March 2014 - 7

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Letters to the Editor

Don't do it

I read the letter from Howard Salasin
about giving players 90 and older an
annual gold point (January, page 8). I
understand the desire to do something
nice for others, but I am strongly opposed to the idea.
Awards such as this are not any different, qualitatively, from the oftendecried sports trophies awarded to
children simply for showing up. It's
patronizing and ultimately not valued
by the recipient. It also devalues Life
Master awards for those who have
had to earn their points. I am, by the
way, years away from becoming a Life
Master.
I applaud the writer's motivation,
but I suggest considering alternate
approaches to help his friend achieve
her goal. One possibility is to take the
much more difficult path and organize
members of his local club to jointly
get his friend to tournaments while
accommodating any special needs she
may have. That would be harder to do,
but ultimately far more rewarding for
all involved.
TOM KESLIN
Vestal NY

Be kind

I read Howard Salasin's letter and
thought it was a wonderful idea. It
would be a great kindness to people
who have been playing and supporting
duplicate bridge for many years but are
a little short of attaining their goals.
FERNE KLEBAN
Plymouth Meeting PA

Anticipation

In Frank Stewart's December column (page 53), the West defending
3NT can easily anticipate from the
auction that his partner might have
difficulty finding a shift to declarer's
first-bid suit. Perhaps West's opening

lead should be the ♣K. That would
enable East to return his lowest club
upon winning trick two with the ♠K,
resulting in the defenders taking the
first six tricks.
BILL WEINGARDEN
Santa Monica CA

Age issue

Three years ago, I resumed playing
bridge after a 30-year layoff. I turned
55 in early February.
At just about every tournament I've
been to, I have noticed that the vast
majority of the players - perhaps 90%
- are older than I am.
I don't mind playing against those
older than I am, or even getting pasted
by them. What concerns me is that, by
the time I really do get the hang of this
game, there won't be anyone left.
It's sure going to make it hard to
make Life Master with only a couple of
tables in a sectional.
Seriously, what is the ACBL doing
to attract people in their 30s, 40s and
50s? It's great that the organization
is going after school children, but the
game needs baby boomers and those
slightly younger.
FRED GLASSER
Orange CA
ACBL has marketing efforts in place
that target prospective players of various ages.

Reality check

Regarding the letter from Buddy
Carls in the January issue (page 7) suggesting a national Standard American
Yellow Card event, Mr. Carls says that
everyone would be playing the same
system and conventions, and there
would be no Alerts or even a need to
look at an opponent's convention card.

If such an event were to occur, Mr.
Carls might find the reality to be somewhat different.
To start with an obvious point, the
system booklet on the ACBL's website
states that pairs may add defenses
to opponents' conventions, such as
Unusual vs. Unusual. The system also
is not specific with respect to bidding
style: sound or light preempts, light
third-seat openings and so on. Signaling tendencies on defense - count vs.
suit preference, for example - also
may vary.
Less obvious are some situations
where the system is silent, such as
handling a minor-suit fit with a strong
hand. A recent thread on Bridge Winners discussed how to respond to 1♣
with:
♠K J 2 ♥3 2 ♦K 10 ♣A 10 9 7 6 4.
Many experienced players opted for
1♦, but some said that 1♠, 1NT and a
direct raise were also possibilities, and
most said they would expect to have
discussed this situation with their
partners.
This is just one example of how an
experienced pair who would play in a
national SAYC event may have agreements beyond the SAYC system, and
the purists' reaction might range from
confusion to outrage.
It may be that a limited-convention
event would be popular at an NABC,
but we should harbor no illusions
about how level the playing field would
be.
BRIAN BARESCH
Austin TX

Letters to the editor are welcome by regular mail and email.
Brevity is considered a virtue, as is subject matter with relevance
to a majority of ACBL members. Unsigned letters are not
considered for publication, so please include your name and
hometown. Letters may be edited. All letters will receive a
response. Email editor@acbl.org.

March 2014 Bridge Bulletin

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of March 2014