4-4 by Foxymoron

The heading was a round in a football quiz I attended in a pub. It concerns the remarkable 16 Premiership games that have ended 4-4. I decided it was too obscure and difficult for the Woodberry Weekend quiz and Shelley concurred. But it did pose some interesting questions. Who was the only person (below) to score 4 goals in a Premiership match and not be on the winning side? Which team led 4-0 at half-time and did not win? Three London derbies (in the Premiership) ended with the score of 4-4. Two are relatively easy, but the third ....? Answers next time ...

What has this got to do with bridge, you may ask? Well, the Stayman convention is used to locate a 4-4 fit after a 1NT opening. I (and some top players) think that it is used far too often and bidding 3NT is usually better.  And it is not always right to respond to Stayman with a 4-card major. My "Bols Tip" is that you should suppress a 4-card major if you have an honour in each of the other suits and are (4333). As in the following hand:

Stefanie Rohan passed the North hand and I opened a 12-14 NT in third seat. Some would pass again on Stefanie's hand but she decided to bid Stayman as that was her only way to invite game. 2NT would have been a transfer to diamonds. I bid 2D, denying a 4-card major on the South hand and raised 2NT to 3NT. I now think that I should pass 2NT, despite having 14 Miltons, as the Kaplan-Rubens evaluation of the hand is only 12.4. Making 2NT+1 would have been 70%. Still, nothing succeeds like success, and with all the heart honours onside 3NT was a cakewalk and this was a joint top. 4H would have been hopeless.

"Nothing succeeds like success" was first put into print by Sir Arthur Helps, in Realmah, 1868: Rien ne réussit comme le succès. And Graham Horscroft included "cakewalk" in his Woodberry Weekend quiz - it gets its name from a 19th Century dance in the USA.

As I write, Arsenal are 4 points clear, but will it be 4 runners-up spots in a row? Always the bridesmaid never the bride. The phrase originated from a Victorian music hall song titled "Why Am I Always A Bridesmaid?" written in 1917.

The whole event was a great success and well run by Shelley Shieff and Nigel Freake and all the results are on the website.

Six of One by Foxymoron

A hand at the Woodberry this week reminded me of the phrase "six of one and half a dozen of the other". For two reasons. One is that it did not matter how the opponents defended. The other reason was because partner had a powerful 6-6 in the majors, and bid it to its full extent. The phrase, meaning that both options are equal, derives from the writings (ramblings?) of the British naval officer Ralph Clark in 1790:

It is impossible to trust any one of our men hardly much more any of the Convicts; in Short there is no difference between Soldier Sailor or Convicts there. Six of the one and half a Dozen of the other —— old Elliock was a man Majr. Ross placed the greatest confidence in and he and Ancott have Repaid the Major for the Confidence he placed in them as all Rascals.

In that case, there was no difference between the military and the convicts. In the hand this week there was no difference between the two potential defences or the two potential contracts:

At our table South opened 1S, and West overcalled 2C, slightly light, but important to get in to the auction. North passed and East bid 3NT.  With his powerful two-suiter, South "three-bet", as they say in poker, with 4H and it did not matter whether North corrected to 4S or not. Both game contracts would have made. North did bid 4S and several Easts doubled, and found there was no defence. Stefanie Rohan and Ken Rolph were one of the beneficiaries of a double, on their way to a convincing and deserved first place.  After all East does have a weak NT and partner has made a vulnerable overcall. And it is six of one and half a dozen of another whether West leads a trump or not. With both majors breaking 3-2 there are but three losers on either defence.

"Nothing I could do about that", commented East at our table. "Well," I responded, "with both majors stopped and a fit for partner you might have bid a natural 4NT". "You weren't getting rich from defending 4S, were you?"