May 2013 - 8

Letters to the Editor

Card colors
To the Editor:
The idea of four colors for the four
suits is not new. We have it in bidding boxes now. The yellow is dreadful. One set of decks I used not long
ago had red cards that were mostly
orange. Awful.
I like the colors (red and black) and
the shapes (rounded and pointed) as
mnemonic aids, along with majors
and minors. Still, something could be
done to further differentiate the suits.
First, we could have different fonts
for the suits: ࡕQ J 4 2, ࡖQ J 4 2
and ࡗ Q J 4 2. You could also have
two of the suits with italics: ࡕQ J 4 2.
Second, the red suits (or black) could
have hollow suit symbols instead of
solid, e.g., चजणछ. Or there could be
slight variations in size: clubs and diamonds being a tad smaller than hearts
and spades, perhaps.
And none of these would require a
change in the traditional colors but
would make the suits more distinctive.
JIM HUTTER
Ames IA

Groan arranger
To the Editor:
At the Sarasota Sectional, we
moved to the next table, where we
found a gal sitting by herself. She
indicated that her partner was getting
coffee and said that, while waiting,
she would sort her cards. I asked her
if she knew what that made her?
She said, "No." I replied, "The Lone
Arranger."
DR. JERRY BERGSTEIN
Indianapolis IN

Senior issues
To the Editor:

Comments in Barry Rogoff's letter
in the February issue (page 7) resonated with this 89-year-old. I agree
with his statement that "it's nice to
have an activity that exercises the
brain."
With advancing age, concentration and memory diminish, and this

8 Bridge Bulletin May 2013

often causes a partnership problem. I
continue to enjoy bridge but no longer
feel that I play at my Silver Life Master level. In stratified games, my peers
still want masterpoints. Newer players
who play with me must do so in Strat
A. It seems to me some solution is
necessary for the increasing number
of Senior members.
CHRISTINE MOSS
Thunder Bay ON

jacks.
Both of the missing aces, the missing king and two of the three missing
queens were in the 6ࡕ hand. Has
anyone had a better set of boards?
RICHARD W. HART
Piedmont CA

Make it fun
To the Editor:

Many notable devotees of the game
are concerned about the impending
Beware those 'rules'
demise of this wonderful card game
To the Editor:
and are looking for ways to reverse
Playing with a fix-up partner, I led a the trend.
low spade as a defender. The dummy
Until bridge is looked upon as fun
held ࡕK J x. Declarer called for the
and entertainment, it is not going to
king and my partner put in the queen. attract youngsters. Current teachIt turned out she was holding three
ing methods are flawed because of
to the queen. When I asked later why emphasis on artificial bids - Stayshe played that card, she said she was man, transfers, etc. - and away from
following the rule about "third-hand
natural bidding and learning to score
high."
tricks. Simple bridge can be taught in
STEPHEN KLEINMAN a matter of a few days as compared
White Plains NY to prevailing structured programs of
eight weeks for a beginner's course.
It is noteworthy that most of the
Bid 'em up
top
players, past and present, learned
To The Editor:
bridge
from parents and siblings withIn the February issue (page 12), Zia
out
attending
formal classes.
Mahmood mentions a deal he played
C. JAY KRIPLANI
in 5ࡕ in the Kaplan Blue Ribbon
Thornhill ON
Pairs. Partner and I played that board
(No. 1) in a side game that day. At our
table, my left-hand opponent opened
the bidding with 3ࡗ, partner passed
and RHO bid 3ࡖ, which I doubled
for takeout. LHO bid 4ࡗ, partner and
RHO passed and I bid 5ࡗ. Partner
corrected to 5ࡕ and I bid 6ࡕ.

Played from the wrong side, the
slam goes down on an opening lead of
the ࡖQ. Fortunately, the opening lead
was the ࡗK and the slam rolled home
as soon as partner recovered from
the shock of playing a slam holding
3=3=4=3 shape with the ࡗJ as her
only high card.
The rest of the story is that boards
2 and 3 of that set were laydown 7NT
contracts. I bet Zia did not have any
problem getting to those slams. In the
three-board set, East-West held 10
aces, 11 kings, nine queens and five

Joan Levy Gerard
1935-2013
As this issue went
to press, word was
received that Joan
Levy Gerard, a top
bridge administrator for the ACBL
and the World
Bridge Federation
for more than three
decades, died on
April 4 at her home
in White Plains NY. She was 77.
A full obituary will be published in the
June issue.
Photo by Jonathan Steinberg

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of May 2013