42 North Shore Towers Courier n July 2015 CARD-READING A SAD Contract Bridge DISILLUSIONMENT by STEVE BECKER Let’s say you’re playing rubber bridge and hold the East hand. Much to your surprise, South opens with one spade, your partner doubles, and North bids two spades. You restrain yourself and pass, whereupon South says three spades, which rolls around to you. You have four trump tricks in your own hand, and partner has indicated a hand of approximately opening strength, so—naturally—you double. That’s exactly how the bidding went many years ago when Al Sobel, then the American Contract Bridge League’s chief tournament director, held the East cards. As he recounted the story in the ACBL Bulletin, his partner was an exceptionally sound bidder, so all Sobel had to do was to sit back and wait for the shekels to come rolling in. The only trouble was that Sobel’s dream of affluence did not materialize. West had solid values for his double of one spade, but he didn’t take a single trick, despite his 17 points, and South made three spades doubled. Declarer ruffed the diamond lead, cashed the ace of hearts and ace of clubs, and ruffed a club in dummy. Then he ruffed a diamond and a club, another diamond and his last club. By this time eight tricks had been played, and declarer had won them all. Sobel still had the A-Q-J-10-9 of trumps, and South, with the K-6 of trumps, could not be stopped from scoring a trump for his last trick. The result did not prove that Sobel had made a bad double—one must occasionally pay the piper in order to show a profit over the long haul. Of course, Sobel got credit for his 100 honors, but that was small consolation considering that South scored 730 points for making his doubled contract. In essence, Sobel got buried— with honors! (c) 2015 King Features Syndicate Inc. “MAYBE” TILES No, “Maybe” tiles are not a new Suit or a new kind of tile. They are tiles that you just keep that do not really help or strengthen the hand you’re playing. You might get them in the Charleston or decide to keep them as you’re playing the game. But for the novice player, they can be the source of chaos and confusion. Here are examples of maybe tiles. You are playing an even hand that requires 2 and 4Crak. In the Charleston, you get a 2Bam. You are playing a 369 one- Suited hand. You pick a tile of the same Suit, but not a 3, 6 or 9. You are playing a 1,3, 5 odd hand in Crak. You get a 9 Crak. None of these tiles are “keepers”. In the first example, the 2Bam, although it’s an even numbered tile, it’s the wrong Suit. In the s e c o n d e x a m p l e , tho the Suit is correct, it’s a wrong number. In the third example, your hand requires low numbers—9 is a high number. The tendency to keep Flowers, extra or otherwise or tiles that make a Pair unrelated to your hand is usually counterproductive. So “Maybe I’ll save this if I change my mind” or “Maybe I’ll keep it for later” is, in most instances, not a good idea. When you have a specific hand to play, don’t get sidetracked by maybe tiles. Keep your “eyes on the prize”! AMERICAN Reprinted courtesy of the Jewish Journal of Los Angeles and Elaine Sandberg. Elaine is a mah-jongg instructor, who has taught the game for Holland American Cruise Lines and at American Jewish University, and the author of “A Beginner’s Guide to American Mah Jongg: How to Play the Game and Win” (Tuttle, $14.95). til next time... may the tiles be with you!
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