Minnesota Bridge

Paging Vic Mitchell

Victor Mitchell, from New York City, was one of bridge's most colorful characters.  He captured multiple national wins, a second in an Olympiad and represented the U.S. in international competition.  Most of all, however, Mitchell was known for his incredible table feel and ability to read what his opponents had on any given hand.

Very few of us have any chance of matching the amazing skills of Mitchell.  Nevertheless, we can do our best to emulate at least a few of his talents.

With a new and fascinating hand, John Koch teaches us how to aspire to being Vic Mitchell.

CRASH!

Looking for a method to easily compete against an opponent's big club opener?  Check out Larry Cohen's explanation of "CRASH" at Sharon Anderson's website!

The Bridge Club

At Minnesota Bridge, we often report about tournaments, special events and awards.  Yet, for those of us who love bridge, a great hand is a great hand - whether it occurs in North St. Paul or at an NABC in Orlando.

Local clubs are where most of us learned to play  duplicate, where we meet our bridge friends and where we improve our games.  Today, my longtime good buddy and bridge partner, Kerry Holloway, ventured to Edina to visit Tony Ames' Monday duplicate.  At the Edina Senior Center, we saw some familiar faces, and met new folks.  It's a great site, and a convenient spot for those in the south/southwest part of Minneapolis and the 'burbs.

No matter where you live, be sure to enjoy your local duplicate clubs!  We have a list of some of our clubs listed on the left.  Some, like the Twin City Bridge Center in Minneapolis and The Bridge Center of St. Paul have games almost every day.  For others, check their schedules for sessions.  If you are a club owner or manager and your game's website isn't listed, please let us know.  We'll be sure to link to it.

World championships and national events certainly are full of excitement.  If you're looking for fun, friendship and a handy spot to play - be sure to check out your nearest local dupe!

More photos below, too!

Happy Holidays!

 

Card Reading

Much success at the bridge table comes from card reading - and from preventing your opponents in being able to discern what the layout of a hand actually is.

This week, John Koch demonstrates how to calculate the lie of the cards to bring home a slam.  Would the opponents' diversion have wreaked destruction on your plus 980?  John steers us to triumph!

Holiday Sectional Results

Due to a computer glitch, results from our early December sectional had not been available.  But - now they are!  Congratulations to the dad-son duo of Terry and John Lijewski for earning more masterpoints than anyone else. 

And - we hope that everyone else had a great time competing and earning MP's right before the holidays!  All results can be found here.

The Hoffman View

Last Friday night, Sue Jackson coaxed Mike Hoffman to play in the Minneapolis Grand Slam Club.  Their almost 64% game normally would be more than enough to win, but Kurt and Anne Schaeffer bested Sue and Mike by one matchpoint.

This hand is part of what contributed to their excellent performance.

Mike held:  AKxx, xxx, AKJx, xx.  Mike opened 1D and Sue bid 1S.  Mike's 2S bid ended the auction.  Sue's hand was:  Jxxx, Axx, xxx, xxx.

After Sue scored 140, she inquired of Mike why he didn't open 1NT.  "What a silly idea!" Mike responded.

Every other player with Mike's cards opened 1NT, generally ending with opener declaring 1NT for plus 90.

Was Mike just lucky?  Or brilliant?  We leave it up to you to decide!

 

Holiday Membership Games

The Twin Cities Bridge Center has a holiday gift for you!  Each day, from Sunday December 26 through Friday, December 31, the TCBC will hold two membership games each day.  Membership games are sessions that offer lots of extra points for ACBL members without any additional cost!

On Friday, you can enjoy a full day of bridge.  Start with the 11AM Open Pairs and the 3PM under 4,000 masterpoint membership game.  At 6:15, players can share a New Year's Eve pot luck dinner, then compete in an Open or 199er Membership Game at 7PM.

Check out the TCBC calendar for all the details!

 

Winter Carnival

After digging out from a mountain of snow, folks are busy with holiday celebrations, Christmas preparations and plans for the New Year.  Yet, another important event is only a month away now:  the St. Paul Winter Carnival!

The tournament will have a new venue this year in New Brighton.  Check out the wonderful schedule, and make your plans for the last weekend in January!

In the meantime, have fun with all your holiday festivities!

Declarer's Patience

Different hands call for disparate techniques.  On some, a suit must be established.  On others, entries in a defender's hand must be removed.  Occasionally, however, a declarer must be patient.  On these hands, let the defenders do what you cannot do for yourself.  John Koch shows us the way.

In addition, you might note John's reference to a convention called "Kokish."  Named after Canadian expert and coach Eric Kokish, this convention is most helpful when dealing with exceptionally strong, balanced hands.  Opener bids 2C with all balanced hands of 25 or more points.  Responder bids a waiting 2D, then opener bids 2H.  Two hearts is either a strong 2 bid in hearts - or a balanced hand of 25+ HCP.  Responder must bid 2S next, irrespective of what his hand is.

If opener has the big balanced hand, he rebids 2NT.  Note that this is forcing!  Even if responder has no points whatsoever, partner may have game in his own hand.  System is on over 2NT.

If opener has a strong 2 bid in hearts, then opener makes whatever his normal rebid would have been in a "natural" auction.  3H would be non-forcing; responder could pass with a bust.  Any new suit would show a strong 2 bid in hearts, game forcing, with something in the new suit bid.  "Kokish" is a most helpful system for handling extremely large, balanced hands, with less guessing necessary than in standard bidding.

Thanks to John for introducing us this week to two very helpful ideas!

The Goren Trophy

 
It may be many years now since Steve Garner has lived in Minnesota.  Nevertheless, most of us still think of him as one of our own.

Steve has earned more titles in the bridge world than most.  In Orlando, he earned another:  the Goren Trophy winner for the most masterpoints in national events.

Perhaps you can think of a more deserving recipient.  I cannot!  Congratulations, Steve!

Frozen

It's December.  Icicles hang from rooftops, ice glazes roads and walkways; snow abounds.  Hello; it's winter in Minnesota!

But it's not just the weather that is frozen.  Suits in a bridge hand can be, too.

What am I talking about?  Check out John Koch's column this week.  John may not be able to help you with that mound of snow in front of your doorstep.  He can, however, lead you to being hot at the bridge table!

Upcoming 178 Agenda

 Many Unit 178 players are frolicking in the Orlando sunshine and battling away at the table.

A week after the Fall NABC ends, however, Unit 178 will be having a board meeting.  For those who are curious about the agenda for the December 11th meeting, please see below!

And - good luck in the last 4 days to all our players competing in Orlando!