May 2019 - 8

Letters to the Editor

his novel "The Murders in the Rue
Morgue" (1841).
SIMON COCHEMÉ
London UK

Survey says ...

In February, the ACBL sent out a
survey to members seeking data on
players' experiences and feelings about
our great game. Predictably, I procrastinated until I received a final notice
to complete the survey; but I'm glad I
did, and I enjoyed the opportunity to
participate. One question asked was,
"What is your personal fascination
with bridge?" Having an academic
background in mathematics, I stated
that the almost infinite variety of hand
combinations (further complicated by
vulnerability and the changing position
of dealer) ensured one could never get
bored playing bridge. Another question
was, "What is the one main reason you
play bridge?" That was more difficult,
and I chose the "For the competition"
option, but I really wanted to say, "Because it's fun."
During that same time period, I had
a memorable experience at the table.
First let me say that I personally have
a "light" style that allows me to justify
bidding (often more than I should). I
was sitting North in first position on
Board 1 (neither side vulnerable). I
picked up:
♠Q 9 8 7 5 4 ♥2 ♦Q J 10 7 2 ♣K.
It's possibly a great playing hand, but
can you justify opening it in first seat?
I didn't take much time for thought,
and decided to open 1♠. LHO followed
with a pass, and partner responded
2♦! Then RHO overcalled 2♥. What
now? Clearly (to me) I want to block
the opponents' good chance for a game
in hearts, so I escalated to 5♦. Everyone passed and a heart was led.

8 Bridge Bulletin May 2019

My partner held:
After winning the ace and playing a
spade, the opponents cashed the ♣A
and switched to trumps, but the spades
behaved, so we lost just one club and
one spade, to make 11 tricks.
Opening the traveler, however, we
discovered that the contracts at the
other tables were played in hearts by
the opposing side, making four or five.
Wow, that was fun! But, please -
don't ask me about my 1NT down six
(vulnerable) in the same session!
STEVE KAESSNER
Chico CA

ning. Our opponents graciously made
all of the boards to allow Danielle and
her never-before-seen partner a few
minutes to go over a card before play
started.
My teammates and I (and I'm sure
all the directors who didn't have to
deal with the huge mess it would have
caused had we withdrawn from the
event!) owe a huge thank-you to Louis
and Danielle for all they did to make
this small miracle happen.
TERESA NOA
LALITHA YALAMANCHILI
JONATHAN FRIENDLY
PATRICIA BOWLEY
Sarasota FL

Finding the fill-in

We need a rating system. Now.

♠10 ♥A Q 7 4 ♦A K 9 6 4 ♣8 5 4.

During the lunch break of the Sunday
Swiss at the Palmetto FL Regional in
February, one of my teammates arrived
at the table looking quite green in the
gills and advised that he would not be
able to finish the event. We sent him
straight home and went immediately to
find a director.
The director looked across the room
and pointed out Louis Trautwein who
had co-chaired the partnership desk
all week. Of course, because this was
mid-day, everyone who had been looking for a team was long gone, and all the
partnership slips had been disposed of.
But Louis remembered a young woman
who had been there that morning and
was looking for a team in our general
point range. He didn't have her contact
info, but he walked through the entire
playing field with me until he found
someone who knew how to get in touch
with her.
We called Danielle Cusson, who was
soaking up the Florida sun back at her
hotel. She called an Uber and was at
the playing site 15 minutes later just
as the afternoon session was begin-

I must take the opportunity to comment on the masterpoint system. I
played duplicate for about 25 years
without ever becoming an ACBL
member because of my contempt for
masterpoints.
I come from the chess world, where
a player's ranking changes with every
game; it goes down as readily as it goes
up. I now play bridge regularly with a
partner who has about 1500 masterpoints, but he is 88 and declining. His
game rarely evidences what would be
expected from such a point total. My
game is not as sharp as it once was, yet
my point count continues to grow. The
system rewards attendance, willingness to travel and expend money at
least as much as it does skill. I have no
solution to this, but it needs to be fixed.
As a handicapping system, it is a total
failure.
DAVE LUBECK
Englewood FL
May 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of May 2019
