Yockey’s Rules

The late Captain Harry Yockey, USN (Ret.) was one of the owners of the previous Virginia Beach Duplicate Bridge Center that closed in either the late 90s or the early 00s.  A good and friendly man, always willing to help new players, Harry had some amusing sayings.  I’m reminded of the first when I see advancing players adopting a new convention.  Harry used to say: “You have to screw up a convention 3 times before you remember it.”  Harry also coined the meta-convention “ASBIF”, meaning “Any Strange Bid Is Forcing.”  Finally, I remember hearing Harry point out to one of his students that good defense begins with listening to the auction.  Good wisdom for all of us.