September 2019 - 27

Then, just when I thought I was in
the groove, Al threw me a shocker-type
curve.
Al: If I open and you bid whatever,
and we're on the one level and I rebid
2NT, do not pass automatically. Stop
and think, because I have 18-19 highcard points and a balanced hand. You
have 6-9, so we need to find a game.
Me: Good gravy. OK. Why didn't you
tell me months ago when we started?
After I found the soul of Al's various
2NT bids, along came Claire Rolin,
Queen of Gadgets. Claire, a European,
wanted me to switch to upside-down
discards, the queen-ask in Roman
key card Blackwood, of all things, and
puppet Stayman over 2NT all at once.
Help! The yips were back with a vengeance. Every time I picked up a new
hand, I'd pray, "Please don't let either
of us have a 2NT opener, please, please,
please ..."
My next two partners recommended
Jordan 2NT, which attracted me immediately. Unfortunately, I was still
so preoccupied with my puppet yips
that when I put Jordan on my card,
I promptly forgot all about it. (I just
looked Jordan up again: I open a major,
opponents double, partner bids 2NT.
I'm allowed to freak out for a second,
but then I have to Alert it. It's a fourpiece limit raise. OK, that is super
logical. Maybe I'll frigging remember it
next time.)
While I was still yipping about
puppet and whatnot, John Dickenson
made it his mission to convert me to
lebensohl. He gave me a nice thin book,
which I started, and to my horror, discovered that lebensohl relies mightily
on ... 2NT. It's used when opponents
interfere over a 1NT opener, when
partner bids a reverse, or when partner doubles a weak opener in a major.
Fair enough. These are all situations
where game can either be bid or missed
when it's not appropriate. So lebensohl
is a great system, but the yip factor is
that sometimes the 2NT response is
artificial and the sign of a weak hand,

and sometimes it's fantastically strong.
Yip! Yip! Yip! Learning lebensohl is
like getting a concussion and having to
start all over again.
Just when lebensohl's soul was in
sight and it didn't feel like a total death
sentence, John added four-way transfers over 1NT. Crap!
Four-way transfers: A response of
2NT to opener's 1NT shows a long
diamond suit and requests opener
rebid diamonds. The way we play it, as
opener, I can super-accept by bidding
diamonds, but only, only, only if I have
♦A x x or ♦K x x. What this means is
partner would have responded Stayman (2♣) before 2NT if he had 8-9
points and no four-card major. No
matter what I rebid after his ding-dang
2NT bid and no matter what he does as
a result, I have to Alert (between yips)
that he has 8-9 points, and explain that
he may or may not have a four-card
major.
I'd include the unusual notrump in
this laundry list of ways to screw up
artificial 2NT bids, but to be honest,
the unusual doesn't seem all that unusual to me any more. There's a Robert
Todd article somewhere in the nether
regions of my handbag at the moment.
It's about Kokish game tries, which rely
heavily on ... well, you know ...
OK. I can handle this. I'm an athlete.
I am going to find the soul of 2NT, I'm
sure of it. But first, I need to totter to
the snack table and look for a caddy to
poke me in the cheek. Maybe Federer
will be there. Wake me up when it's
over.
◾
Susan Morse is an
actress and bestselling author of
two memoirs: "The
Habit," and "The Dog
Stays in the Picture."
Her third, chronicling
a recent headlong
dash into duplicate
bridge, will be finished if she can just
stop playing long enough to write.

➤ Movie Night

cont. from pg. 25

ates the new wave of bridge documentaries as promotional tools.
In February, the outgoing
president of the American
Bridge Teachers' Association is
spearheading a screening of "Aces &
Knaves" at the Lone Star Regional
in Houston after the Saturday
afternoon session.
Starzec, who is the host unit's
education liaison, says, "We'll have
popcorn, and the unit will provide
refreshments. We want it to be a
party. The evening is free, and we're
encouraging people to bring their
friends."
The marketing effort includes
having teachers and clubs on hand
that evening to offer lessons at a
discounted rate.
To book a screening of "Aces &
Knaves," contact the director, Jackie
Pare, at 917-359-0605 or via email:
pare.jackie914@gmail.com. The
ACBL Educational Foundation is
currently offering matching grants
for certain events.
◆ "The Kids Table," which
debuted at the Las Vegas Summer
NABC, follows four millennials over
the course of a year as they take
private lessons and put their newfound knowledge to work in clubs
and tournaments.
Co-director Stephen Helstad says,
"We really looked to find the human
moments. The lucky thing is they
each had a different experience.
If they all loved it or they all hated
it, it wouldn't have been as good.
Hopefully, everyone can enter
the game through one of their
experiences."
The film is available for viewing
starting Sept. 17 on iTunes, Amazon,
Vudu and DVD. To receive updates
about "The Kids Table" as well as
exclusive screening invitations,
free giveaways and more, go to
bridgekidsdoc.com.
◾
September 2019 Bridge Bulletin

27
http://www.bridgekidsdoc.com
September 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of September 2019
