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tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50915772739286955662018-04-21T02:28:02.474-07:00Danny BridgeI'm an improving bridge player living in Glasgow. I mostly play at The Buchanan Club with my wife Anna.Dannyhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091577273928695566.post-18820349468938500462018-04-21T02:28:00.000-07:002018-04-21T02:28:02.363-07:00Dealing with 4-1 trumps
I think being a good bridge player means having played enough that you are familiar with all sorts of things that might happen at the table, so you can deal with them automatically and don't have to think too much.
Last night I played at the St Andrew Bridge Club with John Faben. Twice I was declarer in a routine contract that was suddenly in jeopardy when trumps didn't split nicely. I didn't cope well. Here's the first:

JohnDanny
WNES
-2NT-
3♣*-3♦*-
3♠-4♥-
--

I upgraded the 19-point East hand to open 2NT. We don't play together often and our system is based entirely around bidding Puppet Stayman whenever possible, so John duly bid 3♣ which asksfor a five card major. I didn't have one, so he then bid the major he didn't have and I bid game.
I got a friendly lead of ♦A and another Diamond. Looking at dummy I thought I would now make 11 or 12 tricks depending on the Club guess. I started drawing trumps. On the second round South showed out, so I now know that North has a trump trick. I played one more round of trumps, leaving North with just the winning ♥J. I then set about Clubs, cashing the ♣A then leading the ♣J to finesse South.
Then, and only then, did I stop to think. If this Club finesse lost, then North could draw my remaining trumps and win all the Diamonds. Although I thought South more likely to have the ♣Q, I could have safe guarded my contract by finessing the other way, as if South won the ♣Q she couldn't draw my trumps. Even better than that, I should have started on Clubs after only two rounds of trumps. That way if the Club finesse lost no return would hurt me - and if playing Clubs early somehow lead to a Club ruff North would only be ruffing with a natural trump trick.
At the table I had to make a decision. I could put all of my eggs into one basket, carry on with the finesse of ♣Q against South and make 11 tricks if it worked, or back down and try something else. I backed down. I tried the ♣K from dummy (might drop the ♣Q), then sticking with the idea that North had the ♣Q took a Spade finesse, which if successful would also have lead me to ten tricks.
My Spade finesse failed, South cashed the ♣Q she wasn't supposed to have and with a trump trick still to lose I was down one in a 29 point game.
On the very next hand I had a chance to redeem myself, when trumps also split 4-1. Had I learned my lesson? Sadly not.

JohnDanny
WNES
1♣1♥
x3♥3♠-
4♠---

I opened the East hand 1♣ and when partner showed Spades via a double we soon got to game.
South helpfully cashed her ♥A and continued Hearts. It looks like my only other loser is the ♠A, so as before I set about drawing trumps. North ducked the first two rounds. At this point I should simply play a third round of trumps. If North takes the Ace now I can win any return, draw trumps and I'm home. If he ducks again, leaving himself the bare ♠A, I also just start taking my winners and let him get his one trick at any point.
But I had another plan - a foolish one. I ruffed a Heart in dummy, then played a round of Spades. North won his Ace and suddenly it dawned on me. If he makes me ruff now (by playing a Heart) I'm out of trumps and he still has one left. Now there is not in fact any danger here, as we've had three rounds of Hearts already so he doesn't have any, but I still feel I messed up as I didn't see that coming.
In the event North returned his final trump and I claimed the rest for 4♠+1.
So what have I learned? I'm not sure, but next time when the trumps split 4-1 I'll play side suits early, and avoid ruffing so I can keep trump control.
The rest of the evening had some highs and lows. At one point we bid to a rather dicey 7♠ (most other tables were in 4♠) which is makeable but went one off. Perhaps John will detail his rue about that on his blog. Towards the end of the evening I got very tired, and at one point when I knew I had the setting trick against 6♣ just focused on following suit and not revoking to give the contract away.
I hope to play again soon. Dannyhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091577273928695566.post-86236128145271158652018-03-25T12:51:00.002-07:002018-03-25T12:51:22.786-07:00Friendly vs Hutcheson's
Yesterday I took twelve pupils from the HSOG bridge club on the train across town to face Hutcheson's Grammar School. This was the return match of the friendly we played last year. They beat us comfortably last time, but this time we prevailed. In the top match they narrowly beat us, and it was also close on the novices match, but a mismatch on the second match led to a comfortable win overall.
The match was very well organised, with just the right amount of boards (not many) and a decent break in between them for some sandwiches.
It was interesting watching the different standards. For example, on one hand I watched on the top table our pair bid to a solid 4♠ gaining when the other table stopped in an overly conservative 3♠+1. In 4♠ our declarer confidently won the opening lead, drew trumps, unblocked a suit, crossed to dummy, discarded a loser then took a losing finesse and claimed ten tricks.
On the third table things were much more unpredictable. My new players had moments of inspiration where they made thoughtful plays (e.g. overtaking a winner to get to dummy), but then also did inexplicable things (discarding an Ace). At one point I suffered the sensation that must be common to many bridge teachers of watching a new player set up a winner, thinking "he's done that well" only to see him neglect the winner as he hasn't realised it was high.
Our bridge club is much less developed than the Hutcheson's equivalent, and in the bidding the pupils rely more on instinct than counting points. I hope to introduce more accurate bidding and, more importantly, more thoughtful declarer play and defence in the future.
The IMP scoring (and in fact, any scoring), was new to several of them. The two boards below demonstrate it in action:

Board 20
 All Vul
W deal

♠ Q 8 7
♥ J 7 6 3
♦ 5 3
♣ A K Q J

♠ T 4 3
♥ A K Q 9
♦ A K 7
♣ 9 8 2

13
165
6

♠ A J
♥ T 8 4 2
♦ 9 8 4 2
♣ 7 5 4

♠ K 9 6 5 2
♥ 5
♦ Q J T 6
♣ T 6 3

Looking at all four hands you would expect East-West to reach a contract in Hearts, and indeed that is what mostly happened. With his solid-looking Hearts West might get overboard, but the hand is flat and the defence have three Club winners along with a Spade, Diamond, and even a trump in North, so 7 tricks looks about right. In reality between 6 and 9 tricks were made when playing in Hearts. Two Wests instead played in NT.
In our match Tables 1 & 2 were paired, as were Tables 3 & 4, and Tables 5 & 6. The table below showed exactly what happened at each table, with all scores from our perspective:

Table 1 Table 2
EWNS
Jonny & Julianna Amelie & Samthana
1♥ W = 2NT W =
Scores +80 -120
<nobr>Net score</nobr> -40
<nobr>Net IMPs</nobr> -2 to HSOG

Table 3  Table 4
EWNS
Louis & KevinMichael & Harry
1NT W -1 4♥x W -4
 -100 +1100
 +1000
 +14 to HSOG

Table 5  Table 6
EWNS
Maxwell & Alex Robert & James
4♥ E -2 3♥ W =
 -200 -140
 -340
 -8 to HSOG

On Tables 1 and 2 our team made 1♥= on Table 1 for +80, but conceded 2NT= on Table 2 for -120. This lead to a 40 point loss overall on that board for that match, which translates to a 2 IMP loss (IMP lookup table here: https://www.bridgehands.com/I/IMP.htm). In the next match we conceded 100 on Table 3 going off in 1NT but gained spectacularly on Table 4 when our North decided he was worth a double of 4♥, and took it four off for 1100. The net 1000 point advantage lead to a 14 IMP gain. In the final match we lost points on both tables leading to an 8 IMP loss. So overall, across the whole match, that was a 4 IMP gain (all down to the big penalty on Table 4).
The next hand had a greater variety of contracts:

Board 21
 NS Vul
N deal

♠ A 8 4 3
♥ A 8 3
♦ 8 3
♣ Q 7 3 2

♠ Q J T 7 5
♥ 6
♦ K J 7 6
♣ K T 6

10
1014
6

♠ K 6 2
♥ Q T 9
♦ A 9 2
♣ A J 5 4

♠ 9
♥ K J 7 5 4 2
♦ Q T 8 5
♣ 9 8

Table 1 Table 2
EWNS
Jonny & Julianna Amelie & Samthana
4♥ S -3 4♠ E =
Scores +300 -420
<nobr>Net score</nobr> -120
<nobr>Net IMPs</nobr> -3 to HSOG

Table 3  Table 4
EWNS
Louis & KevinMichael & Harry
3♠E= 4♥ S -3
 +140 -300
 -160
 -4 to HSOG

Table 5  Table 6
EWNS
Maxwell & Alex Robert & James
4♠ E -1 1NT E -1
 -50 +50
 0
 0 to HSOG

Looking at all the hands East-West have a game in Spades, but that was bid only once. On the table I watched East played in NT, and although the defence got off to the best start in Hearts they somehow let declarer take a trick. But rather than go after the Spades, declarer then went for the short-term gain of cashing all her winners and finally finished minus one.
The table below shows the final results from the different matches (again from our perspective):

Match 1 Match 2 Match 3
First half-13+21+7
Second half+1+27+1
Total-12+48+8HSOG win by 44 IMPs
 Dannyhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091577273928695566.post-41415170309283611452018-01-17T12:51:00.000-08:002018-01-17T12:51:30.636-08:00Frischmann Junior PairsI took nine pupils on the bus to Edinburgh to compete in the National Junior Pairs. Since this event is partly used to select the Scotland Junior team, and Junior goes up to under-26 in bridge, there was a high standard. In fact I'd say there were two competitions, one between the more experienced players to see who would finish top, and one between the more junior juniors to be the best of the rest.
My juniors stepped up to the occasion well, and coped with playing in a more formal setting well. The only time when when standards slipped was when a table consisted of our of our pairs against another one of our pairs. "You're all crazy!" observed a neutral.
With matchpoint scoring, few tables and varying quality there was a large degree of randomness in the scores, and more than ever if you got a good positive score you almost certainly got a good result. Here's a couple of example boards:

It's an interesting board as it's not clear what the final contract might be, and in fact the four tables all went quite differently. Once East-West made a part-score in Hearts, once South went one off in 2♦x. The bigger scores came when South overcalled in 1NT (off four) and when North-South played 3♠x (also off four).

This board belongs to East-West. The one North declarer only managed seven tricks in 3♥ (I'm not sure how this is possible!), which was costly as at two other tables East-West went down in 5♣, and West also made 1NT. I was impressed by one auction:

SBJMJSBAB
WNES
1♠
2♣2♥-3♥
4♣-5♣-
--

South made the obvious 1♠ opening bid and West overcalled 2♣. We've not yet discussed doubling first with big hands, but I think many would still overcall the West hand 2♣. North made a bold raise to 2♥, he ought to know this requires ten points but his intention is certainly right. South found a good Heart raise (more effective than bidding 2♠) and West, undeterred, ploughed on with 4♣. East paused for a while then found a reasonable 5♣ raise.
North lead a Spade (partner's suit) which declarer won and drew trumps. She then finessed with a Diamond to the Ten, which South grabbed and cashed two Hearts, for one off. Good bidding, play and defence.
Overall the event was handsomely won by Glen Falconer & Damien Murray with an impressive 73.40%.Dannyhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091577273928695566.post-11825025181550623082018-01-02T07:11:00.000-08:002018-01-02T07:11:29.761-08:00Overcompensating
Zia Mahmood says in his book Bridge, My Way that if your partner is an underbidder you shouldn't try and compensate for her by overbidding, and likewise if your partner tends to overbid you shouldn't compensate for that either. I think the idea is that although trying to account for your partner's bidding might get you a better result on the particular hand you do it on, they'll then keep on bidding that way. Instead, bid normally, and let them get to the wrong contract a few times then they'll correct their ways.
Anna is relatively timid, and I was guilty of trying to compensate for her in a hand last week. Even though I had opened 1NT so she knew our combined strength much better than me I still took matters into my own hands and doubled the final contract, when it should have been her. In a sense I was right to double, as it went two off, but next time I'll try and pass.

No one vul
S deal

♠ A T 9 8 x
♥ x x x x
♦ Q T x
♣ x

♠ x
♥ A Q x x
♦ K x x
♣ A Q J 8 x

6
164
14

♠ Q J 7 x x
♥ T x
♦ J 9 x x x
♣ T x

♠ K x
♥ K J 9 8
♦ A x
♣ K x x x x

<td align=centerCAnnaSDanny
WNES
1NT
2♣2♠--
x-3♦-
3NT--x
---

I opened the South hand with a maximum 1NT. Playing natural methods, West overcalled 2♣ and North made a weak take-out to 2♠. This was passed round to West who doubled for takeout. East was tempted by a Pass (2♠x probably goes one off, losing two Spades, two Hearts, a Diamond and a Club but might make if West is on lead a lot) but finally went for 3♦, which West recklessly converted to 3♦, hoping that it was her partner who held all of the outstanding points.
As it was, North had two vital high cards, which combined with the 1NT opening in South should have been enough for a double. Unless, of course, North believed that West had a long Club suit, and was hoping to make 3NT based on that. When it came round to me as South I knew that the Clubs weren't running so risked a double.
North lead the ♠T, covered in dummy. I presumed West had the singleton Ace and ducked, letting dummy's ♠Q hold the trick. Declarer took a successful Heart finesse then played on Diamonds, leading low from hand. North popped up with the ♦Q and lead a Spade to my ♠K, and I was then able to set up two Heart tricks for the defence, to go with one Spade (as North never got her ♠A), two Diamonds and the ♣K at the end. Six tricks for the defence meant 3NTx-2.
Declarer does better to play on Diamonds straightaway, and although short of dummy entries may just be able to stumble home with a Spade, two Hearts, three Diamonds and three Clubs. Without those Heart tricks it's not clear where the defence's tricks are coming from, and they could be limited to two Spades and two Diamonds. Dannyhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091577273928695566.post-4691682048209158232017-11-24T11:36:00.000-08:002017-11-24T11:36:08.702-08:00Pairs at the ClubLast Monday Phil Moon and I played in the Buchanan. We rather boldly put ourselves into the matchpoint points for Division 1 and 2 players, although neither of us plays for any team at the moment. But we were prompt, completed a half-table, and played reasonably well, finishing on 53%.
We got off to a great start. In fact, my highlight was on Board One. Defending against 1NT I counted that declarer had four winners for the last four tricks, but then realised that if I trapped him in dummy he couldn't get them all. A proud moment.
On the very next deal I picked up this monster hand:
♠ AKQ9654 ♥KJ43 ♦- ♣J2
When partner opened 1♥ I hatched a plan. I began with a 4♦ splinter, then after the expected 4♥ reply I cuebid 4♠. This was met with a cuebid of 5♣ and I was able to bid the slam. This was the full deal:

WNES
DannyPhil
1♥-
4♦*-4♥-
4♠*-5♣-
6♥---

Phil decided to finesse Hearts for some reason resulting in an overtrick. Of the seven times it was played five times the contract was 6♥, then oddly once each for 3♥ and 3♠.
The hand above was my longest suit, but Phil kept on getting big hands. In general, these distributional hands didn't go well for us. Here's one below:

WNES
DannyPhil
-1♠5♦5♠
6♦6♠7♦x
---

After North opened 1♠ Phil overcalled 5♦, the bid he was probably going to make anyway. With a good attacking hand South bid on to 5♠. With the West hand I tried 6♦. North pushed on to 6♠, and Phil had a think. To my horror, he pulled out 7♦, which was doubled. I thought I had a bit of defence and we might be able to beat 6♠, but in fact we can't, as long as they finesse Hearts (which they ought to after the 5♦ overcall). 7♦x-4 for -800 was worth 0% of the matchpoints, but in fact was a good sacrifice. Once they bid 6♠, we're stuffed. So maybe it's my 6♦ bid that cost us.
Later Phil had a solid nine-bagger in Hearts, and went for an immediate 5♥ overcall. This was doubled and one off, another bad one when they had no game their way.
I was dummy a lot, and only seemed to play 3NT contracts. That is until this hand, which I present as a play problem:

WNES
DannyPhil
--1♦-
1♥-1NT-
3♥-4♥-
---

Phil opened 1♦, I replied 1♥, and he rebid 1NT showing 15-17. Since we don't play Checkback Stayman I jumped to 3♥, which Phil raised to game.
Looking at all four hands you can see that the defence can beat the contract easily with a Spade to the Ace, two Clubs and a Club ruff. You can also see that I have ten top tricks by drawing trumps and running the Diamonds. But of course, it's different for defence and declarer without seeing all the hands.
At the table, North lead the ♥J. My plan was to save the Diamonds until I'd drawn trumps, and try and ruff a Spade along the way. So I lead a Spade up. Things looked very rosy when South took his ♠A, and returned another trump. I won this in dummy, played a Spade to the King and ruffed a Spade. If I can just draw trumps now I'm guaranteed ten tricks even if Diamonds don't split, via 5 Hearts, 2 Spades including the ruff, and 3 Diamonds. But the problem is I'm stuck in dummy. On this layout I can just play three Diamonds, but I didn't know that.
Instead I lead a Club up to the Jack, reasoning that even if it lost worse case would be that I would lose a Spade and two Clubs (and my ten tricks weren't going anywhere - I was thinking of overtricks in fact). Then to my dismay, not only did North produce the ♣AQ she then gave her partner a ruff for one down.
I think I played it right though. Dannyhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091577273928695566.post-81967443654237770742017-10-18T01:33:00.000-07:002017-10-18T01:33:44.040-07:00Social Game
Last night John Faben and Phil Moon joined Anna and I for some social bridge. It was a very enjoyable evening, the only disappointment being some gluten free biscuits.
We played a series of Chicago movements and generally bid and played pretty accurately. Featured below is the best hand I got; where of course I overbid:

No one vul
S deal

♠ A 9
♥ K Q 9 4 3
♦ A K 6 5 2
♣ A

♠ Q 4 3 2
♥ 8 5
♦ J 4
♣ T 8 6 4 3

20
113
6

♠ 7
♥ A J T 2
♦ Q T 7
♣ K J 9 7 2

♠ K J T 8 6 5
♥ 7 6
♦ 9 8 3
♣ Q 5

PhilDannyAnnaJohn
WNES
2♠
-4NT*-5♣
-5♦-5♠
---

First hand vulnerable John opened a Weak Two, with a poor hand but decent Spades. I figured if he had even ♠KQxxxx slam could be good, so launched straight into Blackwood. I then had a vague thought that we might be better in Hearts or Diamonds but it was too late now, and John replied showing one Ace. I then asked for the Queen of trumps, which was denied, so settled for 5♠.
Unfortunately John's only points outside Spades were the fairly useless ♣Q, so this was going to be a struggle.
He got a lead of a low Heart to the ♥A and ♥J return, then drew trumps losing one to the ♠Q. He now needed the rest. Under the pressure of running his trumps West had to discard the ♣K which gave declarer another trick but that was only his tenth (five Spades, one Hearts, two Diamonds, two Clubs). I thought you might be able to make it if you both ruff the Club in dummy and set up Hearts for a Diamond discard, but I'm not sure if you've got the entries for that.
I just put the hand into Bridge Solver (with the exact spot cards above, which might not be accurate), and it confirms that only 10 tricks are available. If you try and set up the Hearts you end up ruffing too many times in your hand, and West gets a long trump trick. So North's exuberant bidding is to blame.
At the end of the evening Anna emerged as the individual winner.Dannyhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091577273928695566.post-32089177668553231952017-07-02T09:31:00.000-07:002017-07-02T09:31:57.094-07:00Nice day for bridgeOn a family holiday in Nice I made contact with a couple of local Bridge Clubs, but we never quite made it. Instead we played a few hands in the villa. Our opponents had just been taught overcalls, and this was one of the demonstration hands from their lessons:

No one vul
S deal

♠ x x x
♥ J T x x
♦ x x
♣ A J x x

♠ A K J x x
♥ x x
♦ K T x
♣ T x x

6
1111
12

♠ Q x x x
♥ Q x
♦ Q 9 x x
♣ K Q x

♠ x
♥ A K x x x
♦ A J x x
♣ x x x

AnnaDanny
WNES
1♥
1♠2♥2♠3♥
--

I opened the South hand 1♥, West overcalled 1♠ and North raised to 2♥, just as the teaching notes suggest. Now East has a decision. In the beginner course in Norwich Bridge School the responses to overcalls are more or less the same as responses to opening bids, so with 11 points East should bid 3♠.
I don't think this is a particularly good system, as when responding to overcalls playing strength and number of trumps are much more important than High Card Points, but it keeps things simple. Here, East only bid 2♠, not unreasonable.
I then bid 3♥ as South, just competing the hand with a known nine card trump fit. This bid is not invitational, and Anna passed anyway with a minimum.
With trumps behaving there are an easy five trump tricks, two Aces and two ruffs in dummy so 3♥ made easily.
Despite having more High Card points if East-West get to 3♠ they will do well to make it. They need this lucky layout in Clubs with the Ace onside, and also to find the Jack of Diamonds.Dannyhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091577273928695566.post-67417749954586249642017-06-22T14:01:00.002-07:002017-06-22T14:02:36.507-07:00Scottish Schools Bridge ChampionshipLast week I took 11 pupils to the Stirling and Union Bridge Club for the Schools Championship. This is the third time I've been, and I think it was the best yet. As in previous occasions, the battle was between us and Hutchesons' Grammar School, and they took the prizes. There were eight teams altogether:

1st  Hutchesons' Manta Rays
2nd  Hutchesons' Coyotes
3rd  HSOG Beetroots
4th  Aberdeen Plus
5th  HSOG Dragon Fruits

Report on SBU website here.
This was the most exciting hand

My pupils have between 0.5 and 2.5 years experience, and we've barely got on to slams. So I was delighted to see that my top pair bid 6NT here, and they even got the Spade finesse correct for an overtrick. Some other less experienced declarers played in 3NT and made 11 tricks. It's a good teaching hand, as 12 tricks are guaranteed as long as you do the seemingly obvious thing of tackling Spades before cashing all of your winners.
The Hutchesons' Seniors were more adventurous. The Coyotes bid to 7NT, via keycard asking for Kings and Aces, and the Manta Rays somehow got to 7♠. Both pairs made 13 tricks, and you can't do better than that.

The winning team with coach John Dimambro

The CauliflowersDannyhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091577273928695566.post-36026006880432346752017-05-20T12:13:00.000-07:002017-05-20T12:13:59.483-07:00Playing from the wrong hand
I played in a Charity Teams Event at the Buchanan Bridge Club last week. On one hand declarer won a trick in dummy, then played a card from his hand. The card was already on the table, when dummy pointed out that it was from the wrong hand. I was the defender last to play, and said that I accepted the wrongly played card. Dummy then chimed in to say that declarer can "do what he likes", and could change his card if he wanted to (no one else had played yet). It didn't really matter, to me or anyone else, so declarer put the card away and lead from dummy.
I think I was right though - declarer cannot show a card from the wrong hand then play from the correct hand, as the wrongly played card could be viewed as fishing to see how the defenders react.
Here's the full deal:

WNES
PhilDanny
-1♣1♥x
-2♣-2♦
-2♠--
-

Presumably North-South were playing a Strong NT as North opened 1♣. I had the 15 point East hand but settled for overcalling 1♥. The opponents finally settled in 2♠.
I won the Heart lead then switched to a Diamond, which declarer won in dummy. He then lead the ♣J from hand, and I thought "great I'm going to win my ♣K" and so accepted the lead, before we agreed he should play from the right hand. But maybe my eagerness made him suspicious, or he just wanted to continue the suit he'd committed to playing, because he then lead the ♣A from dummy without finessing.
After that we defended well. I recognised the possibility that partner might have the missing ♠Q and ruffed a trick high, and we went on to score Spade tricks separately and reduce declarer to 2♠-1. This gained 4 IMPs when our team-mates played the unlikely contract of 2♣ from South (South was starting an escape from 1NTx and North left it in). Even more surprising is they made it. Why was no one playing with Diamonds as trumps?
The event was the Erskine Charity Handicap Teams. There were eight teams, and before the handicap was applied we scored 68/140 VPs, for 5th place. Dannyhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091577273928695566.post-81279094199485275722017-05-03T12:55:00.001-07:002017-05-20T11:50:28.746-07:00What happens if dummy plays the wrong suit?What happens if dummy doesn't play the suit that declarer asked for? Normally everyone notices and it's quickly corrected. But what if declarer doesn't notice and plays a card too, and only then notices the mistake?
That was the situation last night, in a teams match at the Buchanan Bridge Club. Here's the full deal and auction:

WNES
PhilDanny
--2♥x
4♥--5♦
---

I sat East and despite the vulnerability went for a risky third in hand weak 2♥. South doubled and I got a bit worried when Phil raised me to 4♥. As he said afterwards, he was stretching, and I'd already stretched. South now bid 5♦, passed out, and hit a fine dummy. On the first trick Phil lead the ♥K, which of course declarer won with his Ace.
At trick two declarer called for a Heart, but dummy played a small Club. I was East and also heard "Club" so played a Club, and declarer didn't notice the error so discarded a Club. Phil also thought declarer had asked for a Club, and saw three Clubs in front of him, so of course followed suit and won the trick with his ♣A. At this point declarer noticed the error and the director was called.
The director (who was, incidentally, our team-mate!) ruled that there was no way of telling who had said what but since declarer had played a card himself without correcting the mistake the trick stood.
Fortunately, it didn't matter as declarer still had twelve tricks, and can never get more than twelve. At the other table our team-mates collected 1100 for 5♥x-4.
The event was the Buchanan Congress Teams, for which Phil and I had partnered Ricky Finlayson and Horst Kopleck. They produced a couple of great boards, including 1♦xx-2, and we made a lot of games and bid three slams. In fact the only two game swings out I can blame myself for. Firstly I ducked an Ace against a slam ("Classic Danny" Anna said with delight when I told her), and on the other one we failed to find 4♥:

WNES
PhilDanny
-
1NT-2♦*2♠
--3♥-
-3♠--
--

I transferred to Hearts, went as far as 3♥ but couldn't quite make it to 4♥. We beat 3♠ by a trick but lost 11 IMPs. About half the tables in the Men's and Women's congresses got to game.
Overall we finished on 110 VPs out of 140 to top the standings. Dannyhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091577273928695566.post-13794154219426794912017-04-16T08:01:00.001-07:002017-04-16T08:01:25.702-07:00Don't alert any doubles in Scotland
In Scotland, no doubles or redoubles are alertable. This, I suppose, is the SBU solution to how to cope with the myriad meanings of doubles that people play. It seems reasonable enough, but caused us to come unstuck last week. It was Matchpoint Monday at the Buchanan Bridge Club, playing with Phil Moon.

WNES
PhilDanny
-1♣1♠x*
2♠3♣--
3♠--x
---

I was not too surprised to be doubled in 3♠, as we had clearly been pushed up a level in a competitive auction. But then North revealed that South's original double (of 1♠) had in fact been penalties. If we'd have known this we certainly wouldn't have bid up to 3♠, but, as they pointed out, in Scotland no doubles or redoubles are alertable. I suggested that perhaps they could have let us know about this before the start of the round, and North apologised and offered to call the Director. I said no, and grimly played the hand. At least I knew where the trumps were, and was delighted to finesse the spades;7 on the first round. It was still off for -500 and 16%.
The reason I think that North-South should let us know about this unusual double before the start of the round as otherwise it means you have to ask about every single double, just in case it's something odd, which gets a bit silly. Indeed, North-South said themselves that they play all doubles as penalties "except in obvious situations", though clearly they have a different for obvious than me!
After this mishap, things went rather well for us. For example, consider the hand below.

WNES
PhilDanny
1NT
-2♦*-2♥*
-3NT-4♥
---

I had the East cards and was poised to bid a reckless 2♠ if 2♥ was passed out to me. Then when it came round to me in 4♥ I considered a bold 4♠ sacrifice. If partner had a few good cards, surely I could scrape together seven tricks for three off doubled and a good score at the vulnerability? I bottled it though and passed. As it is, we were lucky and declarer misplayed the hand for 4♥-1 to give us 72% (just losing out to those who got to defend 3NT).
In fact, with a very suitable dummy I might make eight tricks in 4♠x, but going two off or three off would have both resulted in a score of 56%, so perhaps I should have done it.
Our roll of good fortune kept up until the last round. Then in the last three boards we threw it away as I misdefended, we went off an extra trick in game, then I arranged a score of 0% on this deal:

WNES
DannyPhil
-1♣-1♥
-2♣-3♥
-3NT--
-

I was North and opened 1♣ (rather than 1♦ giving a 2♣ rebid) and when Phil replied 1♥ I settled for 2♣. Phil now jumped to 3♥, which some might play as forcing, but we were on the same wavelength as I took it as invitational. But rather than make a disciplined pass I made a very poor bid of 3NT. Phil trusted me far too much and passed this - with his long Hearts he should maybe bid 4♥ as he knows I won't have many entries to his hand in 3NT.
In 3NT I got the expected Spade lead. I was hoping for a dream dummy, with a few clubs (maybe even the Queen) and a couple of quick tricks. I didn't get it though. With the very favourable Club layout I could in fact have taken seven or eight tricks, but I didn't play for it, and my bidding matched my play and I went off four. Holding it to two off would have still only got us 26%, whereas 3♥ might make or go off one for a good score on a misfit deal.
We finished on 55%, coming 12th out of 52 pairs. Without the last three boards we would have won the event, but then if you take away your worst three boards you're always going to do a lot better. Dannyhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091577273928695566.post-78099203506343286322017-04-08T23:53:00.000-07:002017-04-08T23:53:13.366-07:00Expert ErrorI subscribe to Mr Bridge magazine. It comes in the post once a month and is a fun mix of bridge quizzes, stories, and adverts for cruises. One new column is Sally's Slam Clinic, where English expert Sally Brock diagnoses what went wrong with slam bidding. This month, I decided to send her one:

The question I asked Sally was, could North-South have got to slam? Or rather, in the style of most of the letters that are written to Mr Bridge, I asked could my partner have done more?.
As for the bidding, Sally said that South must have slam ambitions to be bidding both minors like that, else he would have signed off in 3NT. So North should recognise that, and having 18 points compared to a minimum of 15, should bid on. She suggested North bid 4♣ over 3♦ (or perhaps 3♠, which I didn't understand). Then the partnership can get to 6♣.
As for the play, Sally said that actually 6♣ isn't a great contract. After the losing Diamond finesse you have three options:

A Heart finesse (which works, and is what Anna did when playing 3NT+3)
Drawing two rounds of trumps only then playing Diamonds, hoping the hand with the last trump can't ruff or they are 3-3 (which fails)
A Heart-Diamond squeeze, hoping that one defender has both four Diamonds and the ♥K (which fails)

Since only one of the three options works, Sally said that actually we were lucky to avoid 6♣!Dannyhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091577273928695566.post-25491940067542711632017-04-08T23:35:00.000-07:002017-04-08T23:36:03.786-07:00Beginner BlunderI haven't played any competitive bridge for the last few months, so instead here's a hand where I could have done better.
The deal is taken from a hand taken from a beginner's class in Norwich, which was reproduced and given to me as declarer. It was setup so that if declarer gets it right they always make it. It ought to have been easy - but I bodged it.

No one vul
S deal

♠ Q J 3 2
♥ x
♦ K J x x
♣ Q x x x

♠ x x x
♥ Q T x x x
♦ x
♣ K x x x

9
511
15

♠ x
♥ K J x x
♦ Q T x x x x
♣ A J

♠ A K T 9 8
♥ A x x
♦ A x
♣ x x x

I was South. We quickly got to 4♠ and after some thought, West lead a Diamond. There are clearly ten tricks (five trumps, three Hearts, two Diamonds), it's just a case of taking them all.
The whole point of the hand, I realised afterwards, is to be wary of the singleton Diamond and draw trumps before playing Diamonds. To do this, while also getting the two Heart ruffs, you have to return to hand after each ruff with a trump. So, after winning the initial Heart in hand, the sequence might be: ♥A, Heart ruff, trump back to hand, Heart ruff, trump back to hand, draw trumps and claim.
I didn't do that though. After the first Heart ruff I drew two rounds of trumps, ending in hand, and lead up to the ♦K. So I have been a bit careful, and was hoping the person with a singleton Diamond was out of trumps. He wasn't, but because I was leading up to the ♦K (rather than cashing it) I still had ten winners available if they couldn't take three Clubs, which indeed they couldn't.
So I made 4♠=, but missed the point of the hand. The notes said "remember, trumps can be used as transport between the hands too." It's a tough game.Dannyhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091577273928695566.post-66792775855104971672017-02-15T11:55:00.000-08:002017-02-15T12:32:41.820-08:00Blyth Valley Bridge Club #3This week Anna and I were back in a bridge club together, for the first time since last August, which was also in Blyth Valley Bridge Club in Walberswick. As before, we went for the afternoon game and the grand parents had the pleasure of looking after our little monster.
It's a lovely place to go for a game, and lots of people recognised us and gave us a warm welcome. There was also a slight undercurrent of suspicion, as we had won the last time we were there (see here) and in fact the time before that too (see here). We now had a reputation, which I think became slightly self-fulfilling as people played worse than normal against us.
Anna and I defended most hands, and defended them pretty well. Overall we didn't make too many mistakes, and of course benefitted from a few gifts as is the way with matchpoint scoring. The only hand where we thought we could have done better was when Anna made two overtricks in 3♥, and we then found everyone else had bid the game.
After a surprisingly chilly week on the East coast (colder than Scotland) suddenly the sun came out, and with the heating on full blast, it got pretty warm. Sitting by the window I felt I was getting a tan on the back of my neck. Then someone decided the glare of sunlight was too much and moved the table ten feet into the middle of the room and closed all the curtains too.
At the halftime break I went to check my phone for any news of the baby, and when I returned found I had last choice of the biscuits. Still, it was a delicious cup of tea.
There were two hands of interest:

No one vul
W deal

♠ A K J x x
♥ x x
♦ A J T x x
♣ x

♠ x x
♥ K x x x
♦ K x x x
♣ A T x

13
108
9

♠ Q x x x x
♥ A J T x x x
♦ x
♣ J

♠ x
♥ Q
♦ Q x x
♣ K Q x x x x x x

DannyAnna
WNES
-1♠-1NT
-2♦2♥3♣
--3♥4♣
---

I had the nice North hand and opened 1♠. East decided he was too weak to overcall and passed. Anna was South and made a very disciplined bid of 1NT (Bernard Magee would be proud). But on her next bid she weighed in with 3♣ I reluctantly passed as North with a singleton Club, and was even more nervous when she bid 4♣,. But Anna knew what she was doing, 4♣ is a good contract and since East-West had a massive heart fit they can make ten tricks easily.
In 4♣ Anna got a friendly Spade lead, and was able to discard her singleton Heart and make the contract comfortably. This got us a good score when the deal really belonged to East-West.
On to my second chosen board:

No one vul
W deal

♠ A K
♥ Q x x
♦ x x x
♣ A K x x x

♠ J T x x
♥ A K J x x
♦ J T x x
♣

16
1011
3

♠ Q x x
♥ T x x x
♦ A K x
♣ Q x

♠ x x x x x
♥ x
♦ Q x x
♣ J x x x x

DannyAnna
WNES
1♥1NT3♥-
---

West took a bold view and opened his hand 1♥. I might have done the same. I had the North hand and decided to bid 1NT instead of 2♣. East raised to 3♥, natural, where in fact double would have made more sense as she knows her side have the majority of the points so I'm not likely to be making 1NT.
When 3♥ came back round to me I really thought about doubling, reckoning I had four tricks with my two AK's and perhaps a trump trick. I passed, but when I saw dummy wished I had doubled as I could now see that my ♥Q was going to make a trick. I cashed my ♠KA (with the ♠K first to show it was a doubleton, but I don't think my partner would have cared anyway), then started on Clubs. When the very first one was ruffed I was glad I hadn't doubled, but also saw we had a ten card Club fit so wished I'd overcalled 2♣.
Needless to say, when I played these hands at home with my parents there were totally different contracts on both - I think that's what makes them interesting hands.
In the last few hands of the afternoon I had the opportunity to bid fairly aggressively, and put some pressure on the opponents. On the first hand they bid to a very reasonable game that went off on a bad trump break, and took this to heart. So on the next board when West was invited to game she accepted, but then informed her partner and the table "You're not going to make this!", which we thought was unduly pessimistic. As it turned out she was right, with another bad trump split he didn't make it (six off).
In the end we finished with the top score of 64%, so I was slightly embarrassed about winning again but glad that it was such a nice afternoon.

I got stuck with the Fruit Club Dannyhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091577273928695566.post-19136868941489240282017-01-31T09:13:00.000-08:002017-01-31T09:13:10.522-08:00Director!Do you call the director when someone revokes? I do. Following David Stevenson's advice every week in Mr. Bridge magazine a friendly club is one where there is no hesitation in calling the director and accepting her ruling. Much better than the players trying to sort it out themselves.
My policy was tested last night. I was at the Buchanan Club in Glasgow, and the contract was 5♦x. The auction was as below:

WNES
DannyJune
1♣-2♣2♦
3♥-4♣-
5♣5♦--
x---

I had the North hand, with fine Diamond support for partner, which I only showed at the five level. Anna asked me when I showed her the hand why I didn't support earlier, and I wasn't really sure, but I think it was because I thought the 3♥ bid was a mix-up so my strategy is to stay out of it.. Anyway, it worked well and 5♦x has excellent play, with just a Club loser and eventually a Diamond.
Partner was well on the way with a cross-ruff, when I noticed that after a Spade lead West discarded a Club. Then on the next trick she followed with a Spade. I was dummy - but thought it within my rights to point this out.
After a bit of turning cards over we realised West had indeed revoked, someone said it didn't matter as she didn't win the trick, then someone asked if I wanted to call the director. I said yes. The rules for a revoke are pretty simple - the defence forfeits one trick if they win the revoke trick, and one further trick assuming they win a trick subsequent to the revoke. In this case that meant a one trick transfer, so we made an impossible 5♦x+1. The revoke had not been crucial, only causing an overtrick.
There was no hard feeling, and we moved on swiftly. The opponents were not too aggrieved as they had previously made a great 6NT (at aggregate scoring), which always helps.
This was my first night at the Club in a while, and it was a very enjoyable evening playing with standby June, after my partner was late. Except he wasn't really late, arriving at 7:13 pm for a 7:15 pm start. But bridge clubs tend to be pretty punctual, and in fact at 7 pm we were all set to go and at ten past we went ahead without him.
I like playing in new partnerships, and happily agree to everything the other person suggests. So I readily accepted the suggestion for Reverse Benji, which seems to be the club standard, even though I'm a bit shaky on it. As the first round started June tried to rapidly communicate a few other things, then someone knocked over a glass of Coke so we had to change the table cloth, and it was rather a chaotic start. But I felt happy enough, the merits of a new partnership is everyone keeps it simple, and I'm protected from my usual flaw of over-thinking it.
Our agreement for discards - low means like - was tested on the very first round, when I lead a Diamond and dummy won with a singleton Ace. When I got in later I remembered my had partner played an encouraging 2♦, but did this still apply now that dummy was out of Diamonds? I decided it did, and didn't want to lead anything else anyway, so continued with a Diamond, giving declarer not one but two extra tricks. Afterwards, everyone said I should have switched to a Club.
On the one where Reverse Benji came up I surprised partner by responding to her 2♦ opening with 2NT (should have just relayed with 2♥), but we got to the right contract anyway.
We had a few bad contracts that were off two, but also made a couple of good games that not everybody was in. At the end of the night I said "that was quite a steady night" at exactly the same time my partner said "that was a bit up and down". Overall we finished about average, but with the scores very close we were only 500 points from winning - certainly close enough for me to put it down to the opponents bidding that 6NT against us. Dannyhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091577273928695566.post-38766607981752429992017-01-15T11:54:00.002-08:002017-01-15T11:54:16.481-08:00Pairs at St Andrew
My parents have been learning to play bridge, and have so far had three months of lessons. These have focused almost exclusively on bidding, and have got as far as one level openings and responses. So it was a big step up when last night I took my Dad to the St Andrew's Saturday evening tournament, a No Fear event. On the upside, this is an event advertised for beginners and looked after by Raymond, a very patient mentor to many new bridge players.
I tried to remember my first experiences playing competitively. My hands shook and I was glad to get a bad hand and have nothing to do. I noticed the same thing in my partner. Of all the new things (Bridgemates, Stop and Alert cards, contracts above 4♠, competitive bidding, changing seats, "any questions?"), the one that surprised him most at the start was the fast pace. Despite being a beginners tournament a rather ambitious 28 boards were scheduled, with rounds of four boards every 25 minutes. I think for the first few deals Dad was just focusing on finding the right card and following suit.
There was no messing about from our opponents - and they quickly bid to games and slams. Dad made his first ever overcall, and was rewarded for his bravery when I was able to lead a Diamond to his ♦AK and beat 6♥.
To begin with he was blessed with bad hands, but then came the moment that certainly relaxes me - when you get to be declarer for the first time:

♠ 9 5 3
♥ A J 7 4 3
♦ 6
♣ 7 6 3 2

♠ A J T
♥ Q 8
♦ J T 8 5
♣ A K Q 4

WNES
1♣
-1♥-1NT
-2♣--
-

South has a balanced 17 points so opened 1♣. I was North and have a nice hand in support of Clubs, and thought about passing out 1♣ just to make things easy. But then I remembered my rule; to bid with beginners as normal. So I replied 1♥, and Dad replied 1NT showing a balanced 15-17. Textbook bidding! Then I bid 2♣, passed out.
This is a nice hand for your first ever hand, with a good chance to ruff some Diamonds in dummy. It was duly wrapped up, 2♣+1.
There was no let up to the fast pace. I kept up my policy of bidding as I normally would, and landed Dad in his first ever slam. He was South, I was North:

♠ A K 6 5
♥ K 2
♦ Q 8 6
♣ K Q 6 2

♠ Q 9 3
♥ A Q 6 5
♦ A 7 5 3
♣ A 5

WNES
1♦
-1♠-2NT*
-6NT--
-

I've starred the 2NT rebid as it was accompanied by an apology "I'm not really sure what I'm doing here". I took a look at my 17 points and decided it was time for some decisive action. "I bet you weren't expecting this!" I said as I bid 6NT. "You can have a biscuit if you make it" I added.
He didn't make it, but still took a biscuit (or two). But from this failure came the highlight. After playing three rounds of Spades, Dad cashed the long Spade from dummy. Afterwards he admitted "I was 99% certain it was a winner".
After another biscuit, things picked up and we finished well. Or at least I'm guessing we did, as the scores weren't posted online.
Overall it was a very enjoyable experience. It's always great to get to the bridge club, and play a few hands. I didn't mind it when we got a bad result. And we did get a few bad results, but some good ones too.

Honey the bear Dannyhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091577273928695566.post-91835981155069213002016-12-13T12:23:00.000-08:002016-12-13T12:23:42.615-08:00Historic HandThis deal is historic (for me at least) as it's the first one ever to feature my wife, mother and daughter. A Hamilton family special.
The cards did not live up to the occasion and were not very exciting:

No one vul
N deal

♠ Q J x x
♥ x x x
♦ K x x
♣ A x x

♠ A 5 x
♥ K Q x x
♦ J x x x
♣ J x

10
112
17

♠ T x x
♥ x x x
♦ Q T x x
♣ x x x

♠ K 9 x
♥ A J T
♦ A x
♣ K Q T x x

WNES
1♣
1♠-1NT
-3NT--
-

South opened 1♣ and when North responded 1♠ made a rebid of 1NT, showing 15-17. With 10 points North raised straight to 3NT.
West was on lead, and found the bold choice of the ♠5. This could have worked well, playing through dummy's suit, but actually here it gives declarer an immediate ninth trick in Spades. Nothing else works any better though, and declarer always makes 3NT.
It should be noted at this point that West just had just had her 1st birthday, and was sitting on her Daddy's knee. Many of her cards were held upside down, or on the floor, and after the game she could be found under the table tossing cards around randomly and playing with Hippo. Dannyhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091577273928695566.post-73752018252667231242016-12-04T11:59:00.003-08:002016-12-04T11:59:44.254-08:00National Pairs (not)-Qualifying
Last Wednesday at the Buchanan Phil and I attempted to build on our 38.5% of the previous week and qualify for the National Pairs Final. The good news is that we did 10% better, the bad news that we didn't quite make the 50% required to get to the next round.
We were within a board of qualifying, and it could have been any of many. There were some wild hands, wild bidding and wild defence.
Looking for a nice calm start I picked up the hand below.
♠ AQJT842 ♥ AK9542 ♦ - ♣ -
I couldn't believe it when I started sorting my cards and realised they were all Spades and Hearts. I went for a cautious 1♠ opening, reasoning that surely it won't get passed out, and this way I've a better chance of getting doubled at the end.

WNES
PhilDanny
1♠x
2♦-3♥-
3NT-4♥-
4♠---

When Phil gave false preference to Spades at the four level I thought about jumping to 6♠, figuring I'm probably going to lose one Spade and can ruff out the Hearts. Looking back, I wish I had bid the slam. When am I even going to get a hand like that again?
As it is, I underplayed the hand as well as underbidding it. After a Club lead I decided to ruff a Heart, but for no good reason played the ♥A and ♥K before taking a ruff. This got over-ruffed, as did the next Heart, so even though I dropped the singleton ♠K I lost two Heart tricks for 4♠+1. This turned out to be slightly above average when only one pair bid and made the slam, and a couple had a horrible time in 6NT.
The standard was high, and I didn't mind when our borderline contracts got beaten by good defence. But it did mean we got a succession of rather poor scores. Our defence was not so tight, and one declarer embarrassed us by collecting four tricks from this suit:

 ♣ A Q 7 4
♣ K 6 5 3  ♣ T 8 2
 ♣ J 9

So I was slightly on the tilt when I made a very poor two-level overcall on the hand below:

WNES
PhilDanny
1♥2♦x
-2♠-3NT
x--4♣
-4♥--
-

The opponents landed in 3NT, a decent contract with South's seven running Clubs. But Phil doubled it, right in theory as we beat 3NT so long as he leads a Diamond. In practice though, they removed to 4♥, which is very hard to beat (and we couldn't do it). Conceding 4♥= was worth 19%.
I persisted with dodgy overcalls, and it paid off on this one:

WNES
PhilDanny
-
-1♥3♣-
--

After North opens 1♥ it's the perfect time to pre-empt, with favourable vulnerability and partner having passed. I bid a bold 3♣. Phil thought about removing this to 3♦ but I think rightly passed, and I was left to play it. It did not go well, and after a brief discussion about whether the defence had made eight or nine tricks we agreed 3♣-4. However, while playing the hand it become clear to me the opponents could make a lot of tricks in Spades, and so we scored 85% for the board.
In another wild hand I opened 2NT and Phil leapt to 6♣, which made all 13 tricks. There were higher scoring slams, so we got a slightly above average 56%. Our best slam was one we bid and made off two cashing Aces. This sounds like poor bidding, but I think actually we knew what we were doing. Judge for yourself:

WNES
PhilDanny
-1♣
x1♥4♠-
4NT*-5♥*-
6♠---

I decided not to open the East hand, reasoning I could always get in to the auction later. When Phil doubled 1♣ for takeout I jumped to 4♠. Phil saw the potential of his Diamond suit, and well placed ♣K, and bid Blackwood. This is a bit risky with a void, as I could well have the useless ♥A (and indeed I did), but he reasoned that on the expected Heart lead he could ruff it then throw away Hearts on the long Diamonds, as indeed turned out to be the case. An interesting strategy from South might have been to Cash the trump Ace to see dummy, then on seeing there was no Club void cashing the ♣A.
Going in to the final round against John Di Mambro and Ronald Gaffin we needed something special to qualify. The first board was a good one, as I made 4♥+2 for another 100% board. A little feature of interest came at the end of that hand. With no outside entries to dummy I played on the Spade suit, with the lead in my hand as South.

 ♠ A J T 5
♠ Q 8 7  ♠ K 9 2
 ♠ 6 4 3

I lead low and finessed the ♠T. When this lost to East I won the return and finessed the ♠J, making three Spade tricks when this finesse won and the suit split 3-3, and I thought "that's lucky". Then it was pointed out that actually West can thwart me by going up with the ♠Q on the first round. If I win this East holds up the ♠K and I get cut off from dummy and only get two Spade tricks. And if I let the ♠Q win I also end up losing two Spade tricks.
In the end it didn't matter as they qualified anyway and we didn't, finishing on 48% and just outside the top five. Maybe next year. Dannyhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091577273928695566.post-74215122841019755532016-11-22T23:38:00.001-08:002016-11-22T23:38:53.916-08:00Matchpoint warm upIn preparation for attempting to qualify in the National Pairs next week, Phil and I played the match point evening at the Buchanan.
Things started very well, when I doubled a Blackwood response of 5♦ leading Phil to find a winning Diamond lead against 6♣ which let us take the first two tricks and defeat a slam that would normally make. A pleasing instance of partnership co-operation in defence. Then two boards later we were the only table to bid and make 7♥ after a very unconvincing auction. But these few highs were wiped out by all the little boards that make the difference in match points. It was a high standard, much higher than us, and after those initial highs we plummeted to finish bottom with 38.5%.
As bridge players like to do, I have rationalised our bad score into boards where the opponents were particularly successful against us, and boards where I had to admit we brought it on ourselves. In the first category were a couple where they bid a game (e.g. 3♣-5♣), we sat there and defended accurately (taking the maximum possible of two tricks), but got a bottom as other tables were not in the same making game. Nothing you can do about that.
Another example is the deal below, where our opponents were the only ones to bid 4♠, after Phil opened the South hand with a Weak Two.

WNES
DannyPhil
2♥
2♠-2NT-
3♠-4♠
--

It's probably an overbid by East with his Hearts sitting badly, but worked well here with the Club fit and ten tricks were easy.
That one I expected to be a bad score, ,ore frustrating was the board below. I took a bit of a risk and thought it had paid of handsomely with a good result, until I looked at the Bridgemate and saw we'd got another bottom score.

WNES
DannyPhil
1♦
-1♠-2♦
---

After Phil opened the South hand 1♦, I responded 1♠, reasoning that with my Diamond fit we'd always end up somewhere good. This turned out to be the case as Phil rebid 2♦, and made it for +90. But every other table had East-West going down one in 4♥, for +100 to East-West. It's a cruel game.
Last time Phil and I played together (see here) it was aggregate, and we thought afterwards that we should have bid a few more thin games. Six months later playing match points, we adopted that strategy, and played some very dicey contracts, that all went down. The deal below was the height of our folly:

WNES
DannyPhil
-1♠-1NT
-2♥-2♠
-3♠-3NT
-4♥-4♠
---

The auction is fine up to 2♠, but then I should really pass. We might have a game, but it's very unlikely, and 2♠ could well be high enough, if partner has only a doubleton Spade and weak hand (as here). But I chose to invite anyway. And Phil, perhaps overestimating my playing ability, chose to accept with his 5 point hand and tried 3NT based on his long Clubs. But we couldn't play 3NT with 20 points between us so settled in 4♠. The one advantage of bad bidding is that it's hard to defend, and we managed nine tricks, but would much rather have had them in 2♠+1 than 4♠-1.
We were playing a simple Acol system with three Weak Twos, and I think it worked well. The only confusion was in defence, when we weren't sure what counted as enough to encourage, and I ended up eagerly continuing a suit that Phil didn't really want. Of course we'll fix all that up though and come storming back for the National Pairs. Dannyhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091577273928695566.post-89871517799551283262016-11-20T00:16:00.000-08:002016-11-20T00:17:53.256-08:00Aggregate at St AndrewHaving not played for a while I've a few games coming up. Tonight was a practice match with John Faben at St Andrew, practice for him as he has a match in the National League tonight. We were therefore playing the system that he'll be using, which was unfamiliar to both of us. 5 card majors, 14-16 NT and 2/1 game forcing, and plenty of other things I highlighted on the Convention Card (Ghestem, Drury, Bergen Raises, DONT).
As tends to always happen, not much of it came up, but I was ready when it did. On the third board I had a two-suited hand, and was determined to get the right bid. Playing Ghestem you can bid all the different two suiters. Here's the options when the opponents have opened 1♣:

2NTThe lower two remaining suits (Diamonds and Hearts)
A cuebid (2♣) The lowest and highest remaining suits (Diamonds and Spades)
A jump in s minor (2♦) The other two suits (Hearts and Spades)

I was dealt Diamonds and Spades. South had just asked me a friendly question, but I had to say "hold on" and think for a bit about my bid first, before correctly choosing 2♣. I was delighted when John alerted this as Diamonds and Spades. This was the full deal:

WNES
DannyJohn
1♣
2♣3♣3♦4♣
---

John then raised me to 3♦, but we were outbid and the opponents stopped in a good spot of 4♣, making with an overtrick. I might have tried 3NT as North, which fails when the Clubs don't split.
There were only three tables at the event, mostly made up of Raymond's and students from his class. It was a friendly atmosphere and no one was too worried about the scores. But one pair afterwards were delighted when they bid and made a slam no one else did. This was our auction to 6♠:

WNES
DannyJohn
1♠-
2NT*-3♣-
3♥*-4♣-
4♠-5♦-
5♥-6♠-
--

John opened 1♠ and a replied 2NT with a game forcing raise in Spades. After that the bidding was mostly natural, as we trundled towards 6♠ (I tried to stop in 4♠ but John kept going). It was a good contract, but doomed when the defence accurately found the Diamond singleton lead and return. In aggregate scoring this was expensive, 6♠-1 when the other tables were making 6♠ or 4♠.
But never mind the points, my personal highlight was when I did something clever when against a 1NT contract. As a defender I was cashing my long Clubs and had enough to get the defence up to six tricks, leaving one card left for everybody. I was fairly sure that my partner had winners in both the Majors, but was worried that when he got down to the final card he wouldn't know which winner to keep. So rather than cashing my last Club winner (and giving John a long pause and awkward discard) I played a Heart across to partner at Trick 12, and John was able to cash the last two tricks. I've thought of doing this before but not been bold enough to do it.
Overall it was a fun night at the Club, and I hope John is now ready for the National League tonight! Dannyhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091577273928695566.post-72985541635650959012016-10-19T11:17:00.002-07:002016-10-19T22:54:41.786-07:00School Teams Match
My Secondary School bridge club has about eight keen first and second year pupils (aged 11-13), so the last two lunch times I've arranged a mini teams-match, where each table plays four boards. That might not sound like very much, but in just 45 minutes with children eating lunch it's quite an achievement
During the matches I've started doing the scoring live on a big whiteboard, without waiting until both tables have played each board. This means that if, for example, they can see that the other table made 1NT+3 they can hen go for 3NT themselves. This is of course slightly unfair, but I did this as I wanted them to really think about the effect of the game bonus, and was fed up of overhearing people say that they had "beaten" another pair because they got a positive score against them, like 2♥+2.
The board below was an exciting one. I substituted as South, and after a lively auction supported Spades so North ended up declaring 4♠. East said: "I think I've pushed them too high" and lead a Club (it may be makeable on a Heart lead).

Declarer ended up making just six trump tricks and the Ace of Clubs, for 4♠-3. The reason he only made six trump tricks is because he tried to ruff a club back to hand, which East over-ruffed. This was indeed a good result for East-West, as surprisingly they can't make a game.
Below is a photo from one table. It was non-uniform day, though someone always forgets...
 Dannyhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091577273928695566.post-40114328953826002432016-09-01T13:27:00.001-07:002016-09-01T13:29:33.266-07:00Double Trouble
I've not played much competitive bridge lately, but the school year has began so here's a hand from my school bridge club, where I got schooled.

♠ x x x x
♥ A K x x x
♦ x x
♣ x x

♠ K J x
♥ Q J T x x x
♦ K Q J 9
♣ -

WNES
1♥
-2♥3♣3♦
4♣-5♣5♥
--x-
--

Put yourself in South's seat. You deal and open 1♥, which partner raises to 2♥. That's good news, and is all you need to hear. East now comes in with 3♣ so you show your second suit with 3♦. By the time it comes back it's at the five level, but with a big trump fit and void in Clubs you have no problem bidding 5♥. This gets doubled.
The defence begins by trying to cash a Club, which you ruff. You draw trumps in two rounds (West had a void), then start on Diamonds. West wins the Ace and switches to Spades, East taking the ♠A. You have now lost two tricks and need the rest. East returns a Spade into your ♠KJ but you don't dare finesse, so play the ♠K.
At this point declarer played another round of trumps, then looked at his losing Spade and announced "I think I might be down one." He could see no way to get rid of the Spade loser in each hand. Then his friendly bridge teacher (sitting East and having made a very poor double) suggested he play a couple of Diamonds. Sure enough the ♦J won, away went one Spade in dummy, then the final Diamond was also by this stage a winner, so away went the last Spade in dummy. Declarer ruffed his losing Spade and claimed 5♥x. West couldn't understand why he wasn't getting a trick with his ♠Q.
It was a great teaching moment. The idea of making losers disappear is sophisticated and I think you need to see it happen to believe it.
I didn't mind that I'd doubled another making contract. Dannyhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091577273928695566.post-33402404343309142952016-08-07T11:50:00.002-07:002016-08-07T11:53:59.224-07:00Blyth Valley Bridge Club #2
This week Anna and I were on our Summer Holidays in Suffolk. We were also here for Easter holidays, and in fact that was the last time that the two of us played together at a bridge club. On Tuesday we returned to Blyth Valley Bridge Club, and were greeted again by the friendly locals. Several people recognised us, and I was impressed that the scorer Ron knew that we'd come first last time we were there (read my report here).
We weren't at all worried about the results, just happy to be out and about playing bridge together. Perhaps because of this relaxed attitude we did quite well, and even the boards where we could have done better still seemed to get a good result. For example, on one I raised Anna's 2♠ to 3♠ just in case she might want to bid game. She didn't, and went one off in 3♠, but this was still an OK score as others were going off in 4♠.
Twice we got a top score for making 4♥+2, which shows the benefit of not bidding a risky slam; making 6♥ would have got us no more matchpoints. For example this deal, with no one vulnerable:

♠ A x
♥ J x x x
♦ T x x x x
♣ x x

♠ x x
♥ A K Q x x
 ♦
♣ K Q J x x x

DannyAnna
WNES
  1♦ 1♥
1♠2♥3♦4♥
---

East opened 1♦ and Anna has a tough decision as South. Other possible bids are double (strong hand), 2♣ (longest suit), 2NT (showing Clubs and a Major). Instead she decided to show her good five card major with 1♥. When I showed a bit of support she went straight to 4♥, and played there. On the expected Diamond lead she could draw trumps and lose just the one trick in Clubs.
What helped our relaxation was that the baby (being looked after by Nana) was doing OK. I got more or less hourly updates, and had to excuse myself to look at my phone between rounds. A trial run earlier in the week had not gone well, so to demonstrate the little monster really was OK I was sent a photo message of her smiling.
In general we all played quite briskly. One exception was where I was very slow on this deal:

♠ A Q x x x
♥ x x
♦ x x
♣ Q T x x

♠ K T x
♥ A T x x x
 ♦ K J x
♣ A x

AnnaDanny
WNES
 - - 1♥
2♦x-3NT
---

Two questions:
1: What would you have bid as North on the second round?
2: How would you play 3NT on the lead of the ♥K?
Anna was faced with the bidding decision, and decided to stretch a bit and double, which showed 10+ points.
I therefore played the hand in 3NT. On the ♥K lead I figured that West had a lot of Hearts (and Diamonds) so the Spades were probably not going to be breaking. I wanted to finesse East, but didn't have any entries to do that. So I ducked the ♥K, and ♥Q, and West now reluctantly lead a Spade for me. That now gave me five Spade tricks along with two Aces, up to seven tricks. I didn't want to cash all my Spades in dummy yet as didn't know what to discard, so played another Heart for West to win and be endplayed. She cashed the ♦A and played another Diamond round to my ♦KJ giving me my eight and ninth tricks.
At the break I went to check with the babysitters, while four teas and four biscuits were collected. After I got back I was left with the last one, but it was a Honeycomb Club so I wasn't too disappointed.
In the second half I lost my concentration a bit, and at one point Anna sat down at a new table as East, and I sat down North. We still played fairly well though, and sometimes managed to steal the odd trick for a good score. I can only think of one time I definitely bodged, when the trump suit looked like this:

 ♠ K 7 4
♠ Q J 8  ♠ A
 ♠ T 9 6 5 4 2

South was declarer with Spades trumps. He lead up a small Spade, and I eagerly played the ♠J, which went to the King and Ace. Clearly I should have played low, then (if declarer still played the King) we would have got three trump tricks.
Here's a photo when I asked everyone to show me their cards so I could write about it on the blog (then decided not to include that hand):

At the end we left promptly to go and see how the baby was, walking through the village of Walberswick and getting a little ferry in the rain.
It was another very enjoyable afternoon at a friendly Club.Dannyhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091577273928695566.post-57101098003171490362016-06-10T13:00:00.001-07:002016-06-10T13:01:32.851-07:00Scottish Schools Bridge ChampionshipLast year I took two teams of four to this event (see here); this year I was delighted to add a Primary 7 team who had previously done well at the Glasgow Minibridge Championship (see here).
Following their recent domination of the event it made sense for it to be hosted by Hutcheson's Grammar school, and John Di Mambro did a great job converting a lecture theatre into a ten table room. He even threw in a hot lunch, and we had Horst Kopleck directing the event. Around the room the atmosphere was great, as the kids were competitive while also being friendly.

My teams have now been playing for nearly two years, and I noticed a definite improvement since last year, both in cardplay and in the bidding where we were much more focused on the game bonus. I was particularly impressed that after each board the pupils were able to reflect on what might have been. For example, after making 1NT+5 someone asked me "Should we have bid 6NT"? (No, but you should have bid 3NT). Someone else said to me afterwards they thought that "Shape was more important than points" and next time they had a void they were going to bid game.
The main error was the same as with all beginners; a temptation to win all your Aces and Kings without trying to bid extra tricks, especially when you are feeling the pressure. Kids hate the idea of deliberately losing a trick.
My Senior team of 16 year olds have a lot of potential, but unfortunately for the last few months haven't played much bridge due to the distraction of their National 5 (GCSE) exams getting in the way. I was a bit worried when I asked someone on the train how many points you need for a game, and he replied "All of them, at least 9000", then when pressed admitted he didn't know what a game was. I was therefore extremely surprised when I went to watch at their table. One of them opened 1♣ and when the other replied 1♦ this was alerted as showing Hearts! "Do you play transfers?" asked the bewildered opposition. The advanced bidding systerm was not a success, as they finished in 4♣-4 and was quietly dropped after lunch.
I've only taught very limited bidding, with12-14 1NT and the rest natural, but it normally got to the right contract. We only struggled with strong hands, where my advice is simply to bid game in one go. At one point today one player overcalled 1♦ with 20 points (we've no other way to bid it), which was passed out and resulted in four overtricks. "I had 20 points!" said the overcaller, "next time you should bid more!". "Next time you'll have a different partner" was the reply.
Slam biding is also still to come. As far as I could see no one in the room got there on this board, although they all played it for 13 tricks.

I like to think Anna and I would have bid at least 6♥, and 7♥ is possible with some special bidding agreements.
When they read out the top three I was surprised our S1/S2 team of girls had finished third (our of ten), and even more surprised the P7 team second. All of the kids did well, coping with playing 24 boards and learning a lot.Dannyhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091577273928695566.post-85499499090424166362016-05-15T00:21:00.002-07:002016-05-15T00:25:11.479-07:00Buchanan Congress Pairs 2016
This is the third year in a row I've entered this event. In the last two years, with Anna, we narrowly failed to qualify for the final, and I narrowly failed to arrive on time (report here). This year I was playing with John Faben, who in previous years had done very well playing with Norman McGeagh, finishing 2nd overall and 1st overall.
Things started well when we both arrived thirty minutes before the start time, to fill out our System Cards. The main point of interest is that we play Puppet Stayman in all situations when it's appropriate, and many when it's not. Therefore, in the section on the bidding card for General System, I'd just written Puppet Stayman, which I regretted when somebody picked up our card and asked what system we play. It was like the time in the University Championships when my partner Jake and I wrote Post-Prandial Slump on our System Card, and an opponent asked what it was and when it applies (after lunch).
With the Puppet Stayman agreed the rest of the system fell into place. John made me agree that "2NT in competition is never natural" which is perhaps a good idea, but since we hadn't agreed what it was (only that it wasn't natural) this caused some confusion during the day, when 2NT bids were alerted, asked about, then explained only as "not natural".
On the very first board, at favourable vulnerability, I was dealer with this rotten 11 point hand:
♠ K ♥ 92 ♦ KJ86 ♣ A97643
I opened 1♣, and regretted it 30 seconds later when John leaped to 6NT, doubled and off two. But on the very next board he played a quiet 2♦ with two unexpected overtricks for a top score, so in the strange world of Matchpoints we broke even on the round.
We bid Puppet Stayman wherever possible, and scored a triumph here:

DannyJohn
WNES
--1NT
-2♣*-2♦*
---

John opened the South hand 1NT (12-14, may contain a singleton) and I had the weak North hand. I bid 2♣ which asks for a 5-card Major. I knew that if John had one, ideally Spades, we'd be in at least a 5-2 fit, which is no worse than a transfer, and if he didn't have a five card Major we'd play in 2♦, as happened here.
2♦ went well as with the perfect layout of trumps declarer lost just one Diamond, two Spades and two Clubs. It scored 80%, just losing to the couple of North-South pairs making made more tricks than they should have in 1NT.
John was declarer most of the time, which suited me fine. The first time I was declarer I overbid my strong hand, trusted my ♥Kx was a stoppper and ended up in a dicey 3NT. My stopper was not a stopper and it went four off vulnerable. This turned out to be a reasonable score when we realised they could make 4♥ there way, on limited points. We were all a bit surprised when we saw the traveller for that one.
The hand I regret the most is one where we got 60% and bid a Grand Slam. My bidding is somewhat embarrassing here but I'll show it anyway:

DannyJohn
WNES
-2♣*
4♥5♥-6♦
-6♥-6♠
-7♠- -

I had the nice North hand and when John reached for the Stop card I expected him to be bidding a weak 2♦. Instead out came 2♣! West wasted no time bidding 4♥, an excellent bid. My ♥A is a massive card and I thought about just bidding 7NT, but I was keenly aware that John might only have 16 points and a very distributional hand following his comments on my previous post here. So I bid a very confusing 5♥. John did what he could to make sense of this and bid 6♦, then I threw him again by bidding 6♥. He got that I was looking for another suit and bid 6♠ which I raised to 7♠.
7♠ made when the trumps were 3-1 (it can go down if they are 4-0) but of course 7NT makes too. The 4♥ bid helped me know that John had virtually all of the missing high cards (as West has at least ♥KQ) but still worried that John could have a hand like he does but missing the ♦Q or ♦J, in which case 7♠ makes and 7NT goes down.
Of the 14 North-South pairs 3 were in 7NT, 2 in 7♠ and the rest in small slam (and one in 5♦).
With the top half of the pairs qualifying for the final we knew it was going to be close. We finished on 52%, but that was only good enough for the top runner-up spot, and a place in the Consolation Final. Worse than that, in the final round before the break the pair we were playing defended incredibly slowly (and accurately) so we were last in the queue for lunch. We had some sandwiches then went to Kelvingrove park to look at the hands.
The top qualifiers were John Di Mambro and Ronald Gaffin with 62%.
In the Consolation Final we had a few good results, but also seemed to get a lot of things wrong. Once I opened 2♥ with a poor suit and John had a void. I lost five trump tricks and went two off. The hand below shows a notable bodge:

AnnaDanny
WNES
2♥x3♥
--x-
3♠-3NT-
4♠--- -

This time North opened a weak 2♥ before me and I had the 20 point East hand. I considered a light 3NT or a heavy 2NT but decided for a double. When it came back to me in 3♥ I doubled again, and this time John bid 3♠. I should be able to tell he's got a very weak hand as he would have voluntarily bid 3♠ the round before if at all possible. But I bid 3NT anyway, and he wisely corrected to 4♠, which still went two off. I've read somewhere that novice players tend to overvalue good hands and undervalue weak hands; that was certainly me here.
4♠-2 was worth 17%, as John outplayed the pair in 4♠-3.
Looking at the hands now maybe I can blame John for not bidding 4♣ over 3NT, which certainly would have worked here.
In general I was guilty of not bidding directly enough, and we both made mistakes in the play, such as playing to give partner a ruff even though you know he has no trumps. This is only marginally better than playing to get a ruff yourself when you have no trumps. We did manage to generate a few positive swings, such as when John supported my Spades (at the four level) with ♠84 which lead to the opponent reaching a hopeless 6♥.
My final featured hand is a seemingly routine 3NT, played by South.

John was on lead and found the normal Club lead, which gives declarer time to set up the Hearts and after a Club finesse come to nine tricks. However, whenever 3NT was played by North it went down, as East found a Diamond lead. This seems reasonable enough, and it's just a swing based on luck of who is declarer. But the hand record shows that 3NT makes on any lead. How do you make 3NT on a Diamond lead? It looks like the defence have four Diamonds and a Heart.
The answer, which I worked out while walking home, is that declarer must play Diamonds herself. The defence do get their four Diamond tricks but West is squeezed so much that if she wants to keep her Heart guard she has to give up an extra tricks in Spades and Clubs, letting declarer get to nine tricks with only two from Hearts.
Overall, I estimated we got 55%, which turned out to be accurate. We were the East-West pair due to sit out on the final round, so went home early, after waiting for the Tournament Director to inform of us a ruling from earlier. The top pair in the Consolation Final were Kathleen Craig and Bob Innes with 62%. In the main final, the top three were:

1Horst Kopleck & Ricky Finlason 68%
2Jim McMenemy & Paul Maiolani 65%
3Iain Taylor & Andrew Symons 58%

So, curiously, after his success of the last two years John was unable to repeat that when playing with me. I can only think that's because he played a lot worse this time :) Dannyhttp://email@example.com


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INVESTMENT DREAM!!! ***PLEASE DO NOT DISTURB TENANTS, ALL UNITS CURRENTLY RENTED*** Don't miss out on this opportunity to own 3 separate units on one lot. Property is zoned for 1 more unit if someone wants to build. Each unit has been lovingly updated and maintained over the years, all newer kitchens and bathrooms. Each unit has it's own private outdoor patio, 6 parking spaces total, and a shared coin opperated washer and dryer shared by all units. Laundry brings in an additional $200 or so per month.
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subset: commoncrawl


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#09: Fun & Fancy Free (1947)
Continuing on through the 'package films', we watched the 1947 film 'Fun & Fancy Free' which tells two stories of Bongo the Bear and Mickey & the Beanstalk. Also, we go off on 3 different tangents. Sometimes we can't help it.
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For immediate release: Feb. 13, 2017 INDIANAPOLIS – The DNA sample bill, co-authored by State Rep. B. Patrick Bauer (D-South Bend) and State Rep. Gregory.
For immediate release: Feb. 7, 2017 INDIANAPOLIS – State Rep. Vernon G. Smith (D-Gary), ranking Democrat on the Indiana House Education Committee, spoke out strongly.
INDIANAPOLIS – An Indiana House committee today approved legislation authored by State Rep. Steven R. Stemler (D-Jeffersonville) with Ed Clere (R-New Albany) that is aimed.
For immediate release: Jan. 20, 2017 INDIANAPOLIS – State Representative Clyde Kersey (D-Terre Haute) is focusing on legislation that will implement a new way to.
For immediate release: Jan. 20, 2017 INDIANAPOLIS – State Rep. Melanie Wright (D-Yorktown) is fighting for the agricultural community by focusing on loan forgiveness for.
For immediate release: Jan. 17, 2017 INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana House Democratic Leader Scott Pelath from Michigan City today issued the following statement after Indiana Gov..
For immediate release: Jan. 17, 2017 INDIANAPOLIS – State Rep. Joe Taylor (D-South Bend) today issued the following statement after listening to Indiana Gov. Eric.
For immediate release: Jan. 12, 2017 INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana State Rep. Carey Hamilton today issued the following information about constituent meetings for the citizens of.


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President Trump will return to Mar-a-Lago this weekend, the White House confirmed on Monday, making it the fifth weekend he has spent in Florida as president.
Press secretary Sean Spicer announced the Palm Beach trip to reporters during the White House press briefing, offering no other details regarding the purpose of the trip.
Trump has reportedly spent almost a quarter of his time as president at his resort in the Sunshine State.
During his last trip, Trump met with Cabinet secretaries, including Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, as well as Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) and Sen. Marco RubioMarco Antonio RubioStudents gather outside White House after walkout to protest gun violence Overnight Energy: Senate confirms Bridenstine as NASA chief | Watchdog probes Pruitt's use of security detail | Emails shine light on EPA science policy changes Senate confirms Trump's pick to lead NASA MORE (R-Fla.).
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife also traveled with the Trumps to Mar-a-Lago in February after first meeting at the White House.
Spicer's announcement came hours after reports emerged that Trump would also host the Chinese president at the exclusive resort during his visit next month.


text:
Healthy Remix: White Turkey Chili
It's the day after Thanksgiving and all of us are regretting all that food we ate yesterday, right?
This dish, White Chicken Chili, is already low fat, but instead of using the chicken use that leftover turkey to make a whole new meal. Plus, it'll probably be a lot healthier than all that pie from yesterday.
Enjoy using all those leftovers today!
Have you visited our Products list? Be sure and check out Mommy Hates Cooking Products and Services.
Need more recipe ideas? Check out the Recipe Index by Mommy Hates Cooking.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.Disclaimer: This post contains links to products that I recommend. Many of those links may be affiliate links. In using those links, it does support the ongoing post and recipes shared on this website.
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One Response to "Healthy Remix: White Turkey Chili"
Great idea! I would have never thought of using turkey in soup. That looks delicious!


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Sue Robb of 4Children talks to Julie Laughton and Alison Britton from the Department for Education about the role of childminders in delivering the 30 hours free entitlement.
Chancellor Philip Hammond has presented the 2017 Spring Budget, with the announcement of additional funding for free schools.
£320 million will be made available for new free schools, traditionally set up by groups like parents, charities or community and faith groups, while a further £216 million will be invested in school maintenance, to improve existing school buildings that are in need of repair.
But, despite the expected boost for grammar schools, teaching associations have been quick to question where extra funding was for existing schools, with Russell Hobby, general secretary of school leaders' union NAHT, saying that the Budget represented a missed opportunity for schools.
He said: "We heard that extra funding will be found to deliver more grammar schools, but nothing will be provided to existing schools. Schools are in a funding crisis now, and opening more free schools will do nothing to change that.
"For many schools, this Budget was their last chance. In our annual Breaking Point survey published in January, 72 per cent of school leaders told us that their budgets will be unsustainable by 2019. For them, this Budget was a chance to address this, and they will be bitterly disappointed by the total absence of extra money for schools."
Free school meals, a big topic in the previous Conservative Parliament, also was noted by Hammond, who revealed that children aged 11-16 who receive free school meals or whose parents are on the Maximum Working Tax Credit will get free transport to their closest selective school, but only if it is between two and 15 miles away from their home.
There was also a further announcement on Tax-Free Childcare, which will provide up to £2,000 a year in childcare support for each child under 12 and soon be available to working parents. Parents will be able to receive up to £4,000 for disabled children up to the age of 17.
Sue Robb of 4Children talks to Julie Laughton and Alison Britton from the Department for Education about the role of childminders in delivering the 30 hours free entitlement.
The annual Digital Government conference will be returning to the QEII Centre, London on Thursday 24th May.
On the 16th & 17th of May, UK's most ambitious SME owners, startup owners, creative leaders and decision makers will take part in what is being Europe's largest business event.
The LifeCentre is a bright and modern meeting & conference venue in South Manchester used by
Over the past few years now Commend have been watching with interest the steady movement within t
First Aid for Life's Emma Hammett discusses the legal requirements surrounding first aid provision in the workplace
Parkex is Europe's largest dedicated parking event, providing a platform for showcasing the latest cutting edge products, technologies and services


text: Career Center Employers? Post Jobs and More Job Seeker Sign In Home Jobs Your Profile Resources Your Account Job Seekers Sign In New Job Seeker? Sign Up Overview Your Saved Jobs Your Job Alerts Your Profile Your Documents Your Applications Help Job Seekers, Welcome to NPO.net Search Browse Explore Your Job Alerts Your Saved Jobs 0 Back to Search SAVE savedJobs Clinical Neuropsychologist Assistant/Psychometrician Hektoen Institute LLC Application Attachments: Please include your resume and up to two additional documents. Add File The application opened in a new tab. By using this feature you agree to our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy. Details Posted: April 10, 2018 Location: Chicago, Illinois Salary: Type: Full Time - Entry Level Category: Medical & Health Required Education: 4 Year Degree Job Summary & Responsibilities Administrative tasks related to managing a neuropsychology clinic (e.g. appointment reminder phone calls, updating clinical databases, ordering clinical supplies, obtaining medical records from outside clinics, scheduling appointments) Staying current with psychological and neuropsychological tests Assist neuropsychologist in training of doctoral students Administer and scoring of psychological & neuropsychological tests across the lifespan under the supervision of a clinical neuropsychologist Document behavioral observations 20-40 hours per week, eligible for benefits Required Qualifications/Skills Minimum of Bachelor's degree in psychology (or other related field) Strong interpersonal skills Strong organization and time management skills Ability to work independently & efficiently Good written and verbal communication Experience with behavioral or social science research a plus Preferred Qualifications/Skills Fluent in Spanish Past neuropsychological assessment experience Neuropsychological testing experience across the lifespan Ability to work full-time Create a Job Alert for Similar Jobs More Jobs from This Employer BACK TO TOP Help is on the way! We're sorry you are having trouble applying for this job. Please try loading this job using the following link before submitting your help request: Name: Email: Please provide details: Submit Help Request Error Close Continue Powered By


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Mother and Child, Sunlight, c. 1905
- 2016-02-17
Ver todas las subastas en Fotografía
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- Acerca del objeto
- Edward Steichen (1879-1973)
Mother and Child, Sunlight, c. 1905
platinum print, mounted on tissue, mounted on paper
signed and dated with roman numerals in pencil (recto); various annotations in pencil (mount, verso)
image: 3 3/4 x 4 3/4 in. (9.6 x 12.1 cm.)
sheet: 4 x 5 in. (10.2 x 12.8 cm.)
tissue mount: 11 x 8 1/4 in. (28 x 21 cm.)
paper mount: 11 7/8 x 10 in. (30.2 x 25.5 cm.)
- creator
- Edward Steichen
- title
- Mother and Child, Sunlight, c. 1905
- dimensions
- image: 3 3/4 x 4 3/4 in. (9.6 x 12.1 cm.) sheet: 4 x 5 in. (10.2 x 12.8 cm.) tissue mount: 11 x 8 1/4 in. (28 x 21 cm.) paper mount: 11 7/8 x 10 in. (30.2 x 25.5 cm.)
- medium
- Platinum print, mounted on tissue, mounted on paper
- signed
- Signed and dated with roman numerals in pencil (recto); various annotations in pencil (mount, verso)
- keywords
- Edward Steichen , Photographs, Americas
- literature
- Alfred Stieglitz, Camera Work, New York, no. 14, April 1906, pl. IX.
- provenance
- Andrew Smith Gallery, Sante Fe, New Mexico, 2011.
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* Nota: este precio no se corresponde con el valor actual sino al precio que se vendió en el momento de la compra.
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