November 2014 - 8

Letters to the Editor

Personally,	I	call	cabs	to	get	them	to	
the	game	and	pull	out	chairs	for	them	
when	they	arrive.
Infinitely	superior	is	to	agree	to	invite	conservatively	and	accept	liberally.	
I	tell	my	partners	that	if	they	consider	
for	five	seconds	whether	to	accept	my	
invitation,	they're	four	seconds	over	
the	limit.	
With	this	philosophy,	you	play	the	
vast	majority	of	hands	in	the	sweet	
spot:	1NT,	two	of	a	major,	3NT	or	four	
of	a	major.	On	the	rare	occasions	when	
you	land	in	a	death	contract	of	2NT	or	
three	of	a	major,	you're	on	rock-solid	
ground	because	partner	has	every	bit	of	
what	she's	promised.
To	sum	up:	If	partner	extends	lots	
of	invitations	knowing	you're	going	to	
decline	most	of	them,	you'd	better	play	
your	death	contracts	as	well	as	Augie	
Boehm!	
JORDAN	CHODOROW
Los Angeles CA

Found friend

Sixty-two	years	ago,	I	left	my	boyhood	home	in	the	Bronx.	Bridge	was	
not	a	game	our	gang	played,	and	I	lost	
contact	with	most	of	my	friends.	The	
list	of	big	games	achievers	in	the	August	issue	(page	17)	included	Howard	
Langenthal	of	Boynton	Beach	FL.	How	
many	guys	with	that	name	have	retired	
to	Boynton	Beach?	Using	Google,	I	got	
a	phone	number	and,	62	years	later,	
Howie	and	I	are	in	touch	again.	Thank	
you.
STANLEY	AUGENSTEIN
North Haven CT

He made it!

I'm	writing	as	an	ACBL	member	who	
lives	in	Australia.	We've	all	been	in	
outrageous	contracts,	mostly	earning	
the	zeros	we	deserve	-	but	not	always.	
What's	the	worst	contract	you	have	

8 Bridge Bulletin November 2014

been	in	that	made?	The	following	deal	
is	my	candidate	for	the	worst	I	actually	made.	It	occurred	at	the	Adelaide	
Bridge	Centre	during	a	high-level	nationwide	pairs	event.	All	participants	
are	Life	Masters	or	above	(honest).	
Dlr: East
Vul: N-S

♠A
♥	Q	9	4
♦-
♣	A	Q	J	8	7	6	5	3	2
♠	Q	J	6	4	2		
♠	K	10	9	8	7	5	3
♥	A	J	
	
♥K8
♦	A	9	4	 	
♦ 10 7 6 3
♣	K	10	9	 	
♣-
♠-
♥ 10 7 6 5 3 2
♦	K	Q	J	8	5	2
♣	4
I	have	left	out	the	bidding	to	protect	
the	guilty	(especially	me).	I	(South)	
was	in	6♥	doubled,	East-West	having	bid	spades	vigorously.	Looking	
only	at	the	North	and	South	cards,	one	
wonders	how	great	the	disaster	will	
be	for	North	and	South.	Here	is	what	
happened: West led the ♦A,	which	was	
ruffed	in	dummy.	The	♠A	was	cashed	
for	a	club	discard,	after	which	I	called	
for	the	♣A.	East	ruffed	with	the	8	and	
I	overruffed.	Next,	I	played	a	low	trump	
and	West	went	into	a	long	huddle	before	playing	the	ace!	Crash!	Minus	200	
turned into plus 1660.
Who	said	bridge	was	a	difficult	
game?	Should	I	have	redoubled?
JOHN	R.	STURGUL
Adelaide,	South	Australia

Better version?

Most	players,	after	a	major-suit	
opening,	play	the	unusual	2NT	to	show	
two	long	minor	suits.	Over	a	minorsuit	opening,	the	convention	typically	
shifts	to	the	two-lower	unbid	suits.	
Unfortunately,	this	does	not	allow	the	

2NT	bidder	to	show	diamonds	and	
spades over 1♣	or	clubs	and	spades	
over 1♦.
My	partners	and	I	play	a	variant	of	
the	unusual	2NT,	where	2NT	over	a	
minor-suit	opening	shows	the	other	
minor	and	an	unspecified	major.	It	is	a	
simple	matter	for	advancer	(overcaller's	partner)	to	determine	which	major	
is	held	by	the	2NT	bidder.	Advancer	
cuebids	opener's	suit,	asking	the	2NT	
bidder	to	show	his	major	suit.
For	example,	after	a	1♣	opener,	a	
2NT	overcall	shows	diamonds	and	a	
major.	Advancer	bids	3♣	to	find	out	
which	major	overcaller	has.	This	more	
flexible	treatment	is	akin	to	Michaels	
over	a	major,	which	shows	the	other	
major	and	a	minor	(not	necessarily	
the	lowest	unbid	minor).	Of	course,	
with	Michaels,	the	responder	may	
use	2NT	to	uncover	the	minor. The	
two	treatments	played	in	this	way	are	
symmetric.	
SHAI	SIMONSON
Sharon MA

A million here, a million there

In	the	July	23	Daily	Bulletin	at	the	
Summer	NABC	in	Las	Vegas,	there	was	
a	report	of	a	deal	in	which	East-West	
held	40	high-card	points	between	
them.	It	was	stated	that	40	HCP	for	a	
partnership	will	occur	about	once	in	
every	five	million	deals.
I	think	the	chances	of	one	side	holding	all	40	HCP	in	a	deal	is	about	one	in	
four	million	(3,902,000	to	the	nearest	
whole	number).	The	computation	is	
52-choose-26	divided	by	36-choose-10.	
Still	pretty	amazing.
JERROLD	W.	GROSSMAN
Department	of
Mathematics	and	Statistics
Oakland	University	
Rochester	MI
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of November 2014
