July 2020 - 30

The Bidding Box
MODERATOR: JIM MUNDAY
acblbiddingbox@gmail.com

See the West and East hands that appear on pages 51 and 53 respectively, and try bidding
them with a regular partner. Compare how you performed with the expert pairs whose
auctions you can read about in this month's column. The North-South players are silent
unless otherwise noted. The competitors were not informed of any interference by the
opponents before the bidding commenced. The form of scoring is matchpoints with a 12 top.
The Bridge Bulletin auctions are meant to portray possible bidding sequences to one of
the top-scoring contracts using common methods.
Noble Shore and Michael Gill both
represented the USA as Junior players. In 2012, the District 6 players were
second in the Grand National Teams
Flight A, and in 2017, they finished a
close second in the North American
Pairs, Flight A. They have been playing
together since 2004 and have developed a formidable partnership playing
a strong club system with many relays/
asking bids.
Shore began playing in 1999, though
work and family have curtailed his play
somewhat over the past few years. He
lives in Maryland with his family and is
a vice president at Emmes Company, a
biotechnology firm. He leads the development of a data management system
for clinical trials, something especially
beneficial these days. Gill also lives in
Maryland with his family. He is a programmer and mathematician by trade,
though he calls himself a "recovering
astrophysicist."
Larry Robbins and Drew Becker are
familiar names, particularly to those
in the Chicago area, where they most
recently won the GNT Championship
Flight for District 13 - which was also
their first event playing together.
Robbins began playing as a teenager,
sneaking into rubber bridge clubs in
Chicago for higher stakes than he could
afford. Shades of Lee Trevino in golf;
a good way to earn your spurs if you
can pull it off. Robbins has three wins

30 Bridge Bulletin July 2020

in the GNT (1979, 1991 and 1995) and
he has a number of other high finishes
in NABC+ events. Robbins won an
NCAA college trophy at the University of Michigan, and represented the
USA in international competition.
He is a practicing neurologist. Becker
learned the game at a very young age
by playing at his grandparents' house,
but didn't take to it seriously until his
college days at Northwestern, where
he joined a student bridge club. He has
had a number of strong showings in
NABC+ events, most notably a secondplace finish in the Roth Swiss Teams
in 2007. He is an options trader in
Chicago where he lives with his family.
They play a 2/1 structure with a 1NT
range of a good 14 to 16 HCP, and a
short club.

Problem 1

North deals. None vulnerable.
West
♠ K Q J 10 6 4 2
♥ 10 5
♦ K 10 4 2
♣-
Shore
3♥
5♣
6♦
7♠

East
♠A7
♥Q63
♦AQ95
♣AKJ7
Gill
2NT
3♠
5♠
6♠
Pass

After a routine transfer start, Shore

took a reasonable gamble on a heart
control with East and invoked exclusion key card Blackwood with his
5♣ call, asking for the number of key
cards outside of the club suit, to aid in
a potential grand slam inquiry. Unfortunately, the partnership has special,
but different, responses when key card
responder has shown 20-plus HCP
and when exclusion is used. There was
disagreement over which took precedence here. Thinking their side held all
the necessary side controls, responder
asked for third-round diamond control
and bid the grand when opener confirmed with 6♠.
Robbins
3♥
5♣
6♠

Becker
2NT
3♠
5♠
Pass

An identical start with responder
signing off in 6♠ after learning they
were missing an ace somewhere.
Bridge Bulletin auction: 2NT-4♥;
4♠-5♣; 5♦-5♠; Pass. Bridge Bulletin Standard lacks a void-showing aceask, so responder simply cuebids after
setting spades as trump with the Texas
transfer. The heart problem is detected
just in time.
Scores: 5♠ 10; 5♦ 4; 3NT(E) 3;
6♠ 2; 6♦ 1
Shore-Gill 0, Robbins-Becker 2

July 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of July 2020