August 2019 - 7

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Overdressed

The first tournament I ever entered
was with my friend Charley, a neighbor, in August of 1959. It was a few days
after his 15th birthday, and a few days
before mine. Charley and I learned by
reading books, kibitzing our parents
and playing with family and fellow
classmates.
We thought we were ready to enter a
tournament that August, but we didn't
know how to dress for one. Influenced
by photos of players in our books who
were elegantly attired, we decided to
wear white tuxes.
We declined our parents' offers of
a ride to the tournament - which was
held at a downtown hotel - preferring
to walk (in our tuxes) so that we could
discuss and review our conventions.
Upon our arrival to the second-floor
ballroom, we saw a dozen tables of
players, and they all looked at us with
amazement. Almost all of them came
to welcome us, but they assured us that
tuxes were unnecessary.
We came in second and everyone
congratulated us. We felt great. We
were very welcomed and we were
hooked on bridge.
DON WERTHEIMER
South Bend IN

In praise of Sheila

Sheila Ekeblad was as beautiful a
person as you would ever hope to meet
either inside or outside of bridge. We
were friends with her for more than 40
years and played as frequent teammates with Sheila and her husband,
Russ, in New England and Canadian
regionals in the 1980s and 1990s.
Sheila's death earlier this year
(which followed Russ's death three
months previously) caused us to
reminisce about our favorite Sheila
hand. It was the last deal of the last
match in a large regional Swiss team
event in Halifax NS in 1992. We were

Letters to the Editor

undefeated at the time and needed a tie
or a win in that last match to win the
event. Our boards in that match had
been extremely flat and uneventful, but
Sheila and Russ had been shedding undertrick and overtrick IMPs on several
deals. This was their last board:
Dlr: South
Vul: None
♠ 10 5 2
♥ J 10 9 8 7
♦Q7
♣ 10 6 5

♠9874
♥A653
♦952
♣AK

♠AKQ3
♥K
♦ J 10 8 3
♣QJ32

♠J6
♥Q42
♦AK64
♣9874

West

North

East

Pass
Pass

1♥
4♠

Pass
All Pass

South
1♦
1♠

At our table, we made 4♠ with an
overtrick. That was after West led the
♥J from J-10-9-8-7: Who would
not? Well, Sheila would not. She led
the ♦Q - the suit declarer opened -
and when it held, she continued with a
diamond to Russ's ♦K and then ♦A.
When Russ played his last diamond,
the spade suit layout was such that declarer had to lose a trump trick as well,
which set the contract. The 11 IMPs we
gained on the board won us the match
by 3 IMPs and the event.
When we asked Sheila what would
possess her to make such a lead, she
said that she knew they were losing at
their table, and that Russ had always
told her not to play passively when you
are certain you are behind near the end
of a match. She therefore concluded
that that "safe" heart lead wouldn't
win the IMPs she thought they needed
and led instead from her strongest and

shortest suit.
Thanks, Sheila. We miss you.
BARBARA and ROBERT STONE
Weston MA and McLean VA

Lawrence fan

I read parts of three newspapers daily, magazines, scientific journals and
many books. However, the quality of
writing by the columnists in the Bridge
Bulletin is unsurpassed. As an intermediate player, I never fail to learn
from all of them. If I must give a slight
edge to any columnist, it would be to
Mike Lawrence, a former member of
the Aces. A technique he often employs
in his articles and books is the use of
judicious questions to the reader.
What I find unusual in his writings
is that the questions he asks are often
those that have confronted me at the
bridge table. His questions always
make me stop and think.
I don't know if Lawrence is clairvoyant with respect to my problems or,
more likely, he is extraordinarily perceptive in recognizing and addressing
the problems of lesser players.
Thank you for the high quality of the
Bulletin and for the diversity of the
articles. Because of that excellence, all
its readers will improve.
STEWART B. DUNSKER
Cincinnati OH

Environmentally speaking

As bridge players, we need to stop
relying on plastic and styrofoam products to "feed" our eating and drinking habits at tournaments and clubs.
Instead, all bridge players must be encouraged to bring their own ceramic/
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. Send emails to editor@acbl.org.

August 2019 Bridge Bulletin

August 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of August 2019