May 2024 - 8

IN Box
is. " It turned out that, on an earlier
round of the session, while waiting
for the pair they were following to
finish, Nabil had inadvertently seen
part of my hand. I held the cQ x x
behind the A-J-10-x-x. The TD was
called and adjudicated appropriately,
awarding us each 60% on the board.
I suggested Nabil should get a
bonus for his honesty and sportsmanship,
to no avail.
Australian bridge players can be
proud that young men such as Nabil
are their representatives overseas.
JOHN CARRUTHERS
Kingsville ON
Editor's note: This is indeed good
sportsmanship, but players are reminded
that Law 16D requires participants
to act in this manner. If you
accidentally see a hand you've not yet
played or overhear a description of it,
call the TD.
Wrong number
My wife is not new to bridge, but
is new to duplicate. She is an ACBL
member but hasn't played often
enough to have memorized her member
number.
At a recent club game, I was inputting
the player ACBL member numbers
into the Bridgemates, and the
conversation went like this:
John: Do you have your ACBL
number?
Hannah: Yes, let me get out my card.
John: And the number is . . .
Hannah: 6-6-2-2-5-3-3-1-0-0.
John: Thanks, I don't need those
last three digits. Hmmm, nothing
comes up when I key in your number.
Can you read it to me again?
Hannah: 6-6-2-2-5-3-3.
John: Still nothing. One more time,
slowly, I'm screwing up something
here.
Hannah (slower): 6--6--2--2--
5--3--3.
John: It's still blank. Let me see the
card .... Hannah, you're giving me the
ACBL phone number.
JOHN LOMBARDO
Cranston RI
Double slam swing
Here's another story about a 24IMP
swing for you. Around 2000, in
a Vancouver-area sectional Swiss
teams, our teammates were doubled
in an unbeatable 6s and actually
made seven when the opening leader
tried to cash the wrong ace. They
were +1860. (Both sides were vulnerable.)
At our table, before I got
a chance to double 6s, my partner
saved in 7h. A poor opening lead cost
two tricks for the defense, resulting
in +2470 for us. The combined gain
of 4330 was good for 24 IMPs on
the deal. Oddly, our side took all the
tricks at both tables, which I would
assume is also quite the rarity. We
won the match 24-23.
Here's the full deal:
Dlr: North s -
Vul: Both h K J 9 4 3 2
d J 9 5 4 3
c J 10
s 10 8 7 3
h 7 6 5
d Q
c A 8 4 3 2
s A K Q J 9 5 4 2
h 8
d -
c K 7 6 5
s 6
h A Q 10
d A K 10 8 7 6 2
c Q 9
PETE WALTON
Surrey BC
It's not mediocre
In response to the letter from
Willis Renouf in the February issue,
in which he bemoans the awarding
of masterpoints for below-average
performances, I feel I have to stick up
for the current scoring method.
I look forward to being in a position
of having " only " 2200 masterpoints!
May I please ask the writer to look at
this situation from the point of view
of their partner, who was described
as a student. While the experienced
player with " only " 2200 masterpoints
placed 10th out of 14, the student
placed first out of the C-rated players.
I humbly suggest that this is worthy
of some reward, given that the student
was swimming in what I call the
" shark tank " !
Imagine how this newcomer to
the game felt after playing a session
where they were well in over their
head but still got some points. As a
newcomer myself with less than 150
masterpoints, I commend the student
for playing well, and I think that the
stratified scoring gives some encouragement
to newcomers to the game to
return for another session!
PETER BARBER
Oakville ON
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.
8 | Bridge Bulletin | May 2024
May 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of May 2024
