November 2019 - 8

Letters to the Editor

unannounced. That was when I first
met Eldon Clayman, the then-president of the MABC, who pointedly said,
"Who are you, and why are you here?"
After a few chuckles, a motion was
made to officially appoint me as tournament chair for Williamsburg.
That encounter with Eldon was
the beginning of a wonderful friendship. Eldon mentored me during my
brief tenures of office in District 6 and
MABC, and I eventually began attending his sectional tournaments in
Morganton NC. I always marveled at
his ability to bring in the large numbers
of attendance in such a seemingly remote area of North Carolina. I always
referred to it as a three-day event of
three meals a day, with bridge included
on the side.
Eldon's first sectional was in 1994,
and since then, he has had 22,775.5
tables of bridge in a town with a population of 16,519. In 2017, Eldon was
honored as the Goodwill Member of
the Year. His farewell to the sectionals
was in October, 2018, but he still runs
three club games per week in Morganton and Hickory NC and is constantly
teaching and mentoring new players.
He is also still chairing the partnership desks for several of the District 7
regionals.
It is impossible to describe the impact he has had on bridge and players.
I just want to say thank you, Eldon, for
all that you have done for us and for the
game of bridge.
TOM DOW
Valdese NC

Scientific gambling

Those who played the REACH game
on July 29 may recall a board in which
they held:
♠A K Q 4 ♥A Q 9 2 ♦A 7 6 ♣J 5
and heard partner open a gambling
3NT, promising a solid suit (A-K-Q

8 Bridge Bulletin November 2019

seven times or longer) and nothing
else. Because partner obviously held
clubs, many just bid 6NT.
I suggest the following treatment
for such a hand: use 4NT. What should
it mean? It can't be Roman key card
Blackwood, and it can't be quantitative.
So instead, it should mean, "How long
is your suit?"
Partner would respond using the following scale: 5♣ = 7; 5♦ = 8; 5♥ = 9;
5♠ = 10 (if you decide to open 3NT
with that). It works regardless of the
suit partner holds.
On that day, you would get a nice top
because partner had the extra length,
and 13 tricks were easy.
GERARD LAQUERRIERE
Fresno CA

Cell phones: contra

One of the reasons I enjoy bridge is
the civility of the game. The mores of
play. Being quiet, sitting politely, encouraging newer players, saying please
and thank you. Although texting or
reading on your phone may be "quiet,"
it still can be distracting to your partner or other players. One may smile,
grunt or frown in response to what
is on the phone. Also simply having
the phone out is an added distraction
to the table. It's also just rude. You're
telling everyone, "I'm not interested
in this game, and I am so much more
important than what is going on at this
table."
As a culture, why can't we just sit
quietly and be where we are physically
situated? Besides, maybe we can learn
something by watching the play.
BERNADETTE HIGGINS
Boston MA
Jim Stahl suggests that he should
be able to catch up with his messages
on his cell phone while waiting
for the next round (Letters to the

Editor, September). I am sure Jim
has not thought about it, but what if
he received a message from his best
friend, playing three tables ahead, that
read, "Board 14, bid 6♠"?
NORMAN RUSSELL
Toronto ON

Monday, Monday

In response to David Walker's letter
in the September issue, the reason
for the later start on Monday at most
regionals is the availability of tournament directors. More often than not,
the directors were at another tournament through Sunday. Their last session ended at 5 or 6 p.m., and then they
had to do post-tournament paperwork
and pack up their equipment. They
don't have enough time after doing all
of that to travel to a new tournament
site and be ready to run a morning session the next day.
SHIRLEY DULCEY
Dorchester MA

Now it's personal

My wife and I have participated in all
of The Longest Day promotions to raise
funds to find a cure for Alzheimer's.
About this time in 2017, the Club
News section of the Bridge Bulletin
featured a photo and article about my
wife and I celebrating 20 years of being partners while playing duplicate
bridge. At that time, she was a very
good bridge player! Then she began
to change, and the last time we played
bridge as partners (four months ago),
she could no longer recognize even
simple things such as Jacoby transfers. I hope that ACBL will continue
The Longest Day promotions to fight
this wicked disease, and that all of our
members will participate and contribute! As I said, now it's personal.
RAY ANDERSEN
Newburgh IN

November 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of November 2019