By Val Rhead
TRY FOR THAT EXTRA OVERTRICK IN DUPLICATE
There are a number of Unsanctioned Duplicate Bridge games in Muskoka. These games can be an easy way to be introduced to the game of Duplicate Bridge. The term, “Unsanctioned” simply means that they are not supervised by the ACBL (the American Contract Bridge League), and master points are not awarded when you win.
When you play Duplicate Bridge, either in a Sanctioned game or an Unsanctioned game, the play of the hand is the same as at Social Bridge. The bidding is similar, except Duplicate players are likely to use more Conventions.
However, the scoring system is very different. This means that the accuracy of your offensive and defensive play becomes more important. For example in Social Bridge, if you bid Four Hearts and make Four Hearts, not vulnerable, your score will be recorded as 420. If however, because of your skillful play, you make an overtrick, your score will be 450. That’s nice, but when you add up all your scores for the entire Social Bridge game, the overtrick is unlikely to make a big difference to your overall standing.
If however, you’re playing in a Duplicate game, here is how the scoring is different. If you make the same one-overtrick contract, you are rewarded more richly. If five tables are in turn playing the same hand, and if you and your partner are the only ones to make the overtrick, you will win one point for each of the other pairs that you beat. This will give you a top score of 4 points. Your scores add up over the game, 4 points for this hand, 2 points for another hand, zero points for that hand you bombed, and so on. The number of points you have accumulated during the entire game are added up, and your top hands, worth 4 points in a five-table game, loom large. The pair with the highest total score is the winner; the next highest scoring pair stands second, and so on.
Therefore, in Duplicate Bridge, it is no longer good enough just to make your contract, nor is it good enough just to put down the opponents one trick. You are not simply competing with the pair at your table; you are competing with all the other pairs in the room, in your direction, playing the same board. Try for that overtrick. Try to put down the bad guys more than one trick.
Although an Unsanctioned (Social) Duplicate game is less formal than the more serious game played at a Sanctioned Duplicate club, there are still rules to be followed. One rule is that if you are making an unusual bid that has a meaning different than what is expected, the bid has to be alerted by the bidder’s partner. In the game of Bridge, at all times the opponents are entitled to know any agreement between you and your partner if it is not standard bidding or play.
If you’re using Bidding Boxes, your partner (not you) will hold out the “Alert” card and say “Alert” when you make a non-standard bid. Bridge is not Poker. You can’t fool your opponents about the meaning of your bid. If you make a bid that is different from its expected meaning, the opponents must be informed. The bidder’s partner usually informs the opposition by displaying the Alert card and vocalizing “Alert”. In Social Duplicate, you do not need to be quite so formal. Your partner may say simply “That bid does not have its expected meaning. Would you like to know the meaning?” So, you and your partner must be in agreement on the meaning of your bids.
This isn’t a big problem, because in Duplicate Bridge, you are not changing partners continually. You play with the same partner for the whole game. But it would be wise to avoid playing so many Conventions that you cannot keep track of them, particularly if you’re a new partnership. Remember KISS, Keep It Simple Sweetie.
At a recent Unsanctioned Duplicate game I played in, this rule was not followed. The opener bid One Club, my partner passed, and the responder on my right bid One Diamond. This was disappointing to me because I was going to bid my five-card Diamond suit with all the honours except the King. I would have liked to make a Diamond overcall, but didn’t as I believed that my right-hand opponent had a long Diamond suit. The opener then bid 2 Hearts and that’s where the contract was left.
I was puzzled when the dummy lay down her hand. She had three points and only two Diamonds. I asked her the meaning of her One Diamond bid. She said, “In response to the One Club opening, it means I have a “Bust” hand.” This One Diamond bid must be alerted by her partner. It would have changed my bidding.
By the way, I don’t agree with that One Diamond “Bust” bid agreement (even when legal and alerted correctly). If you have a “Bust” hand, just pass. After years of playing a short One Club opening (which we always alerted), we were rarely caught with two little Clubs going down a telephone number. If the opponents have a strong hand, they will want to play their own contract rather than defeat One Club a measly one or two tricks. In any case, the One Diamond bid was not a standard bid and should have been alerted. I’d be calling “Director Please!” at a Sanctioned Duplicate Game. In an Unsanctioned Duplicate, play continues but someone at the table should caution the offending side that this unusual bid must be brought to the attention of the opponents.
If you wish to promote an activity in your bridge group or ask a bridge question, send the information to [email protected] and I will include it in this column.
HUNTSVILLE DUPLICATE BRIDGE CLUB
Games for the Huntsville Club are Tuesday evening 7:00, Trinity United Church 33 Main Street. Please arrive at least 15 minutes early. Contact Jan Roberts 705-635-2522 or [email protected] for information and partnerships.
The following winners are for Tuesday, Jul 31 with 22 pairs playing a Mitchell movement. North-South 1. Val Rhead and Gail Lederer; 2. Betty Fagin and Brian Brocklehurst; 3. Fay MacDonald and Yvonne Cox; 4. Barb Green and Mary Whitehead; 5. Vern Foell and Rod Dixon; 6. Jim Smith and Ralph Mitchell; East-West 1. Liz Graham and Sandy Graham; 2. Sheila Jenset and Karen Harder; 3/4. Dorothy Russell and Kelly Andresen; 3/4. Ann Cassie and Bruce Cassie; 5. Liz Barnes and Bev Howard; 6. Libby Duncan and Gordon Duncan
MUSKOKA DUPLICATE BRIDGE CLUB (Bracebridge)
Games for the Bracebridge Club are Mondays 7pm, Knox Presbyterian Church, 120 Taylor Road. Please arrive 15 minutes before game time. For information or partnerships, call Brian at 705-645-5340 [email protected]
The following winners are from Monday, Jul 30 with 30 pairs playing a Mitchell movement. North-South 1. Dorothy Russell and Gail Lederer; 2. Kel Andresen and Jim Smith; 3. Betty Franklin and Scott Franklin; 4. Pat Davies and Sue Scott; 5. Sharon King and Peter O’Connor; 6. Mary Luke and Donna McIntosh; 7. Lyn Walisser and Bev Howard; 8. Betty Fagin and Brian Brocklehurst; East-West 1. Liz Barnes and David Bryce; 2. Art Insley and Don Evans; 3. Donna Tikuisis and Peter Tikuisis; 4. Kathy Kent and David Kent; 5. Phyllis Robinson and Sheila Robinson; 6. Ann Cassie and Bruce Cassie; 7. Barbara Bernstein and Judith Arbus; 8. Carol Anne Robinson and Nancy Barber
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