Bridge in Greenwich: Local players earn silver master points at Harte’s club tourney – The Greater New Milford Spectrum
The Harte’s club in White Plains, N.Y., the bridge club nearest to Greenwich, took part in a special STAC tournament last week, and several Greenwich players placed in the overall rankings — in addition to those reported in last week’s column. Top finishers in STAC events are awarded silver master points, obtainable only in sectional tournaments.
On Oct. 20, Betty Cutting and Kathryn Payne finished second overall in Flight B. Two days later, Joyce and Dick Grieb finished first overall, also in Flight B.
In a regular game this past week at Harte’s, Betty Cutting, playing with Kay Schulle, tied for second in Flight A. Harte’s club offers local players an opportunity for in-person card games.
Today’s quiz: Here is another in the current series of quizzes on interpreting your partner’s bids. In the following problem, you are given an auction accompanied by three hands your partner might hold, but only one of which actually fits the bidding shown. Applying the principles of standard bidding, which of the three hands do you think partner has?
The bidding: Opponents-1C; Partnr-1H. Partner could hold:
a) S 843 H AQ984 D KJ3 C 75.
b) S KJ943 H AK1053 D 82 C 7
c) S K5 H AKJ763 D AK6 C 82
Answer: A simple overcall in a suit promises at least five cards in the suit named (if only five cards in length, the suit should contain at least two honor cards) and can be made on a hand containing as little as eight or nine points up to at most 16 points.
The only hand of the three presented that fits this description is hand a). Partner cannot have hand b), since when holding two five-card suits, the proper initial action would be to overcall in the higher-ranking suit — in this case, spades – first. Furthermore, most players these days would use a Michaels cue-bid of two clubs with this hand, indicating two five-card majors.
Partner also cannot have hand c), which is much too strong for a simple overcall. The proper action with this hand would be to double for takeout first and then bid hearts after partner responds, indicating a hand too powerful for a simple overcall.
