November 2024 - 8

however, there was no bus.
I looked for some posted information.
There was none! I then started
to walk around the station looking for
a sign. A man came over and asked
to help. I told him what I was looking
for, and he took me to a sign posted
in the middle of the station which
explained that the 7 a.m. service was
canceled. I asked him if he worked
for Greyhound, and he said no; he
was homeless and stayed there overnight.
He then said, " You should see
the bathrooms: They're disgusting. "
I tipped him $10, and he left. It
then took 16 hours to get there by a
different carrier.
You should hear about the return
trip. That's another story!
JEFF WEINBERG
Pittsburgh PA
s 7
Perfect partner?
Ever since the pandemic began, I
have developed an affinity for playing
with robots online. They are silent
partners who never criticize me or
give me unsolicited advice. And they
do not care to endlessly rehash the
previously played hands! They do
not scrutinize the scores to see what
contract was reached at every other
table in the room, and they don't care
if I could have squeezed out an extra
trick as declarer. They don't even
notice my opening leads!
More recently, I have realized
that a robotic partner can never be
accused of cheating. No wonder I love
playing with the robots!
KAREN GOLD
Elkins Park PA
Junior player, senior defense
I recently have had the great pleasure
of playing with three members
of the Gong family from the Seattle
area. Rui Gong and his two sons,
Nathan and Arthur are fine players
and wonderful ambassadors for our
game. Both young men are top-level
Junior players who have represented
8 | Bridge Bulletin | November 2024
h Q 5 2
d Q J 8 4
c A K Q 5 4
the U.S. in world youth events.
I was fortunate to win the opportunity
to play with both Nathan and
Arthur in the recent Spark! auction
that raises money for youth bridge.
Nathan produced a fine YouTube
lesson for emerging players that is
available on our District 20 website.
Nathan and Rui teamed with me to
win a sectional Swiss teams, and
Nathan and I won a regional bracketed
team.
I was playing in a regional KO with
Arthur against one of the country's
best players when he made this killing
defensive play:
s A Q 9 8 6 4 3 2
h 10 4
d K 5
c 7
s 10
h A K J 9 6 3
d A 6 3
c 10 9 3
s K J 5
h 8 7
d 10 9 7 2
c J 8 6 2
West North East
Arthur
1d(1) 4s
6h All Pass
(1) Precision: 2+ diamonds
I led the sK. Arthur overtook and
fired back the d5. Declarer gave this
some thought and then went up with
the dA. When declarer played for
clubs to be 3-2 or the cJ to be singleton,
he went down. Any other play
by Arthur and the slam would have
made because declarer could take the
winning diamond finesse after setting
up the long club.
This defensive gem helped us win
the semifinal match, but we lost in
the final. I joked that the only flaw
that I could find in Arthur's game
was a lack of mature judgment. After
all, he is only 15.
DEWITT MONTGOMERY
Portland OR
South
Me
5h 5s
Fighting fatuousness
Much has been written about ethics
in online play. May we discuss
deportment?
Reasonable questions often generate
fatuous answers. The following is
my worst example, but not by much.
Partner opened 1c, right-hand
opponent overcalled 1d, I doubled,
and left-hand opponent bid 3d.
Preemptive? Constructive? Perhaps
even forcing? I clicked to find out.
The answer came back, " Diamonds. "
Clear claims are frequently denied.
I sometimes wonder if this is done
hoping that declarer will misclick
while playing it out.
Face-to-face, few players will tell an
opponent to play faster, and it's usually
considered rude. Some situations
require thought. Online, it happens
all the time, often urging the opponent
to play bad bridge: Teachers
instruct students to plan before playing
to trick one. The rudeness is easily
avoided by sending the director a
simple question: " N/E/S/W offline? "
BILL LANGLOIS
Valencia CA
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November 2024

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