Local players shine at recent five-day Regionals
Several Greenwich players turned in fine performances at the recently concluded five-day regional tournament held last week in Suffern. N.Y.
They were: Frances Schneider, who finished first overall in Strat B and third overall in A in the A/ B/C Pairs on Jan. 16; Wayne De Vries-Martin Waine-Bruno Schrage and former Greenwich resident Gordon Mackenzie, who finished second in the Round Robin Teams, Bracket Two, on Jan. 17.
Faye Marino, who finished third overall in A in the A/B/C Pairs on Jan. 18, and first overall in A in the A/B/C Pairs on Jan. 19.
Today’s quiz: There is no question that percentages are an integral part of bridge, affecting decisions made in both the bidding and the play. Anyone who hopes to succeed at the game must therefore have some knowledge of basic bridge probabilities.
The following multiple choice quiz, the first of a new series, is designed to test your knowledge of basic percentages as they apply to some of the more frequently recurring situations in the bidding or play. In both cases, simply select which of the three choices you feel best answers the question asked.
1. What percentage of hands contain a five-card or longer suit? a) 35 percent b) 50 percent c) 65 percent
2. When playing that an opening bid of a major guarantees a five-card or longer suit, which sometimes necessitates opening the bidding with a three-card club suit, on what percentage of all deals will a player actually open one club with a three-card suit? a) slightly less than 50 percent b) nearly 25 percent c) less than 10 percent.
Answers:1. c) 2. c) Playing five-card majors, the opener can properly open with three-card club suit when holding a 4-3-3-3, 34-3-3 or 4-4-2-3 distribution. For all other one club openings, the opener will hold at least four clubs.
According to the table of distributional probabilities, these three specific holdings will occur in roughly 10 percent of all hands dealt.
Furthermore, since some of these hands will contain the right point count for an opening bid of one, two or three notrump, the likelihood of a one-club opening on a three-card suit becomes even less than 10 percent.