Better Bridge in Barry County May 17 2012

Better Bridge in Barry County

                                                                 By Gerald Stein

	North ♠  K964 ♥ 32 ♦ 762 ♣ A1054
West ♠ J532 ♥ KQ65 ♦ J10 ♣ Q96		East ♠ A108 ♥ 109 ♦ 854 ♣ K8732
	South ♠ Q7 ♥ AJ874 ♦ AKQ93 ♣ J

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

East East-West ♣6

North 1S 2H Pass

East Pass Pass Pass Pass

South 1H 2D 4H Pass

West Pass Pass Dbl.

Captain M. North surveyed the fast-moving waters from the pier at Tyden Park where the USS: Barry County Bridge Barge was moored for the day’s events. There would be no river cruise today after the three inches of rain had fallen overnight as reported by the Hastings Airport. The bridge tournament would go on, however, despite the high waters. The bridge players wouldn’t care. Captain North began straightening tables and chairs and was getting ready for the afternoon session. He had sent the bridge players into town for lunch. They would be back shortly.

As he was rearranging his seven tables, Vera and Rosy, two of his players, began to make their appearance earlier than he thought possible. “Didn’t you stop for lunch, Ladies?” asked the Captain. “Oh, no, Captain North, not today,” answered Rosy. “We needed to see Doctor Anna, our friend and confidante.  We wanted to ask her about the Hypocritical Oath.”

Captain North just stared. “Don’t you mean the Hippocratic Oath?” Rosy chimed in, “Oh, Captain North, you are so funny. Of course, we mean the Hypocritical Oath. You know, where one partner does no harm to the other partner. They teach that in all of the medical schools, you know.” Poor Captain North. He could say no more.

Vera went on as breathless as Rosy. “We were so upset about this morning’s hand and what we had done to each other that we thought we should get some medical advice. That is why we sought out Doctor Anna instead of going for lunch. It was worth the trip to town.”

Captain North knew by now that he was going to hear about this morning’s disaster, so he pulled out one of the chairs and sat down. Rosy and Vera joined him immediately. “You know, Captain, that a partnership is a very special thing, don’t you?” Before he could answer, Rosy went on, “Vera, my partner, was South, and I was North. We ended up in a bad contract at 4H doubled down 4 tricks for a minus 800 points. It was a disaster.” Here she sighed, and then she went on.

“I blamed Vera for putting us in the wrong contract, and I thought that we should only be down one trick, but one trick or four doesn’t make much sense once your partner is rattled. I think I am to blame for our disaster.” Here she looked at Vera and then at the Captain who only nodded to make it look like he knew what she was talking about.

Here Vera spoke up. “As South, I looked at our contract of 4Hearts doubled, and it did not look good. With the lead of the 6♣, I took a moment to make my plan: our objective was to take ten tricks. That did not look very promising since my partner had supported my hearts with only two little hearts. We had seven hearts between us, and our opponents had six. I knew from my bridge class that hearts would probably break 4-2 when there is an even number out. Ouch.”

“I rushed my play of the hand, and I called for a small club from the board instead of going up immediately with the Ace of clubs. East took his King of clubs, and my singleton Jack fell on his King. A very bad start, I must say.” Here Vera dabbed her eyes. Something in the air.

“To make a long story short, I forgot everything I knew about playing the hand. I did not lead a small trump from the board as I should have to finesse the Jack against the King and Queen of hearts. I did not set up the Queen of spades by leading a small spade toward the King of spades. I did not play the Ace of trump at the right time. I should have been down only one trick for a minus 100 points instead of down four doubled.”

Here Rosy reached over and patted her partner’s hand. “Vera, I think most of the fault was mine. I did not respond correctly to your bidding. I could have done several things differently. One, I could have passed your two diamond bid, and we could have played in diamonds, but you know how I hate to play in the minors when we can play in the majors.” Here Vera nodded, and Rosy continued. “But, here, Captain North, is where I harmed our partnership the most. I did not listen to the bidding very well. I know that Vera has five hearts and at least four diamonds in her hand, and she has bid a second time so she must have a strong bidding hand. I should have looked at my hand, and I should have realized that I had spades and clubs. What about a two no trump bid?”

Vera piped up, “You’re right, Rosy! If you bid two no trump, then I will bid three no trump, and I bet it will make!” They both giggled delightedly at their new-found insight into a disastrous hand.

“So, Captain North, now you know why we wanted to seek out Doctor Anna for her advice on the Hypocritical Oath. We just did not want to harm our partnership.” They both looked so relieved that Captain North could say nothing at first. “I must finish my tidying up, if you will excuse me.” Just then, he bumped his leg on one of the chairs. “Now, Captain North, do no harm to your leg,” chirped Rosy. “Yes, Captain North,” added Vera, “they might cut your leg off.” Here they burst into peals of laughter as poor Captain North limped off.

Bridge Question: What do bridge players mean when they say that someone has cut their leg off?

Gerald Stein

May 5, 2012

Number of words: 1040

Better Bridge in Barry County May 3 2012

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

	North ♠  K863 ♥ 1095 ♦ Q98 ♣ 875
West ♠ Q107 ♥ AJ862 ♦ K4 ♣ KJ10		East ♠ 54 ♥ 74 ♦ J652 ♣ AQ963
	South ♠ AJ92 ♥ KQ3 ♦ A1073 ♣ 42

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

South None 7S

North	East	South	West
		1D	1H
Pass	Pass	1S	Pass
2S	Pass	Pass	Pass

“Playing up,” or “Playing up a level” are terms that bridge teachers and bridge directors use to encourage beginner and intermediate bridge players who want to improve their game to do so. What it means is that when given the opportunity to play with more advanced and better bridge players, take that opportunity and try to play up to the level of the advanced players. Although it may mean taking considerable risk and may often be a humiliating experience, at other times, it can be satisfying and successful. Learning how expert bridge players bid and play their hands is an eye-opening experience. In a recent bridge outing, the North and South team encountered a team of East-West players who were considered successful and advanced bridge players. Did the North-South team “play up”?

In today’s hand, South opened a convenient minor by bidding one diamond showing at least three diamonds and an opening count for his bid. West, one of the experts, overcalled one heart with five hearts and 14 high card points and one point for length in the heart suit for 15 points. North with only five points used good judgment and passed. Likewise, East passed with little support for his partner’s overcall bid.

Undeterred by his partner’s pass and the overcall bid by West, Brave South bid again, this time bidding one spade showing four spades in his minimum hand. West passed, and this time, North liked what she had heard, and, knowing that her partner had four spades, she confidently bid two spades. The contract was placed at two spades with South as the declarer when all passed.

This was one of those hands where the high card points were equally distributed in the hands. North-South had 19 high card points while East-West had the remaining 21 points. This was one of those times when a bit of aggressive bidding by the North-South partnership resulted in a plus score for them.

Even though North had only five high card points, she realized that there was a Golden Fit in the spade suit. Bidding at the two level in spades put pressure on the East-West team to find a fit at the three level. This was something the East-West team was not prepared to do. While they had a fit in the club suit, they were not going to find it on this hand due to the raise by the North partner. East-West can make three clubs with a fine eight-card fit in clubs.

With a lead of the seven of spades, (West was marked with most of the points based on his bidding of hearts) South surveyed the dummy and made his plan. He would lose no spade tricks and with the good hearts in both hands was able to take two heart tricks, trump a losing club in the dummy, and, with the Ace of diamonds,  take eight tricks for a plus score.

While bidding with fewer than six points is not recommended, still there is a time and a need to listen to the bidding, assess the situation, and bid confidently. With five high card points and four spades, North was happy with her bid, and South was smiling inwardly that he had such a competent partner.

“Playing up a level” can be one good path to improving your bridge game. While not for the faint-of-heart, at times you will be rewarded with a top score by “playing up a level.”

Gerald Stein

685 words

April 20 2012