Make the Most of Your Double Card

Make the Most of the Double Card

Moving into the Winners Column

We are so pleased when our newer players start moving into the winners' column.

Carol Knaup and Ed Bulchis started taking lessons shortly before the pandemic. They are now regulars in the online game, and you'll often see them placing. We thank Dave Gwinn, a long-time friend of Ed and Ed's partner. in a recent game, for introducing Ed to Sun Valley Bridge.

Both Ed and Carol are avid boaters, and once played bridge together from their respective boats, anchored in the same harbor in the San Jun islands.

We'll tell you more about them, as well as our upcoming "Doubles Festival," later in this e-newsletter.

--Chuck Abramo and Jo Murray

"The Most Important Convention in Bridge"

Did you know that bridge great Marty Bergen, recently inducted into the ACBL Hall of Fame, calls negative doubles the most important convention in bridge?

"I do believe that if forced to choose, I would sooner give up Stayman," he has said.

We'll learn more about negative doubles in our "Doubles Festival" beginning later this month.

Using a Negative Double to Show a Weak Hand

Did you know that the responder can use a negative double when he has a long suit but is too weak to bid it at the two level? When responder makes a negative doubles and then bids own suit, he is showing a 6-card suit and about 6-9 points. Opener is expected to pass.

Online Lessons: Join Us to Upgrade Your Knowledge of Doubles

Jo Murray is teaching the following lessons:

Revisiting New Minor Forcing, Part 1 - Aug. 15
Revisiting New Minor Forcing, Part 2 - Aug. 22
All About Takeout Doubles - Aug. 29
Sept. 5 - Labor Day Holiday
Why Negative Doubles Are the Most Important Convention in Bridge, Part 1 - Sept. 12
Why Negative Doubles Are the Most Important Convention in Bridge, Part 2 - Sept. 19
Support Doubles, Part 1 - Sept. 26

The cost is $27 per lesson, or you may purchase a virtual punch card for 5 lessons for $125. Private lessons on these and other topics also are available. Sign up by sending an email to jo@sunvalleybridge.com. More details are at SunValleyBridge.com.

Meet Ed Bulchis (BBO: Ed Bulchis)

"I started playing bridge about four years ago when two Sun Valley Bridge regulars, Dave Gwinn (BBO: DKG1224) and Karen Pederson (BBO: Corvallis,) got me interested and taught me some of the basics. They also told me that Chuck was teaching a class for beginning players, and I eagerly enrolled.

"I like the virtual games because I can play when I’m not in Sun Valley. Virtual games do a lot of things that I would have to do myself if playing live, such as counting cards to be sure I have 13, arranging cards in my hand, keeping track of whose lead it is, etc. It gives me more time to think about my bids and card plays.

"I grew up in New Jersey, and I then went to school in Boston and Washington, D.C. before moving to Seattle in 1974.

"In my past life, I was a partner in a large international law firm with an office in Seattle, where my wife, Theresa, and I live. My specialty was intellectual property law (patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret law.) Although I very much enjoyed my work, I retired at the end of 2010 because I wanted to spend much more time skiing in Sun Valley and sailing in warm, exotic places. From 2011 through 2018 I spent the time between ski season and summer in Sun Valley sailing in Mexico, the Bahamas, and the Caribbean.

"My boat is now back in Seattle where we live when we are not in Sun Valley. When I am not skiing or sailing, I enjoy biking, hiking, spending time with my three daughters, or traveling. Another advantage of virtual games is that I can play when I’m on my boat in Washington or British Columbia. In fact, my regular partner, Carol Knaup, also has a boat, and both of us are often on our boats when we play. In a recent game in which we played remotely, we were anchored in the same bay in sight of each other."