July 2024 - 8

IN Box
help me. " My opponent cheerfully
replied, " I've been called worse! "
Guess I should be thankful for not
saying, " The sluff wouldn't help me! "
BECKY BIEN
Little Rock AR
Regional format idea
So many regional schedules have
devolved into an endless stream
of boring one- or two-session pair
games (at typically triple the cost of
online games).
How about a two-session " biathlon
pairs " (modeled after the Olympic
skiing/shooting event), with swingier
IMP pairs in the morning and matchpoints
in the afternoon? The scoring I
propose could be based on the placement
in each event. For example, first
in IMPs and seventh at matchpoints
would yield a total score of eight; the
lowest combined score wins. Many
more players would be in competition
after the first round, as a runaway
winner in the morning would have
only a uniform, incremental lead over
the field.
This concept builds excitement.
It isn't duplicated online. It rewards
players adept in both forms of the
game. Bracketing is doable. And,
hopefully, it boosts attendance.
Would it take forever to get ACBL
approval/sanction?
DAVID JOYCE
Kenilworth IL
Reverse psychology
Here's a plea to my fellow ACBL
members: Please don't come to the
Rehoboth Regional in Delaware! Not
only is it the best regional, it also
has the best tournament chair (Kim
Holm), the best location (who doesn't
love the beach in May before the
crowds arrive?), the best restaurants
(all within walking distance and in
every price range), the best playing
space (new and clean), the best hospi8
| Bridge Bulletin | July 2024
tality (good lunch choices every day),
and the best volunteers. My friends,
my husband and I, who all go every
year, are afraid if it gets too crowded,
it might have to move, and we don't
want that! So, please, don't come to
Rehoboth!
JOAN LEWIS
Arlington VA
Good advice
Your recent notice of the passing
of Bob Wingeard mentioned that he
often played lunchtime bridge with
coworkers. I was one of those coworkers,
some 40 years ago when I was a
rather new player.
Though Bob was not my teacher,
he gave me a tip I still remember.
Sitting to my right, he was declaring a
small slam. I held K-x of trumps and
a side cA. When dummy came down
without the ace of trumps, it looked
like I had Bob set. At trick two, before
drawing trumps, he led a small club
toward the K-x-x in dummy. I played
second-hand low, so dummy's king
won. That was all Bob needed, because
he had led a singleton club. He
lost only one trick to my trump king.
After the hand, Bob's tip to me was,
" Never pass up the setting trick. "
JAMES HINCH
Athens AL
Change the formula
I applaud most of ABCL efforts to
help " even the field " for face-to-face
games. One more thing I think the
ACBL could do for F2F clubs: Give
overall winner awards in non-special
games when eight-table (or larger)
Mitchell movements are used.
The current rules require 14.5+
tables to give out overall awards (in
non-special games). Post-COVID,
most clubs are down 50% in attendance
and no longer get remotely
close to 14.5+ tables. My club averages
six or seven tables when it used
to be at least 14. Occasionally, we get
eight to 10 tables for a Mitchell-run
game. For non-special games, it
would be nice if overalls were calculated
like games with larger number
of tables.
LARRY HARDING
Hampstead NC
Claim game
The Raleigh NC Bridge Club has
some great members who work very
hard to bring new bridge players to
duplicate. One method to help new
players is to have a mentor/mentee
game multiple times per year. But
my letter is not about this important
recruitment tool, but rather about
an interesting occurrence at such a
game about 15 years ago.
I was the mentor as East and the
other mentor was North. North
opened 1h. I held 5-5 in the minors
with opening count. Because my
mentee and I had created our convention
card before the game, and she
said she was comfortable with the
unusual 2NT convention, I bid 2NT
to show my hand type. South passed,
as did my partner(!), and opener, too.
I won the first four tricks, though
there might have been a defensive
mistake on the opening lead. North
won the fifth trick, thought for a
few seconds, and then she claimed
the rest. North was a friend and she
was kind enough to not smile as she
recorded the score.
On rare occasions, as declarer,
I have claimed my contract on the
opening lead, but I've never had the
defense claim that many tricks on
me before or since. For all the Bridge
Bulletin readers, what is the most
number tricks the defense has ever
claimed against you as declarer?
BILL ROSE
Wake Forest NC
July 2024

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