, my
left-hand opponent opened 1. My
partner was looking for the Stop card
but couldn't find it, finally announc-

ing, "Please stop."
My RHO looked puzzled and told
Millie, my partner, that she was to
count to 15 before making a bid so as
not to reveal whether she had a problem.
Quick as a wink, Millie said, "You
know my partner always knows I
have a problem." She then counted to
15 and passed.
SALLY VEAUTHIER
Columbiana OH

Too noisy
To the Editor:
Having just completed play in a big
regional, I would like to suggest Zero
Tolerance and the penalties that go
with it apply to noisy players in areas
where play is still going on. People
seem to think it is acceptable to
scream for their partners across the
room, even when people have already
started play and are trying to concentrate.
More than once I've had to stop
play in order to let the commotion
settle down before continuing. I
would like to hear the directors calling, "Your assignments are up, silently
change tables," or something similar
and enforce some sort of penalty for
rudeness to other players.
MARK RAPHAELSON
Orlando FL

World championship
You can play in a world championship without having to qualify
- and it's in ACBL territory this year.
The World Bridge Series Championships, including open, women's,
Seniors and mixed pairs and major
team events, takes place in Philadelphia PA starting Oct. 1.
In addition, District 4 will host a
two-week WBF Regional that will
run concurrent with the WBSC.
For more information, visit www.
usbf.org.
http://www.usbf.org
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of August 2010
