Yesterday's Vandy Results
1. Nickell 29 64 126 189
32. Takemori 23 46 78 115
2. Jacobs 52 95 127 165
31. Roman 12 24 78 99
3. Meltzer 45 86 142
30. Crawford 18 58 76 withdrew
4. Welland 36 82 156 192
29. Katz 46 62 90 110
5. Schwartz 45 65 130 157
28. Moorthy 12 41 59 76
6. Quinn 39 57 67 114
27. Miller 18 31 80 117
7. Brachman 24 56 94 125
26. Bhatia 31 32 48 60
8. Shugart 30 55 91 115
25. Pavlicek 74 101 126 191
9. Morse 21 60 104 161
24. Moscow 5 15 43 57
10. Woolsey 29 48 90 134
23. Lall 38 68 107 146
11. Lev 41 55 89 95
22. Jansma 42 66 96 125
12. O’Rourke 19 35 59 117
21. Moss 45 65 102 125
13. Zwerling 28 49 54 98
20. Wildavsky 32 84 135 161
14. Mahaffey 36 53 93 147
19. Brody 58 68 75 100
15. Kasle 19 32 84 134
18. Ekeblad 43 76 91 115
16. Bertheau 46 88 138 174
17. Robison 34 66 80 139
Which convention is most valuable?
What’s your favorite convention? Why do you think it’s valuable? Those are the questions we posed to some top players, and their answers were often surprising. How many of you chose Splinters? Three of the first four experts we questioned believe Splinters are especially valuable.
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Grant Baze a frequent winner at the national
level, isn’t a fan of conventions – “I wish we
didn’t have conventions at all.” He told the story
about Terence Reese at the Portland Club in
London many, many years ago.Someone opened
1♣ and the next player doubled for takeout. But
at the Portland Club that wasn’t allowed – every
bid had to be natural. After lengthy debate, the
club allowed the double to be for takeout. Reese
told the club, “You’ve made a terrible mistake.
You’ve opened the door.”
Baze likes Splinters because “they help
evaluation better than any other single bid.” He
uses mini-splinters for the light hands and
regular splinters for reasonable, but not huge,
hands. “It’s great to be able to show singletons
below the 3NT level,” he said.
Paul Soloway, number one in masterpoints
and a World Grand Master, is torn between
Splinters and Roman Key Card Blackwood. “Splinters do a wonderful job of helping partner
evaluate, and RKCB usually does a good job of
deciding whether to bid slam or not.”
Jill Meyers also has a favorite that is not in
general use – Polish Two-Bids. Opening twobids
in the majors always show at least a 5-5
two-suiter with the strength of a normal weak
two-bid. One of the suits is always the suit
named in the bid. The other suit can be any one
of the other three – it doesn’t have to be a minor.“I like this bid because it creates a lot of action,”
said Jill.
Another vote for Blackwood, but Zia
Mahmood doesn’t differentiate – he likes all forms
of Blackwood. “I want to know if we’re missing
two aces. You can make a slam sometimes when
you’re missing one ace, but 99 times out of 100
you’re going down if you bid a slam off two aces.”
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And still another vote for Blackwood, but Geoff Hampson restricts his choice to Key Card, just as Freeman did. Why Key Card? “There’s nothing I hate worse than getting to a slam off two cashing aces.”
Chip Martel ranks Transfers and Takeout Doubles as equally valuable. “Transfers have a number of pluses – they occur frequently, they identify the level of strength, they make the correct hand the declarer, and they’re easy to use.” The frequent occurrence of Takeout Doubles also is a plus, Martel believes. “These doubles get partner to name his best suit, making it easier to get to the right strain. They also help establish the strength of the combined hands. I include Negative Doubles as a special case of Takeout Doubles.”
Drury is it for Mike Passell. He plays straight Drury.. “There are so many pluses Drury lets you open light and direct the opening lead. Not only that, it keeps your partner from bidding too much.
Like Passell, Bob Hamman thinks Drury is the best. “I could live without transfers and ace-asking bids, but Drury is necessary for stopping at a reasonable level, to set up a good defense and to find the best game.”
Second in the Silver Ribbon Pairs were G Gard
Hays and Jerry Premo.
New York is Next |
