Editorial by Marti Ronemus
“Eat Your Spinach!”
These last few days of September and early October are almost TOO exciting! We have “National Pizza Day.” I’m envisioning double pepperoni. How about you? Then, “National Caffeine Addiction Recovery Month.” What about those who don’t WANT to recover? We NEED our caffeine and can’t imagine not starting the day without it. Another: “Thank Your Techie Day.” Face it. Without that 12-year-old we wouldn’t be able to stream Netflix or even access our email.
Maybe the most notable though is “Spinach Appreciation Month.” A whole month? Devoted to spinach? This was probably initiated by a Popeye fan. We’ve noticed that when someone claims to love spinach, they always describe all the ways they like to eat it. If you pay attention, you'll see everything requires a heavy disguise... hot bacon dressing (I would eat road tar if you put hot bacon dressing on it!), vinegar and chopped eggs, cream sauce with nutmeg, spinach au gratin. No one enthuses, "I'll take mine plain boiled."
We can all agree that spinach can be a metaphor for things that are good for us, but not really on top of our list. Sort of like practicing our basics. Well, thank goodness for Vu-Bridge! Our experts this month are ready to pound those basics, but in such interesting ways, we won’t notice all the vitamins we’re getting.
MATTHIAS HUBERSCHWILLER serves his spinach many ways. He shows us when to “trump or dump” our losers, a nifty cross ruff, how to create an entry out of thin air, a hand to dream about opposite a completely broke hand, and finally, “No five card suit in dummy should ever be ignored.” Yum.
BEN NORTON has six hands each with a central theme of handling suit combinations. There are combos we see over and over, and once we have an understanding of them, we will recognize them and know how to tackle them. This, by the way, is one way to speed up your play!
I have six hands for you, featuring some of my favorite techniques. Cross ruffs, “no five care suit should ever be ignored,” to name just a couple.
MATTHIAS HUBERSCHWILLER also has two quizzes for us, one on opener's rebid with a fit, and a “Bid-a-Hand.”
So have a great time enjoying your spinach! You’ll be better off after your “meal.”
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