Frank Morgan

After partners had to cancel, I paid to play in Nail Pairs with Michael Berkowitz, son of David and Lisa Berkowitz, a clear and friendly teacher, a member of the board of the Educational Foundation. With a 63.86% game in the second session, we qualified for the finals and earned 7. 27 Platinum points. One highlight was this squeeze at 3N for an overtrick for a tie for top. (See below; actual bidding was 1N 3N. Double dummy makes just 3N.) East led the H6 and then overtook his partner’s Q to return a third Heart to my Ace. After three rounds of Clubs ending in my hand, I advanced the S10, East failing to cover, to isolate the Spade menace to East who was also guarding the Hearts. In the end position I was on the board with SA7 and D2, with HA5 and DA in my hand. East could not guard both suits and had actually chosen to unguard the Hearts, so I played the Aces of Spades and Hearts and won the last trick with the H5 in my hand.

Continue reading ‘With Michael Berkowitz at Fall 2021 Austin Bridge Nationals’ »

Here are some poems of mine, the first written in college, though it sounds as if I could have written it recently. Continue reading ‘Poems’ »

The following old post-publication correspondence provides some information and questions on the original proof that the Wulff shape minimizes anisotropic surface energy for fixed volume, as treated in our paper:

MR1297699 (95g:49080)
Brothers, John E. (1-IN); Morgan, Frank (1-WLMS)
The isoperimetric theorem for general integrands.
Michigan Math. J. 41 (1994), no. 3, 419–431.
49Q20 Continue reading ‘Wulff Shape Isoperimetric’ »

Ocean City, New Jersey, hires hawks, falcons, and owls to ward off the seagulls. Recently seagulls attacked me and my dinner at the Ocean Cafe on the Boardwalk, and they called in a hawk to chase them away. May 25 I found a dead hawk on my beach at 17th Street:

Continue reading ‘Trained Hawks, Falcons, and Owls’ »

January

Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera, Met Opera Stream https://www.metopera.org/

Verdi’s Requiem https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fjUQ8siaEj4

Hans Christian Andersen https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DTYd0wWBd5o&has_verified=1

The Professor and the Madman (Netflix)

Continue reading ‘Books and Movies 2021’ »

January
Moonlight (gay black, Netflix)
The First Temptation of Christ (Netflix)
Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn (Meg and Reid)
Star Trek Picard U

Continue reading ‘Books and Movies 2020’ »

[See also iNaturalist and some more professional, California PHOTOS by my friend Abby Thompson.]

Blue Crab, Laughing Gull

Continue reading ‘Sea Creatures (Ocean City)’ »

In a regional online ACBL bridge tournament today, I was sorry to hear my LHO open 1D, my partner Bob Cole overcall 2C, my LHO double, and my RHO pass. Sounded bad, so I tried 2H, P, P, x. Still sounded bad, so I tried 2S, x, P, P, P. This one made for a top.

At the LVBA virtual open bridge game with Mike Kohler today, I found myself as North in an unhopeful 3N after East showed Hearts and Spades. After two Heart tricks, two Diamonds, and a Heart, I seemed a trick short. But as I ran the Diamonds West erroneously discarded a Spade. At this point I held A9 of Spades with QJ on the board. I cashed my only Spade stopper, finessed the Club Ten to West’s Q, and held my breath. If East did not have the remaining Spades as her bid promised, West could get out with a Spade to set me a couple of tricks. But here as I hoped West had to return a Club, making my Club J the ninth trick. Jim Berry has pointed out a similar endplay of East by first cashing the Club Ace, which does not depend on any defensive error.

In January 2020 I taught a Williams College Winter Study course on “Tournament Bridge,” including five days at a regional tournament in Tarrytown NY. All participants came home winner with Master Points. In the pictured board Saturday morning January 25, Jihoon Kim and I held the NS cards. Jihoon passed and West opened 1C. Since the opponents apparently held all the cards, I tried a daring weak jump overcall of 2H. The opponents still reached the optimal contract of 3N, but Jihoon now knew to lead a H, first the K and then the 2 to Declarer’s Ace. (Actually Declarer should have taken the A on the first trick, leaving a stopper in dummy.) My Hs are now good, but with only the slim prospect of getting in with the DQ, and E can easily and safely finesse into South’s hand. But
when Declarer cashed his Spades, I casually threw away my 2 and 6 of Ds, unguarding my Q. The observant Declarer was then so sure that South had the DQ that he immediately took the losing finesse into my hand, allowing us to cash three more Hs and the CA for down 2 for 93 percent.

Continue reading ‘Tournament Bridge class 2020’ »