Is there a better alternative to finessing?

Here it comes, another hand with a problem. You have preempted 2 ♥, with a good suit & a void, but precious little else. Then your partner raises you to 4 ♥, and everyone passes. You get the lead of Q ♠, and you count your losers, and consider your options. You can see 5 losers; 1 ♥, 2 ♦ & 2 ♣, but you see the possibility of discarding two losers on the top two ♠ in dummy. You can also see that you have 10 ♥ between the two hands, and that if they split nicely (2 / 1), you will have spare trumps in either hand. The question is what should you discard? Or, should you look no further than the obvious two finesses?

The answer should always be two ♣ discards, as any other discards do not avoid losing tricks. So, on the opening lead, you should win with the A ♠  and discard a small ♣ from your hand. Now, you should play a small ♥,  towards your honour ♥,  as you always have a loser to the A ♥, and you hope that East holds this card. However, your hopes do not hold up, as West rises up with the A ♥ , but the ♥ suit splits nicely as both opponents follow suit. Now West, after examining the dummy, leads the 10 ♣. You must rise up with the A ♣ . Any other play, is pointless, as you plan to discard the other ♣ in your hand, on the other top ♠  in dummy, and could lead to you failing to get your contract.

Now you can cross to dummy with a small ♥, planning to play the top  ♥ in dummy, so as to remove the last trump from your opponents. This is so that you can lead the top ♠ from dummy, so as to discard the loosing ♣ from your hand. If you now cross back to your hand (not with a trump, but with a ♣, which you trump), you can play a small ♦ towards the K ♦ in dummy. When this fails, you feel pleased with yourself, that you did not try to finesse the minor suits (the ♣ finesse will fail also). Now, you can X-trump the remainder of the hand (you hold 2 ♦, and 2 ♥), and dummy holds 2 ♠ and 2 ♥, making your contract. 

There is no luck to this, just good planning.  

Do not forget that the club does run teams events, on a reasonably regular basis. These occur predominately on a Monday evening (once a month) or sometimes on a Thursday evening (once every three months).

Please look out for these nights, which also appear on the "MENU" under "CALENDAR".

The next Monday teams night is on a Monday 19th August. Please sign up on the notice board............

We plan to put out a regular pattern of teams events, every few weeks on a Monday, and a Thursday teams event once every 3 months.

This is due to be reviewed at the next committee meeting in August.

The next committee meeting of Wakefield Bridge Club is Friday 30th August @ 1.30 p.m. If there is anything that you think might need raising at this meeting, please ask one of the committee members to bring it up on your behalf. The names and photographs of the committee members are on one of the notice boards in the big Bridge room, so that they cannot hide!

The committee members act on behalf of YOU the members, and to help keep the Club in a financially stable condition, amongst other considerations.  

Is there any more we can do on other matters? Tell us please, and you never know what may happen!

Look on the Website Calendar for all future Committee meetings dates,and also the date of the 2025 AGM ...................

The dates are out for the 2024 / 2025 season, which starts in October, running through to March - these are shown on our "CALENDAR", please look in the "MENU". Please note that all leagues are subject to the number of entries received that wish to play, which can alter from previous years.

If you require more information regarding the YCBA leagues, please look under "INFORMATION" in the "MENU", and go to "Links to Bridge Organisations". Then look under "Yorkshire Contract Bridge Association" and then find "Leagues".

If you have any wish or aspiration to take part & represent your Club in the upcoming year - please talk to Karen Lemm who is the Match Secretary, or talk to any member of the Committee. We are trying to find out exactly who is willing to commit to playing in this competition over the Winter months. We have to determine what dedication, you, our members, are willing to give, so that we can determine how many teams we decide to enter. The more of you who volunteer,  the more teams we can operate. 

We have to have submitted our team entries by 4th August 2024, and the fixture list will be out by 17th August 2024. The first fixture happens on 13th October 2024. 

We are starting to gain a presence again in Yorkshire & England, please help us to make this continue to happen.

Watch out for some team training to occur.........................

The next Fun Day will probably be on the 4th January 2025, starting at 10.00 am. We hope that you can put this date in your diary, and come along to play

The proceeds of these events, are there to be seen in the fabric of our Bridge Club. We have just acquired a microphone system, to help with running this event, and others like it. Watch out for further news on what these monies raised are being used for.

This time we raised just over £1400.00, a fantastic amount, so THANK YOU all for your generosity. 

Please watch out for the list to appear on the notice board, for you to sign up to, nearer the time............................ 

Thanks should go to all of our members who took part in the EBU Summer Sims Pairs. 

Future dates for the British (Seasonal) Sims Pairs events are:-

1. Autumn on 10th October 2024 - we at WBC are not taking part in this event.
2. Winter on 18th January 2025.

PS. You can look on the EBU web-site to see where you finished in the national results for this event (now).

We are pleased to announce that the next Swiss Pairs Event happened. The overall winners were Allan Clarke & Martin Fenton. Thanks must go to the organisers & to our kitchen helpers. 

If you wish to take part in the next one, please watch this space, for details to be announced. 

The payment for this event, will be taken at the same time as your monthly bill.

This directive aims to help all players understand the rights and limitations of dummy.

What can dummy do?

• Dummy plays the cards from dummy as directed by the declarer. Dummy must only remove a card from the dummy once it has been named or touched by declarer. The selected card must be played behind the laid out cards, but in front of dummy (the person). 
• Dummy can keep count of the tricks won and lost by positioning the cards vertically if won and horizontally if lost. Dummy can inform declarer that they have placed a quitted trick (a trick that has been won or lost & placed face down) incorrectly, but only before they have played to the next trick. Dummy cannot inform an opponent that they have placed a quitted trick incorrectly.
• Dummy can prevent a revoke by asking declarer if they have any cards in a suit on which they have just discarded. E.g.  “No spades, partner?"
• Dummy can act to prevent declarer from leading from the wrong hand. If dummy notices that declarer is about to play from the wrong hand, they can alert declarer by saying “table” or “your hand”. Dummy should not point at the cards on the table, as this can be seen to be suggesting a line of play to declarer.
• Dummy can draw attention to an irregularity, but only after the play of the hand is finished, that is all thirteen cards. E.g. if dummy notices a revoke, they must not say anything during play, but can immediately afterwards inform declarer, and then call the director.
• Dummy can give information to the director if asked to do so.

What dummy cannot do :-

• Dummy cannot play a card from the table until directed by the declarer.
• Dummy cannot ask questions of either defender.
• Dummy cannot draw attention to an irregularity in the play.
• Dummy cannot rearrange the cards during play.
• Dummy cannot call the director unless another player has drawn attention to an irregularity.

Please reserve the statements "Good luck partner" (from dummy to declarer) and "Thank you partner" (from declarer to dummy), or any such comments, until AFTER the opening lead card has been shown (face up). Sometimes the manner of such comments can give unauthorised information. 

Please remember to call the TD if there is any concern or issue at the table. This helps to ensure consistency and fairness for all players.

For further information please see the links below :-

https://www.bridge-club.org/clientdocs/4249.pdf

https://www.bridgewebs.com/barrie/Dummy%20Rules.pdf

Please also note that all TD's are on the look out for the following bad habits that have crept into our play :-

1. Slow play - We all wish that this one will go away, but it keeps occurring. Please reserve your thinking time for when you really need it, not for every decision. Slow play inevitably leads to a noticeable increase in noise, as more people got tired of waiting. We are telling you to all speed up, as otherwise, having to take an average will be applied to you. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!  We have not done it yet, but we are planning to use an audible timer, to reinforce this.
2. Bidding Cards - These should not be removed from the table until the lead card has shown FACE UP!! The defender on lead, should have the opportunity to make an opening lead, based on the bidding, but also on whether or not he chooses to use or ignores this information.
3. Looking at the quitted card - Another NO-NO!! If you cannot remember that which happened just a few seconds beforehand, try not turning your own card over until such time as you have interpreted that information. We do not mean take an age, but do this in a measured manner.

An idea which we are looking into is Cafe Bridge. This is just as simple as it seems - Bridge played in a Cafe. We are at present looking into Cafe's in the centre of Wakefield, where we could try this out. Our idea is simply to promote the game of Bridge to the inhabitants of Wakefield, some of whom may be under the misapprehension that Bridge is a game/pastime that took place in big houses (it seems to be portrayed this way on television) in the recent past. We are probably looking at a time which is not a busy time (meal times), but when they are open & have some passing trade. It may be a good idea or it may not, but other Bridge Clubs up & down the country have tried it, so why not us!

Having just completed the survey part, of the majority of Wakefield Bridge Club members, now comes the stage where all your answers & comments are collected & collated into some conclusions. These will be discussed at the next committee meeting on 30th August, where afterwards, hopefully, there will be some further news, about what actions we propose to effect. It has been a pleasure to talk to you all individually, and we hope that you consider that you as individual members, you truly feel that we have listened to you all. Please watch this space for further developments..............    

We are also looking into more ways to get out & about to promote our Bridge Club, as we feel sure that there are a lot of people out there, who are totally unaware of us. Watch this space to see what develops.....................

You all may be aware, that not only have we been recently renewing some of the visible items in our Club, we have also been renewing / upgrading some items that you might not be aware of, and did not know where available.

You will have seen that the bidding boxes have been given a good wash, and the bidding cards have been replaced. (I am sure that you remember all the initial sliding bids!!!). But did you know that there are left handed bidding boxes available at the Club. The right handed bidding cards boxes, are all in Red or Green bidding boxes, whereas the left handed bidding cards are in Black or Yellow bidding boxes. There are a couple of the left handed bidding boxes available on the shelves next to the computer station in the Club House. There are some more of each hand of bidding boxes, these are kept in the storage room, if required. Whilst we are on the subject of bidding boxes, if you come across a bidding box with an individual (or more) card missing from it, please do NOT try and sort this out yourself. Please make the TD aware of the problem first PLEASE. We need to be aware of a problem, so that we can rectify it, for everyone's benefit. Do not just simply swap it with another spare bidding box. All the bidding boxes were recently checked, and we were disappointed to find that two of the bidding boxes had cards missing from them. They had both been placed on two separate usually unused tables. Please help us to help you all..............

Also, we have available three card holders for those of you who may struggle holding the playing cards. These are usually available in the storage room - if you would like to use one, all you have to do is ask...............

A new development is the positioning of the table numbers on the sides of the bidding boxes. These are designed to be seen from the aisle down the middle of the room, which we normally use as the main thoroughfare in the Club. We believe that this should make them instantly visible for everyone - much better than ending up underneath a bidding box (which is useless!!!). These are held onto the bidding box by magnets, so if they come adrift, they are easily put back together again.

The "PASS" cards in the main Bridge room have all been upgraded, and all those that were showing signs of wear & tear have been replaced. 

Have you noticed the "Headers" on the notice boards? Have you noticed the new coat hooks? Have you noticed the library of books available? Things are happening all around!

There are other ideas that we, your committee have, to make things nicer & easier to play Bridge at Wakefield Bridge Club. Please watch this space.........   

The phrase "The Full Monty" does not originate from a famous 1990's film, but actually comes from the fashion industry. It refers to the tailor Montague Maurice Burton, who was born in what is now Lithuania & emigrated here in 1900. Eventually he founded Burton's, who were a major employer in Leeds for the manufacture & sale of suits etc. (Those of us who are old enough, will remember the chain of shops). 

The phrase "the full monty", actually refers to the purchasing of a three piece suit as opposed to a two piece one, that is one which includes a waistcoat. This we can relate to Bridge, in that when we have all the cards in all four suits, it is having the full monty - everything. I know that there is not much to explain with this one, but what I did like, was the connection of suits (I know that it is from a different context),  

Good luck everyone in being fortunate to be in this situation, it will occur, but beware of bidding too low with these type of hands, if you do not want a bad result.............................