AUDREY GRANT'S BETTER BRIDGE MAGAZINE September / October 2019 | Page 3

The Magazine for Social and Duplicate Bridge Players | September-October 2019 in this issue 1 E ditorial 2 P lay of the H and 4 M aster S olvers ’ C lub 5 L ook -A likes 6 P oint of V iew D efenders ’ C orner 8 10 12 14 16 18 19 20 by Audrey Grant by David Lindop A Feature from The Bridge World by Audrey Grant by Audrey Grant C ome to the P arty T he R eal D eal by Larry Cohen T he ABC s of D eclarer P lay by David Lindop M odern B idding by Oren Kriegel T he P lay ' s the T hing Q uizzical P ursuits Q uizzical P ursuits & B idding Q uiz A nswers EDITOR Audrey Grant | TECHNICAL EDITOR David Lindop | CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Larry Cohen, Oren Kriegel, Shawn Quinn, Andrew Robson, Sylvia Shi, and Robert Todd. AUDREY GRANT’S BETTER BRIDGE IS PUBLISHED SIX TIMES A YEAR BY BARON BARCLAY BRIDGE SUPPLY, 3600 CHAMBERLAIN LANE SUITE 206, LOUISVILLE,KY 40241 USA. NO PART OF THIS MAGAZINE MAY BE COPIED OR REPRINTED WITHOUT WRITTEN CONSENT OF BARON BARCLAY. TO SUBSCRIBE: CALL 1-800-274-2221 OR EMAIL: [email protected]. SUBSCRIPTION IS $29 USD PER YEAR OR $50 FOR TWO YEARS. COPYRIGHT © 09 2019. PRINTED IN THE USA. VOL 24 NO 6 ISSUE 147. Jude Goodwin illustrates in a cartoon, in Come To The Party, a partnership talking after the play of a deal. One player, with seemingly no emotional involvement remarks: “If you had made any other lead, we could have defeated the contract." It reminded me of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, a highly esteemed thinker who, several hundred years ago, wrote these words: “When we treat man as he is, we make him worse than he is; when we treat him as if he already were what he potentially could be, we make him what he should be.” Goodwin’s cartoon captures the face of the player who made the inappropriate lead, and it’s clear whether this accusation is true or not, he is made worse by his partner’s comments. How do we get the best from our partnership, especially since it’s usually acknowledged one player is better than another? If we react as if partner is playing up to partner’s potential in all cases, there’s no need to say “well played partner”, or the other side of the coin, “you just made a horrible lead”. In many sports, top athletes downplay the winning and losing aspect of the game. No one is perfect, mistakes will be made, of course. It’s not surprising that some of the best athletes have encouraged the spectators to enjoy the moment as much as the outcome. It’s a challenge not to judge. Even the routine of putting down the dummy – declarer might show disappointment or joy. Simply the tradition of saying “thank you partner” without judgment is enough. Von Goethe’s advice works for bridge players. It’s practical and it’s used by the best in the world. It’s often said you can judge the skill level of the players by the remarks made at the table. There are more ideas in this issue’s Come To The Party to help us improve our bridge etiquette and make the game more enjoyable for our partner, our opponents, and ourselves. Also in this issue, David Lindop reminds us that sometimes things may not be as simple as they look. His article in Play of the Hand will surprise us that even when the contract looks seemingly safe, we could be heading for misfortune. The opening lead is a critical part of defense. Defenders get a head start to take winners or develop the tricks they need. However, it also gives valuable information to declarer. Defenders’ Corner and the third installment of the ABCs of Declarer Play look at the opening lead from both the declarer and defenders’ perspectives. For the declarer, take advantage of the lead to uncover a safe versus a dangerous opponent in planning the play. For the defense, carefully consider partner’s signals to avoid giving a trick to declarer. We might even use declarer’s techniques in establishing our suit. Imitation really is the sincerest form of flattery. We’re all familiar with the direct overcall after our right-hand opponent opens the auction. However, when both opponents have bid, and partner has been silent, the rules for entering the auction with an overcall in "fourth seat" are different. Oren Kriegel explains them in Modern Bidding. Enjoy the tips and stories in this issue. Thank you for being part of Better Bridge. B etter B ridge . com 1