| The 2003 National Partnership Spades Championship
National Champions crowned! Congratulations to Jeff Higgins (OH), and John Crehan (NY) for winning the Fifth Annual Grand Prix Nationals, which were held in Cincinnati, OH on November 7 and 8th. Jeff and John qualified at the Myrtle Beach Spades event this past August. They breezed through the difficult six-round Swiss format, with a Match Play record of 5-1, and then went undefeated in the Playoffs en route to the title and $ 1000 in cash. For more info on the Nationals, and some really cool pictures, go to the Grand Prix Site:
www.grandprixtournaments.com
2004 Live Spades Tournaments
I have the pleasure of regularly attending a series of live events. The organizers are truly dedicated individuals who devote their time and effort as volunteers. The results speak for themselves. The events draw great numbers, and the registration fee includes three terrific meals and all of the Spades you can handle! There are also some really nice prizes for the winners, and other players, as well. Here’s one series I’d like to draw your attention to, in the words of its representative:
The Spades Connection -- By SouthernDoll (+_DOLL)
”The Spades Connection was formed in September of 1999 by a group of six friends. The remaining founders include myself +_DOLL_ (aka SouthernDOLL) and Catladie. Our first live event was held in Nashville, TN, in March 2000. Our purpose was, and continues to be, to bring people together in an atmosphere of competitive card-playing, while forming new friendships along the way, as well as rekindling old ones. We strive to present a well-organized event while allowing time for as much social interaction and memory making as possible throughout the weekend. Nashville (March 25-28) will kick off our fourth year of organizing and directing live Spades events. We will continue the year with another event in Nashville, August 12th- 15th, 2004, and wrap it all up with Pittsburgh, October 21st-24th, 2004.”
Card Signals for Nils (Nil Reverse Signals)
This topic was originally featured in my first book (Basic and Intermediate Techniques, 1998). Since then, it has been published in other Spades books as well. "Nil Reverse Signals" were first introduced by Herm Carney and Roger DeNino at the original 1998 Indianapolis Spades Convention.
How many times while covering your Nil has your partner (in second seat) unnecessarily trumped a lead by your left-hand defender? Often, partner will get jumpy on the third or fourth round, especially when a low side-suit card is led. If the lead is made by his right-hand opponent, he may waste an important trump. Furthermore, the shortening of trump in the cover hand can decrease the protection in the Spade suit itself. Often, inducing the cover hand to "burn" a high trump by needlessly ruffing will make the difference. You may rest assured that good defenders will do everything they can to pressure the cover hand into making a mistake! Herm and Roger, who created some very helpful conventions, innovated the "Reverse Nil Signals" in order to alert the Nil cover hand when not to waste a trump.
Basically, whenever the Nil bidder plays a lower card on the first lead of a side suit and then plays a higher card on the second lead of that same suit, it alerts partner (the cover hand) not to burn a trump cutting a lead of the suit involved. Here are some examples. Let us assume that you have bid Nil and you hold this side suit (we will name that suit "Hearts").
 A 9 7 4 2
You are sitting South as Dealer, and you have called Nil with a reasonably safe hand. You hold three low trump (2, 5, 8), and your left-hand opponent (West) leads the 5 of Hearts. Partner (North) rises with the King, and East plays the Queen. You drop the 7. Now partner plays the 10-spot, and East inserts the Jack. You now play the 9, thus promising a safe suit (note the reverse order) as West produces the 6-spot. East shifts to a low Club or Diamond, and you also play low, as West flies with the Ace. If West were to play the 3 of Hearts, and your partner was now void, he could discard from another suit, rather than waste a trump. This could be critical if the cover hand also held three trump and the opponents were able to reduce their Spade length by cross-ruffing. Now we will review another scenario. Suppose you (South) have bid Nil and you hold a suit (let's say Hearts again), such as this:
 K J 9 6 5
It is very clear here that you have gone out on a limb, especially with the 5 of Hearts as a bottom card. You must not use the Reverse signal, unless two of the three lowest (Hearts) spots appear early. Your left-hand opponent leads the 4 of Hearts. Partner comes up with the Ace, and East dumps the Queen. Play your King! Partner, who may have a suspect Heart suit here, will probably shift to Clubs or Diamonds, as he does not know the location of the Heart Jack or 10. Then again, if he has the Heart Jack and, perhaps, the 7 or 8-spot, the dropping of the King and Queen will clear the path for the lead of the Jack. This is called "walking the suit."
Finally, if you hold an ironclad side suit as part of your Nil bid, by all means use the Reverse signal. Suppose that suit (let's say it's Hearts, once again) looks like this:
 Q 7 4 3 2
Your play is very easy. Drop the Deuce on the first lead. Your spots are safe, and the appearance of a higher Heart discard by you on the next lead will tell partner all he needs to know. As stated earlier, the Nil Reverse Signal screams, "I do not need protection in Hearts!" (or whatever side suit is in question). This convention will increase the number of Nils that you will make. Because many Nils have more than one potential weak spot, it is vital to increase your chances of making these borderline Nils whenever you can. Caution -- Do not waste critical low cards while discarding if there is any risk of fatally weakening a key side suit.
Interesting commentary (for a future column): Is this use of conventions such as the Nil Reverse Signal unethical or immoral? Can partners have an agreement to give count by order of discards, or use the "Big 5" Bid to promise the location of the Ace or King of Spades? Conventions have been around in the game of Bridge for decades. More to come on this later....
Jay Tomlinson -- Zone.com Player Profile of the Month
There are great Bridge players out there, and great Spades players as well. Jay Tomlinson of NC is an ACBL (American Contract Bridge League) Life Master, as well as an accomplished MSN Zone.com Spades Player. This is a rare combination indeed! Jay enjoys the competition in Aces, and will occasionally play in the Tournament Rooms. He is also willing to take time to teach the newcomers. Partnering with Jay is entertaining and educational.
Jay also maintains a site called Expert Spades. Here, he posts his many winning strategies and techniques, and has a really cool forum. Your game will improve if you familiarize yourself with his style and approach to Spades.
If you have a favorite Zone.com player who is dedicated to the game of Spades, by all means let me know. A few paragraphs describing his accomplishments will do the job. Send your nomination to heartsmoon@aol.com, and I will try to feature this player in a future column.
------------HAPPY HOLIDAYS!--------------- | |
