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McKenney

William McKenney was an American columnist, administrator and bridge player who died in 1950 but who left a legacy to the game in his 'suit preference' signals. They can be used in a wide variety of contexts but I shall only be showing one small application. The basis of their use is common to all applications. It relies upon the ranking order of the suits that is applicable during the auction ie spades (highest ), hearts, diamonds and clubs ( lowest ) The card chosen will point to one of two suits to partner on the basis that if it is a highish card, it will indicate the higher-ranking of the two, while if it a low card, it will indicate the lower-ranking of the two suits. A hand will illustrate.

 

North
S 7 6 3
H J 6 5
D K Q 4
C K Q 3 2
 

West
S 5 2
H A K 9 2
D A 5 3 2
C 7 6 5

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East
S 9 8 4
H 10 3
D J 10 9 8
C J 10 9 8
 

South
S A K Q J 10
H Q 8 7 4
D 7 6
C A 4
 

South is in a contract of four spades and receives the lead of the ace of hearts. East begins the peter with the '10' and completes it with the '3' when West plays the king of hearts. West will now play a card that she has high hopes her partner will ruff. But West is looking ahead and would like to be able to tell partner that a diamond return--not a club-- would produce a second ruff. How does she do it? By using McKenney.

The principle is exactly that described above. When West leads the 9 of hearts (for partner to ruff ) she is saying that a diamond will get her on lead again. If she had led the 2 of hearts, that would have been the signal for a club. ( Diamonds are higher ranking than clubs and the 9 is higher than the 2 ).

Nothing is perfect and you may have two problems here. If West's heart holding had been A K 3 2, East would never have guessed that the 3 of hearts was a signal for a diamond. The other more common problem is that having given your partner a ruff, you don't have any sort of an entry at all!

That is the end of this section on communications and signalling. Be selective and don't be afraid to try something and reject it if it doesn't suit you. Have fun!

A night-time view of the Rialto bridge in Venice
Which would you prefer? A stroll over the Rialto bridge in Venice, or a game of rubber bridge with friends? A close call!

 

 

 

 

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