Friday, June 6, 2003 - 6:00 pm ... Party Night
Friday, June 6th the Bridge Club will run a monthly party night game. This game will usually float between the 1st and 2nd Friday of the month depending on tournament schedules and other island, non-bridge activities. Because of Independence Day the July game will be on Friday, July 11th. Festivities will start at 6:00 pm with the game starting by 6:30 or 6:45 pm, thus, giving everyone a chance to play. In addition to being a special game at a special time, we will do some things differently on Friday night. Please email me or sign up at the Bridge Club if you plan on playing on Friday, June 6th.
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oneNT® - Hilton Head Island Bridge News
May 18, 2003
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Swiss Teams Unit Championship is a Great Success!
On Tuesday, May 13th ten teams came out to play in the Bridge Club's first team game Unit Championship. It was a very tight game with the top three teams placing with 65, 60 and 53 victory points ... literally one board's results separating each team. In 1st place the top seeded team of Larry Bitner, Gary Donner, Marvin Shatz, and Dave Woods (down from Canada for a couple of weeks) won all four of their matches. After winning its first 3 matches, this team went into the final match knowing all they needed to do was to avoid a big mistake in the last round. First place awarded 2.83 masterpoints to each of the team members.
In 2nd place was the team of Peter Wolf, Roma Ervin, Charlotte Taylor and Fred Ferguson. After winning its first two matches and leading the game going into the third round, this team matched up against the top team and lost in a very respectable match. This team from the old Sea Pines club finished the game by winning their last match and gaining on the gap ... but not enough. Second place awarded each of the team members 2.12 masterpoints. In third place and awarded 1.59 masterpoints was the team of Alan Keller, Ron Perry, Carol Keller, and Donna Tuggle. The team of Marty Nathan, Roni Keisler, Ginny Bednar and Bob Sauer finished 4th and received 1.19 masterpoints; and the team of Lee Strum, Ray Richardson, Karen Ricker and Don Buchanan finished 1st in Strata B and received 1.40 masterpoints.
Arlene Arellano directs the weekly teams competition. If you need help forming teams, contact Arlene arlenebluffton2002@yahoo.com and she will help you form a team.
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Hand Records - one of the most important tools we have available ... by Fred Ferguson
Bridge is a hard game. It is hard to learn and harder to put into practice what you think you have learned. Even though I may study the game nothing is as rewarding as when I can see a play or experience a mistake ... that is how we really learn. But in the heat of play, how do you note a play or experience you later want to remember. If you are like me I have a hard time remembering the last hand of the day let alone the first or fifth or whatever. I have tried making notes on my score sheet ... I have tried some kind of code that will help me remember the hands, but I just can't make enough notes throughout a whole session.
Larry Bitner says, "Only a few players have the sort of memories that will remember even selected hands once a session is over." While I think I am getting better, I am far from where I need to be. Fortunately there is a tool available to us that can really help ... it is called a Hand Record. At most tournaments today they give you a printed record of all the hands played in the session just finished. Larry continues, "For me, if I want to discuss bidding or defensive play with my partner, hand records are vital."
The only game at the HHI Bridge Club that makes Hand Records available is the Wednesday Night Green/White Game. Below is the Hand Record for Board 1 of last Wednesday's game.
In
addition to showing each hand, dealer and vulnerability, my hand records show
hcp and a computer analysis of makeable contracts. The computer analysis on Bd
1 says North or South can make 2 hearts or 5 spades and East or West can make 4
clubs. What is really fun is to find a hand that makes different contracts if
played from different directions - North or South or East or West.
Makeable contracts for Board 1.
C D H S NT
= = = = ==
N - - 2 5 -
S - - 2 5 -
E 4 - - - -
W 4 - - - -
Chuck Whidden, husband of Tournament Director Kathy Whidden and a member of several national committees, states "It is also good that all players, from experts to novices, can play the same hands. In a club game hand records allow the player to see what other players did with the same cards in an easy way ... hand records are a great learning tool.
Karen Ricker states, "Hand records are an excellent learning tool. You will immediately realize what the best contract is for both teams. Compare it to your contract and realize where you went right or wrong."
John Segal, a part-time HHI resident states, "When there are hand records, I tend to go back over all the hands from the session ... I feel that it helps my game to analyze possible mistakes after the fact and the hand records make it much easier ... I don't have to take notes on the hands or remember them."
Marty Nathan states, "Hand records, especially when coupled with individual board results, provide a unique an valuable tool. Hand records are most important in developing partnership understandings. During the game, don't hash over problems, misunderstandings and partner's uncanny ability to find the only lead that could give them the contract. You'll have partner thinking over the last hand rather than the current one. Or he'll get so frustrated that his game will go to pieces. Just mark down the problem hand on your score sheet. After the session you can discuss them with full hands in sight."
A week or two ago Ron Perry came up to me days after a session with a copy of the Wednesday Hand Record and explained to me how you had to play a hand in order to make the computer's makeable contract. What excited me wasn't the hand, but the fact that Ron had taken time to analyze the hand and makeable contract.
Another player, who will go nameless, came in to show me a really neat hand from a Wednesday Hand Record. The hand he was showing me was Board 35. When I pointed out that he had not played Board 35 in the game ... his response was it was still a great hand. I love this job!
WARNING: Hand records are habit forming; if you get use to using Hand Records, you will always want them.
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You cannot expect someone to tell you what is in their hand ...
and you are not required to tell people what is in your hand. I continue to be amazed when someone turns to me, after my partner has given an explanation of a bid, and ask is that what you have or something similar. Part of the problem is that my partner may say "to make that bid my partner should have _ _ _ _" then when someone turns to me and says is that what you have it is an explicit question as to what is in my hand. Admittedly, my partner should really say "according to our agreement(s) my partner should have _ _ _ _" then it is easier to say that is our agreement.
The following is an excerpt from Marty Nathan:
You are entitled to an Explanation of the Opponent’s Calls/Plays. [Rule 41] You may ask only when it is your turn to bid or play. While you can no longer request a review of the bidding once you’ve played to the first trick (but you can always ask what the contract is), you may ask for an explanation of the opponent’s methods whenever it is your turn to bid or play. When responding to a request for an explanation, you should:
o Disclose all special information, whether by explicit agreement or partnership experience.
o Your explanation should give the meaning of the bid/signal, not just the name of the convention.
o If you do not have an agreement, “no agreement” or “not discussed” is the proper response.
o You should not offer statements like, “I am taking it to mean….” You may be giving unauthorized information to partner and/or misleading the opponents.
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Assumption of Club Manager Duties
In an email to the club directors, Club Manager Peter Seery has assigned Club Manager responsibilities to other board members until his return in August.
Please be aware that I will be leaving HHI for our annual vacation on May 19th and will be returning on August 18th.
In my absence you should address your concerns to:
Don Buchanan. If you need a new or changed sanctions, let Don know. He has my telephone number and I will be working on HHI Club business while in Virginia.
Cliff Rhein. If you have any bills to pay and /or have questions about why someone did not receive the correct masterpoint(s) award, get in touch with Cliff.
Lee Sturm. Lee will address all other questions. Again, Lee has my telephone number if it requires input from me.
Rest assured, I will be playing at two clubs in Virginia, will be inquiring lots about what the local club managers do / don't do, will be playing at two regionals (where I hope to establish other peer contacts) and will come back in the fall with a lot of new ideas.
See you in the fall.
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Bridge Links
|
HHI Bridge Club |
HHI Bridge Center |
SC Bridge Unit 160 |
Mid-Atlantic Bridge Conference |
ACBL |
Savannah |
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Remember Bridge should be fun!
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Fred E. Ferguson, Editor
843.363.6416
Hilton Head Island, SC
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May 18, 2003 ... oneNT® is a private e-newsletter devoted to bridge technical issues and bridge news on Hilton Head Island and the SC Low Country. oneNT is published and emailed on a weekly basis, if the editor is not off playing in some tournament. Although certain internet service providers consider oneNT to be junk mail (spam), it is not intended as unsolicited email. If you do not wish to receive oneNT, send an email to oneNT@mindspring.com and call me a few names and I will remove you from future emailings.
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