January 2012 - 60

Even though I don't drink coffee,
I was excited to go to Seattle. The
last time there was an NABC there,
I missed it - only the second time in
the past 20 years. I love going to the
NABCs. Even before I ever played in
the "big" events, playing in the 0-2000
knockouts was so much fun.
The occasional win against a team
with players whose names you knew
or who you actually recognized was
worth its weight in gold. Sure, Seattle
is not a big, cosmopolitan Mecca like
Lancaster or Birmingham, but it has
wonderful sights and great people.
Plus, my partner Steve lives there.
Imagine winning on your home turf.
So the other night, Steve and I were
playing, and I had to go sing to my
daughter at bedtime. I asked Claude
to fill in for five minutes. When I came
back, I asked him to give me my seat.
He said no! What could I do? Have I
ever told you that he once revoked,
then followed to the very next trick
and nobody noticed? On the third
trick, he followed again, winning it.
The declarer apologized to his partner
for miscounting.
So I love this new convention that
Stacy taught me. Apparently other
people play it, but it has no name so I
am naming it. I shall call it Standard
Trump Action Celebrating Youth, or
CLAUDE.
It works like this: Anytime it goes
one of a suit - Pass - Pass to you, and
you reopen with 1NT, your range is
much wider than normal: 11-17. Your
partner bids 2 (Stayman) but needs
8 or more high-card points to do so.
If you have a minimum (11-14) you
respond as normal, showing or deny60 Bridge Bulletin January 2012

By George Jacobs
NOBET8888@aol.com

ing a major. However, if you have a
maximum (15-17), you respond 2NT
and partner asks again with 3. You
stay low with weak hands and get to
game with good ones. You can also
use transfers. It may even be legal.
Once again, you have taken me seriously and deluged me with passedhand stories. Here are a few of the
best.
From John Carruthers (known as
JC in Canada, which is a suburb of
Seattle): Bruce Ferguson was berating his partner - I am certain it was
in his youth as Bruce has the best
manners at the table I have ever seen;
at the bar, it is a different story, but
I digress - about the defense to the
previous deal while bidding the current one. It went Pass, Pass, Pass to
him and while in mid-berate he said,
"Pass" accidentally, holding a balanced 28 HCP! At the other table, they
got to 7, down one! Ho hum - win
2 IMPs.
I got many variations on this one,
but my favorite by far applies to the
Hog (Ron Andersen), who passed
with 10 solid hearts and heard his
partner say this as he replaced his
cards in the board: "I just had three
bare aces, partner."
So I have been reading all the

columnists in the Bridge Bulletin and
find that they are really helpful and interesting. I have my favorites and you
will, too, if you give them a chance.
Even if you are a pro from Dover, you
will find plenty of interesting tidbits
in both the beginner and the intermediate section. If you are not yet an
expert, you can have tons of fun reading about some advanced methods
and some hapless results. (I still want
to know what it is "less" than - if you
were better, would you become hap?)
So browse the magazine and tell the
editor what you like. This magazine is
all done for you.
To let you in on a secret, I modeled
my writing style after Eddie Kantar,
except for the expert analysis and the
suit. He has a wonderful writing style
that makes learning fun. I believe
that having fun at the bridge table is
more important than any great result
you will ever have. This is a social
game and thrusts us into contact with
strangers every 15 minutes. We keep
learning and getting better, but our
attitudes should always be the same:
positive, upbeat and cheerful. If you
want this game to catch on more, it
has to be attractive.
My latest book, Putting Down the
Dummy Suggestively, has sold out
the first edition, and is it any wonder?
From the chapter on "Overcoming
Bad Splits and Bad Partners" comes
this nugget: As you lay down the
dummy, put one of your spades in
with your clubs, and as soon as it is
"discovered" by one of the opponents,
simply say, "Well that suit isn't splitting as well as I thought."
Ciao, for now.
r

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January 2012