Dubious Logic

Anniversary

March 1988 – Nigel Lawson was more famous than his daughter delivering his fifth budget, cutting income tax by two points to 25% amid many other reductions, Kylie Minogue was on Top of the Pops (whatever happened to that?) with her video of I Should Be So Lucky, the shape of today formed when Saddam Hussein bombed Halabja in northern Iraq with poison gas while George Bush effectively sealed the Republican nomination taking South Carolina then the rest of the South. And Stuart McPhee retired from writing this column and I took over.

Bridge in this newspaper had an uncertain status; it appeared every fortnight, midweek initially, and not always on the same day. This Friday? Maybe it was the wrong week – no, I'm sorry, it was in yesterday… However about a year later it moved to Saturday where it has remained ever since but it took almost ten years before it became weekly.

Looking back at those early articles they seem more like belonging to a bridge magazine. There is less explanation and more technique despite the format; suit symbols for example took a long time to arrive. And they were accident prone. Without being able to deliver an electronic copy as now, our shorthand and world of conventions was puzzling to the type-setters and, how shall I put it, scrambling of the diagrams was not unknown. In fact, all my correspondence was on this topic, but I have to admit, I was responsible for many mistakes. Reading them again I note repeated confusion between East and West, wrong number of cards in hands – I'm embarrassed to go on and that doesn't start to address the grammar, spelling and the awkward prose. I just hope in these twenty years it has improved a little.

I kept Stuart's format of having a quiz for the first few pieces. Eventually the necessity of putting the hand or deal in twice seemed wasteful and I quietly dropped it. This was the first, you are South and see:

• ---
• AKJ95
• KQ862
• KJ4

Exciting stuff and the question is surely about level rather than strain. Hands where you and partner have shortage in the same suit do not play well (inability to score ruffs or dispose of losers on side suits) so after asking partner's opinion with 5NT, it is surely prudent not to advance beyond the small slam. In practice North bids six clubs over your call and passes your conversion to six diamonds holding ♠Ax ♥xxx ♦Axxx ♣AQxx – as was always possible, a heart loser has no place to go.

The quiz in the second article a fortnight later (the by-line having unfortunately reverted to Mr. McPhee) was one of my favourites. The opponents listen your auction to 4♥ and astutely start with ace and another trump, both following:

From a congress in Norfolk, as East and dummy I watched my partner cash three clubs throwing diamonds then cross-ruff for nine tricks and down one. You have to play diamonds to create a length trick for your game. You can now review those early days online at http://www.dubiouslogic.com/bridge/eadt/1988. Remind yourself of a few names from the past and 'compare and contrast' them to contemporary material.

Published Saturday 8.Mar.2008