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A Hartford Agent I?╟╓d never seen before gave me overnight service 400 miles from home. He was a complete stranger. But after my accident late at night, he found me a place to stay. And had my car repaired by the next morning. The man was a Hartford Agent. Your Hartford Agent does more than he really has to do. Insurance by THE HARTFORD The Hartford Insurance Group, Hartford, Conn.: Hartford Fire Insurance Company ?╟≤ Hartford Accident and Indemnity Company ?╟≤ Hartford Life Insurance Company ?╟≤ Citizens Insurance Company of New Jersey ?╟≤ New York Underwriters Insurance'Company ?╟≤ Twin City Fire Insurance Company Dogmeat continued Back in the room Cave explained that normally he could shuffle as well as the next player, but under the least bit of pressure he folded. ?╟úMy hands start trembling, and the cards fly all over the place. I just can?╟╓t help it. It goes back years.?╟Ñ ?╟úTo what??╟Ñ -?╟ Well, one night my wife and I en- tered a little duplicate tournament in the YMCA in Baltimore. We were scared to death and she was riffling the deck be- Cave wasn't afraid of Stone or Jacoby. He was afraid of having to shuffle. fore the first hand and one card got away and went straight up in the air and came down in a cup of coffee.?╟Ñ ?╟úNow, compose yourself, Ray,?╟Ñ I said. ?╟úAnd our opponents looked at us as though we had just committed some un- pardonable social error. And ever since then I haven?╟╓t been able to shuffle.?╟Ñ To help calm him down, I confessed that I did not know how to keep score. He smacked his forehead with his hand and suggested that there were only two avenues open to us: we could sit up all night practicing shuffling and scoring or we could kill ourselves. So there we sat, the two bridge demons, Cave mixing the cards over and over, me studying a Goren scoring napkin. Once Ray said, ?╟úAn- other thing tomorrow. Play fast and you won?╟╓t look like an amateur.?╟Ñ That makes me play worse*?╟Ñ I said. ?╟úYeh, but if you play fast they think you must have had some clever reason to do what you did. They see clever reasons you?╟╓d never think of.?╟Ñ ?╟úO.K.,?╟Ñ I said. ?╟úNow be quiet. I?╟╓m learning how to score slams.?╟Ñ At 3 in the morning we broke the study session. ?╟úAll I want to do the first day is to remember who dealt and if it?╟╓s my opening lead and no misdeals,?╟Ñ Cave said prayerfully. ?╟úAnd all I hope is I can remember that clubs and diamonds are 20 each,?╟Ñ I said, ?╟úand spades and hearts are 30 each and a little slam vulnerable is 1,000.?╟Ñ ?╟úSeven fifty,?╟Ñ said Cave. The great masters were ready. Alfred Sheinwold, author, bridge cham- pion and director of the tournament, de- livered the opening remarks the next day. ?╟úThis is the biggest money bridge tour- nament ever held,?╟Ñ Sheinwold said, look- ing out over a sea of Schenkens and Jacobys and Stones and a little puddle of Cave and Olsen, ?╟úbut we?╟╓re going to keep it on a very relaxed basis and not be rough with anybody. . . . If you lead out of turn or misdeal or something like that, it?╟╓s not the end of the world.?╟Ñ ?╟úOh, yes, it is!?╟Ñ Cave muttered. ?╟úWe?╟╓ll swap the decks around to help prevent any cheating,?╟Ñ Sheinwold went on, ?╟úand we?╟╓ll have some casino men around who?╟╓ll know what to look for if anybody starts dealing too skillfully.?╟Ñ Sheinwold said that only ?╟úStandard American bridge?╟Ñ would be played, but that each pair would be permitted three deviations, a remark which caused some raised eyebrows in the sophisticated au- dience. He meant that players would be expected to bid and play in roughly the normal style, but that teams could have a maximum of three special conventions or understandings, provided they care- fully explained them in advance to their opponents. None of this meant a thing to Cave and me. Clean-cut fellows, we played as we lived: with no deviations. Our only conventions were second hand low, third hand high and always start with the fork at the farthest left unless you skip the salad. Grimly we headed for the table and our first match. We would have to play eight-hand matches against each of six continued 104