October 2012 - 31

Ron Tacchi and Mark Horton,
regular members of the staff at world
bridge championships events, are
longtime friends who play a standardlike card dubbed the Vaupillon Club,
jokingly named after Tacchi's village
in France. Tacchi is a photographer,
and Horton is a Bridge Bulletin columnist and editor of Bridge magazine
in England.
2/1 responses in their system are
not 100% game forcing.
Micke Melander is general manager
of the Swedish Bridge Federation. He
lives in the small town of Sundsvall,
about 240 miles north of Stockholm.
Carina Westlin is coach of the Swedish Seniors team and is in charge of
membership services for the federation. They both have had success in
Swedish tournaments. Melander was
one of the editors of the Daily Bulletin
at the 2012 world championships in
Lille, France.
They play a strong 1 system (16
or more HCP) with four-card majors,
12-15 1NT openers and several gadgets, including the 2 Multi (weak
two-bid in either major). 2 and 2
openers show five or more cards in
the suit plus four or more in a minor
(6-10 HCP).

Problem 1

North deals. None vulnerable.
West
 10
J
KJ85
 A K J 10 9 3 2
Tacchi
1
2
3
4
4NT
6

East
AQJ83
Q765
-
7654
Horton
Pass
1
3
3
4
5
Pass

3 is a splinter bid, showing a club
fit and diamond shortness. 3 and
3 are control bids, as is 4, which
specifically shows first-round control

The
Bidding
Box
Moderator: Paul Linxwiler
Scores: Bobby Wolff

See the East and West hands that appear on pages 48 and 57 respectively,
and try bidding them with a regular partner. The North-South players are
silent unless otherwise noted. Compare how you performed with the expert
pairs whose auctions you can read about in this month's column. The form
of scoring is matchpoints with a 12 top.
of that suit. 4NT is Roman Key Card
Blackwood for clubs, and the 5 response shows one or four key cards.
Tacchi, gambling that East's key card
was not the singleton A, bid the
slam. (If East has one major-suit ace,
the first-round diamond control must
be a void.)
Melander
2
3
5

Westlin
Pass
2
3
Pass

2 is natural, showing club length
and 11-15 HCP. 2 is a conventional
asking bid, and 3 is natural, showing a maximum with a four-card
diamond suit. 3 is a natural, nonforcing advance.
Melander blasted to 5, but
Westlin, not knowing if her partner
had a heart control, could not safely
raise to slam.
Bridge Bulletin auction: Pass-1;
1-2; 3[splinter]-3[control
bid]; 3[control bid]-4; 4[control
bid]-6; Pass

Scores: 6 11; 5 8; 3NT 5; 4 3;
7 1
Tacchi-Horton 11,
Melander-Westlin 8

Problem 2

East deals. N-S vulnerable.
West
A2
K6
Q53
QJ8654

East
J95
 A J 10 9 4
AJ9
K9

Tacchi

Horton
1
2NT
Pass

2
3NT

Although 2 is not necessarily
game forcing, Tacchi decided to insist
on game with the West hand after
Horton rebid 2NT, which delivers
more than a minimum hand in their
methods.
Note that many standard bidders
do not treat this sequence as game
forcing.

➤
October 2012 Bridge Bulletin

31
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of October 2012
