Better Bridge in Barry County
By Gerald Stein
North
ª: 2
©: 9
¨: A K J 10 5 4 2
§: A Q 9 8
West East
ª: A Q 9 8 7 ª: J 10 6
©: 8 2 ©: Q 7 3
¨: Q 7 ¨: 9 8 6 3
§: K 7 5 4 §: J 10 3
South
ª: K 5 4 3
©: A K J 10 6 5 4
¨: ---
§: 6 2
Lead: §4
“He rose from the table; and advancing to the master, basin and spoon in hand, said… ‘Please, sir, I want some more.’
‘What!’ said the master at length…
‘Please, sir,’ replied Oliver, ‘I want some more [gruel].’” (from Oliver Twist, Chapter II).
In last week’s column, North was “broken-hearted” because he did not get the contract with such a pretty heart hand. Will it happen two weeks in a row? This week, poor starving Oliver Twist is desperate for more food, even if it is the thin gruel served up to the London orphans. In this week’s bridge hand, the North-South team is not as desperate for good cards as Oliver. Together they have very good cards. They just need to reach the right contract.
The bidding went as follows:
Dealer North East South West
1¨ Pass 1© 1ª
2¨ 2ª 4© All Pass
Last week, North was enjoying his solid heart hand but all for naught; this week, he looks at another solid hand with strong diamonds, strong clubs, and two singletons in spades and hearts. He opens the bidding with the diamond bid and plans to rebid the suit with or without partner support. The singletons are the big help in this hand for the North hand.
East has nothing to say with only four points, and she passes appropriately.
South has almost the same hand in hearts that North had last week. What a switch, but bridge is a team game, and South bids the solid heart suit, also intending to rebid again with encouragement from his partner North.
West with a five-card spade suit and two honors feels the need to throw in an overcall. Although he knows that the East-West team will probably not get the bid, it is a good lead-directing message to his partner East. With 11 high card points, he feels that at the one level this is a safe bid. West bids 1ª.
North has listened to the bidding, and he knows that his singleton spade will be useful for a North-South contract. North confidently rebids the diamond suit, promising at least five or six diamonds, and an interest in going on further.
East chimes in with a rather meager bid. (Perhaps she was desperate like Oliver; there is nothing in her hand), and she bids 2ª.
South has heard enough. There appears to be enough points in the North-South hands to make a game, and the best game in town is 4©. That is exactly what South bid, and all pass.
The lead is the §4 from West. North puts down the dummy, and South, as a bridge courtesy, immediately thanks his partner for the cards, and he then sets out to make his plan. He sees that he has ten tricks in both hands if all goes well: seven heart tricks, two diamond tricks, and one club trick. This is the plan that South comes up with: I will take the §A immediately, and next lead the ¨A and ¨K pitching my last loser club and one loser spade. I can use the ©9 to finesse the ©Q if I need to.
South begins as planned, taking the §A first although some might have taken the chance that West was leading from the §K. The ¨A and the ¨K are led next, and South pitches his last club loser and one of his spade losers. When South sees that the ¨Q falls on the third trick, South must reevaluate his plan. Should he finesse the ©Q by leading the ©9 or lead the top diamond, the ¨J, knowing that West will most likely trump it?
Actually South gives himself two advantages by taking the finesse first. If it wins, then he is still in the dummy hand, and then he can lead the ¨J, planning to pitch another losing spade. The finesse works as East has the ©Q, and South plays the ¨J, pitching another spade loser. The North-South team ends up with ten tricks as planned, losing the three as expected, making a vulnerable game.
Although North did not play the hand, he had a lot to do with the success of it. The best contract for the North-South team is definitely in the major suit of hearts, avoiding the diamond suit and using it to discard losers from the South hand. No, the North-South team was not at all desperate, unlike our poor starving mistreated Oliver Twist, one of Charles Dickens’ most memorable characters in all of literature.
(An update from Kellogg Community College Institute for Learning in Retirement: For Intermediate and Advanced Beginner Bridge players, class number two The Play of the Hand will be offered in Battle Creek for nine weeks, beginning April 23, 2012. For more information, call the ILR office to reserve a spot at 269-948-9500, Extension 2804.)
Gerald Stein
895 words
February 10, 2012
Visit my bridge blog: http://betterbridgeinbarrycountymichigan.blogspot.com/
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