September 2014 - 8

Letters to the Editor

North had asked himself why declarer
didn't draw trumps ...
I just read about deception in a book
on defense. Had North played low on
the ♥K, his play would have made the
next edition. Is anyone in the world
that good?
JONATHAN GOLDBERG
St. Louis MO

The extra mile

The Oregon High River Regional in
Sunriver, our first regional in Central
Oregon in many years, was a smashing
success. It substantially exceeded our
estimates and forced our capable tournament manager to find extra playing
space(s). The host unit (Bend Unit
476) was extremely helpful, and we are
grateful to all the volunteers, especially
Nancy Serne, who went the extra mile
to provide coffee, tea and light snacks
throughout the week.
MOLLY HARRIS
District 20 President
Portland OR

Improvise

This was problem No. 3 in It's Your
Call from a few months ago. You hold:
♠A Q J ♥A J 6 ♦A K 8 6 5 4 ♣7
and open 1♦ in third seat. Partner bids
1♥. Now what? Kerri Sanborn, one of
the panelists, described the hand as
"the original Bridge World nightmare."
I'm old enough to remember not only
the nightmare but also the solution.
Place one of your diamonds in with
your hearts and bid as if you had four of
them. If you are unfortunate enough to
become dummy, discover your "error"
as you as you table your cards!
ARTHUR D. APTOWITZ
Forest Hills NY

8 Bridge Bulletin September 2014

Blasts from the past

You know you are a seasoned bridge
player if you remember:
Bidding out loud.
Smoking at the table.
Metal boards.
People dressing well for a session.
"Partner, you're a blankety blank
blanker."
Convention cards listing "Frequent
psychs."
Collecting and mailing in rating
point slips.
No Alerts, Stops or smiley faces.
Getting home late because of a lost
matchpoint.
"We play Goren."
"Sputnik."
Twenty-somethings and thirtysomethings at the table.
BILL KIEHNHOFF
Sugar Land TX
Readers, can you add to this list?

New dress code?

I am a fairly new participant in
sanctioned bridge and I do enjoy your
magazine and like some of the columns. In going to the club and looking
at the photos of your members in the
magazine, I have been struck by the
dress of so many of your participants.
A great number of men turn out in
what one would expect to see them
wear if they were cleaning their garages or basements. Ties and jackets
are perhaps too demanding, but at least
they could wear collared shirts and
tailored trousers.
JIM IRVING
St. Louis MO

Give them a break

I understand that rules are important, but there are many ACBL members who cannot travel long distances
to play in tournaments. Many have
done so in the past, but for a variety
of reasons - money, age, health, etc. -
they can no longer do so.
Perhaps a transfer of other color
points to cover no more than 10% of
the color-point requirement might be
approved. There are many people who
have twice the black points needed. If
there are circumstances preventing
these people from competing, maybe
some type of relaxation of the rules can
be made.
It was difficult to become a Life
Master in years past, but there are
many people who will never earn their
gold cards because of the change in the
masterpoint requirement from 300 to
500 that took effect in 2010.
PAUL CHRISNEY
Glendora CA

Change needed

I would like to make two suggestions
concerning Announcements at the
bridge table.
The first is regarding the Announcement of transfers over 1NT and 2NT
openings. The vast majority of our
members use transfers in these situations. The Announcement seems unnecessary. It makes sense to drop it.
I'm guessing, too, that a majority of
our members use 15-17 as the highcard point range for their 1NT openers.
I suggest using the Announcement
only for ranges other than 15-17.
I would like to see the ACBL consider
these changes.
BILL PEABODY
Greensboro NC

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of September 2014