| DATELINE
July 1962
— Solitary
Confinement At
the tender age of 14, I
was sentenced to a
hospital for removal of a
terrible set of tonsils.
On her way to visit, my
mother picked up a few
books, to help the nurses
and me survive each
other. (For a healthy
teenager, a three-day
confinement in the
hospital certainly
qualifies as cruel and
unusual punishment.) One
book was a 50¢
paperback, 5
Weeks to Winning Bridge
by Alfred Sheinwold. I
knew nothing about
bridge, but had always
enjoyed card games,
starting with pinochle at
my dad's knee as a
precocious six-year old.
During
my hospital stay, I
devoured Sheinwold's
book. Luckily for me, my
non-bridge-playing mother
had stumbled upon an
absolute gem. I borrowed
a deck of cards from the
nurses, who were
delighted with my new
pacifier.
September
1965 - Classes No,
Bridge Yes
Then
came college, and what a
revelation! Attendance in
class was not mandatory.
Bridge games were
never-ending. Let me see,
should I go to Accounting
101 or play some
bridge? Not a tough
decision.
My
bridge game improved
overnight. Unfortunately,
my professors were unable
to appreciate my skipping
classes in pursuit of
endplays and slams. When
I went home for Christmas
break, I was the
not-so-proud possessor of
a 1.0 GPA.
Meanwhile,
I had been introduced to
duplicate bridge. Winning
masterpoints was much
easier than passing
exams. However, the
following was now
definitely in question:
Would I graduate?
If I did, which would
come first, the required
120 credits or the 300
masterpoints needed to
become a life
master? Amazingly,
the diploma preceded my
gold card by almost six
months.
June
1976 —
Goodbye Nine-to-Five
My
first published material,
“That's No Bridge
Player, That's My
Wife,” had
previously appeared in The
Contract Bridge Bulletin.
In June 1976, I began
writing monthly columns
for that publication.
Ever
since I decided to make
bridge my life's work,
I’ve had three
goals. One was to win a
national championship. On
March 22, 1981, I finally
broke through. The second
was to win a world
championship. Although
I’ve been on the
verge several times, that
one still eludes me.
Goal
number three was actually
a dream. I’ve always
wanted to write a
practical, entertaining
bridge book, the likes of
which the world has never
seen. What happened to my
dream? I don’t
know; I always seemed to
be busy with something
else. However, I never
forgot.
March
1994 —
Helloooo Dream
The
phone rings. It is my
long-time friend and
bridge partner, Larry
Cohen. “Great news,
Marty. Remember your idea
for a classic bridge
book? I just came
across a book exactly
like that.”
“What's
so great about
that? I wanted to
be the one to write that
book. Nobody cares about
who is second with a
great idea!”
“No,
Marty, you don't
understand. It’s a
golf book. It represents
the easy-to-read yet
informative book that
you've always talked
about. Pick up a copy.
It’s called Harvey
Penick's Little Red Book.”
I
viewed the wonderful
Penick book as my sign
from Above: “The
time has come, Marty, to
stop
procrastinating.” It
had taken 18 years, but
finally, I was on my way.
Fortunately,
I didn’t have to
start from scratch. Like
Penick, I have
accumulated material from
20 years of teaching and
playing. Many topics are
a direct result of
students' questions.
Others are a product of
their mistakes and
confusion. I am very
grateful; without them I
could not possibly have
written this book.
If
you have only half as
much fun reading this
book as I’ve had
writing it, my efforts
will not have been in
vain. Is there more to
come? You better believe
it. Am I interested in
hearing your thoughts and
questions? Absolutely!
Marty
Bergen
Bergen
conventions
Source:www.bridgeguys.com
Bergen
and Mini-Splinters
or BAM
Raises
This file has been
compiled by Mr. Kerry
Kappell and can
presently be found at the
URL: http://users.rcn.com/kerryk/bam_raises.htm.
This file is only
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Bergen
Drury
Mr.
Marty Bergen
concluded that a 2 Club
response by his partner,
who is already a passed
hand, could show a 3-card
support for the opening
Major suit with 10-12
points, and that a 2
Diamond response by his
partner, who is already a
passed hand, could show a
4-card support for the
opening Major suit with
10-12 points.
Bergen
Impossible 3 No Trump
Mr.
Marty Bergen
has suggested using a bid
of 3 No Trump during the
auction in order to
perform a sacrifice
against the opponents,
when it appears that the
opponents have a game
contract in a suit. The
concept is the
expectation of not making
a contract of 3 No Trump,
and therefore the name of
this convention or
method. The expectation
is the hope that in a
non-vulnerable situation
versus a vulnerable
situation for the
opponents, the contract
is only down five or less
in a Minor or Major suit
game contract undoubled,
down three or less
doubled. Since a score of
minus 500, down three,
non-vulnerable, and
doubled, is better than a
score of minus 600 if the
opponents make their game
contract in a Minor suit,
and 620 in a Major suit,
then the concept proves
successful and
acceptable.
Bergen
Jump Cuebid as a Transfer
to 3 No Trump
Mr.
Marty Bergen developed
this conventional method
to cover a certain
situation which arises
after an intervening
overcall on the One
Level, which is an
important element to
consider before
implementing the jump
cuebid as a transfer to 3
No Trump. The concept
behind the conventional
method is that the
overcalling opponent will
find himself on lead,
leaving him at a
distinguished
disadvantage.
Bergen
Major Suit Raises
Otherwise known as Bergen
Raises. This
conventional method was
originally called Bergen
Major Suit Raises,
because they were only
used after one partner
opened a Major suit. This
is a conventional method
devised by Mr. Marty
Bergen, and was first
published in the ACBL
Bulletin in April 1982.
Using the responses of
this method, the partner
could show his overall
strength and his actual
trump length with one
bid. This method has also
undergone some changes
since its inception. To
some degree, the
responses are sometimes
completely natural and
several are completely
artificial.
Bergen
Over No Trump
A method to interfere
with and enter the
bidding auction after the
opponents have opened
with 1 No Trump.
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