Better Bridge in Barry County October 25 2012

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

 

 

	North ♠  8 7 ♥  9 ♦  A K Q 9 3 2 ♣  K Q J 10
West ♠  Q J 5 4 ♥  Q 8 7 4 2   ♦  8   ♣  8 7 5		East ♠  9 6 3 2 ♥  K 5 ♦  6 5   ♣  9 6 4 3 2
	South ♠  A K 10 ♥  A J 10 6 3   ♦  J 10 7 4 ♣  A

 

 

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

North None Q♠

 

North 1♦ 3♦ 5♦ 6♥ Pass	East Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass	South 1♥ 4NT 5NT 7NT	West Pass Pass Pass Pass

 

Every bridge player’s dream is bidding, playing and making a grand slam contract. While it is often possible to take all 13 tricks in the play of the hand, it is not so easy to reach that milestone of bridge nirvana by actually bidding and making the grand slam. When this feat happens so seldom in a bridge player’s life, it is worthy of note when the opportunity shows up. It is akin to a golfer getting a hole in one at the age of 75. Today’s hand illustrates the wonderful feeling of bidding, playing, and making the coveted 7NT contract, the highest level of bidding that a bridge player can attain.

First, the bidding by the opener North was a standard opening bid of 1♦. Everyone at the table knew that North had an opening hand of 13 total points and at least three diamonds. East and West are out of the loop on this hand. Between them, they have a total of eight high card points, but they are distributed equally between them. East and West pass each time that North and South bid to their ultimate goal.

South has heard the opening bid of partner North, and with deliberate slowness, as there is no big hurry here, South bid 1♥, promising, on this first round of bidding, at least four hearts, and at least six points. South was simply bidding up the line to see what more information she could gain from her partner North. The 1♥ bid was a forcing bid as it was a new suit, and South was an unpassed hand. North must bid again.

With West passing, North bid the diamond suit again, promising five or six diamonds and extra values. North bid 3♦, showing 15-17 points with a strong diamond suit. South bid strongly this time using the Blackwood Convention to ask for aces. This was a partnership agreement that 4NT would ask for aces. South bid 4NT, and North responded with 5♦, showing one ace. South knew from her hand that her partner had the A♦ since she had the other three aces in her hand. So far so good.

Not content with just an ordinary small slam, and with all four aces together, South next asked for kings from North by bidding 5NT. To bid and ask for kings, it is important that the partnership have the four aces first. North knew that her spades, heart, and clubs would be covered by South’s aces. North bid 6♥, promising two kings. What South did not know was which kings her partner had. South did know that the partnership was missing one king, but which king was the missing one?

At this point, South had to make a serious deliberate decision. South knew the following information: a small slam usually needs 33 points to make and take 12 tricks. A grand slam usually needs 37 points to make and take all 13 tricks. How close were they to the needed numbers? South recalculated her hand and counted 17 high card points and one length point in hearts for an estimated 18 total points. Trusting her partner to have what she said she had, South calculated that North had 15-17 total points, one ace, two kings, and a long diamond suit. South deliberated between bidding the almost sure small slam with 33 points between them, or going for the ultimate goal in a bridge player’s life: the grand slam. What would you have done?

South reasoned this way: a grand slam opportunity does not come up that often. When it does, the need to bid it and play it and claim the highest prize in bridgedom is a rush of adrenaline. Bid the 7NT. That is exactly what South did. She bid 7NT and all passed.

When South saw the dummy come down after the lead of the Q♠, South thanked her partner for such excellent bidding. The plan was easily understood. There were six diamond tricks, four club tricks, two spade tricks, and one heart trick for a grand total of 13 tricks and the coveted 7NT award. The only danger seen here was the play of the hand, and it was imperative that South take the A♣ first to unblock the club suit, and then all the cards were set for South to claim the rest. The need to play the A♣ from the short side first was soon apparent as it might be impossible to get back to the good clubs. With a feeling of giddiness and pleasure, North/South had reached that state in the bridge world that eludes many players. May you reach 7NT soon in your bidding world.

 

Gerald Stein

October 19, 2012

Number of words: 974

 

Answer to last week’s bridge question: What is the Law of Total Tricks? Whole books have been written on this topic, but, basically, the idea is that the number of trump in both hands should equal the number of tricks able to be taken. For example, if you and your partner have nine hearts between you, you should be able to take at least nine tricks with hearts as trump. Try it and see if it works.

 

Better Bridge in Barry County October 18 2012

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

 

 

	North ♠  A K 9 2 ♥  4 3 ♦   K Q 10 9 7 3 ♣  6
West ♠  10 4 3 ♥  A K Q 10 9 8 ♦  8 5 ♣  5 4		East ♠  J 6 5 ♥ 7 6 2 ♦  2 ♣  A Q 9 8 3 2
	South ♠  Q 8 7 ♥  J 5 ♦  A J 6 4 ♣  K J 10 7

 

 

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

West None A♠

 

North   Pass Pass	East   3♥	South   Pass	West 2♥ Pass

Today’s column is another look at aggressive bidding versus defending. In today’s hand, West is the opener, and she has a strong heart suit and nothing more. Here is a perfect time, with a strong heart suit, a total point range between five and eleven points, and little to lose to throw in a weak two-bid. West accordingly bid 2♥, promising her partner East six good hearts and little more. The objective in this type of bidding is to disturb the opponents, and, as we have seen in the past, this happened again on this hand.

North, on this hand, dropped the ball in the bidding. With shortness in hearts, and two suits that look respectable, hearts and diamonds, North should have made a bid. Did the two-heart bid of West confuse or interfere with his thinking? It appears that it did as North meekly passed the bid when there is a bid ready and open for him to tell his partner South about his hand. What was the bid?

 A take-out double would have given North an opportunity to tell his partner South to bid something when the bidding gets around to him. A take-out double promises good points and support for the three unbid suits. While North’s clubs are nothing, it is the other two suits that might be the fit for the North-South team. North did nothing but pass. When that happens, all North can expect is nothing.

Again, as we have seen in past columns, East is in tune with her partner West. Knowing the weak two-bid in hearts promises six hearts from her partner West and hearing nothing from North, East looks at her three hearts as additional support for their partnership. Listening to the bidding, East knows that East/West have a golden fit in hearts with nine hearts. West aggressively bids 3♥.

At this point, South, as the last bidder, has no place to go. Bidding Diamonds and Clubs at the four level doesn’t sound very appealing, especially when North has taken such a lackluster stance with no bid. South reluctantly passes, and the hand is passed all around. The contract is 3♥ in the West.

In the play of the hand, and afterwards during the post mortem discussion, it is obvious that North/South have three spade tricks on the opening lead of the A♠, the K♠, and the lead to the Q♠ in the South. The first three tricks have gone to the North/South team, and too late, they realize that they had a good fit in spades. What else did they have as well?

North/South will take one more trick in Diamonds, the A♦, and the K♣ on the club finesse will result in five tricks for the North/South team, and a poorly deserved 50 point score for their efforts. Down one trick, East/West will take eight tricks with hearts as trump and just go set by one trick. It is a wonderful sacrifice for East/West to give up only 50 points instead of letting North/South find their fit in spades.

What did North/South give up to gain a paltry 50 points on their side of the ledger? It should be obvious that they missed a game in spades, losing only two hearts and the A♣, making four spades and a superior score of 420. Do you think North felt a bit embarrassed at his lack of bidding when someone opened a weak-two bid? Listen to the bidding seems to be the message, loud and clear. West had informed the entire table of her hand; it was obvious that she had what she said she had as the East/West partnership play weak twos in their convention card partnership agreement. North needed to step up and bid. Aggressive bidding by the East/West partnership must be counteracted by aggressive bidding by the North/South team as well. Otherwise, East/West will be smiling all day that they stole another bid from their opponents.

 

Gerald Stein

October 11, 2012

Number of words: 782

 

Bridge Question for this week: What is the Law of Total Tricks as applied in today’s column? Answer next week.

 

Better Bridge in Barry County October 11 2012

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

 

 

	North ♠  10 8 7 6 5 ♥  J 2 ♦  A Q 6 ♣  J 10 5
West ♠  J 9 3 ♥  K 10 9 3 ♦  10 7 4   ♣  A 8 2		East ♠  A 2 ♥  Q 8 6 5 4 ♦  J 9 8 2 ♣  4 3
	South ♠  K Q 4 ♥  A 7 ♦  K 5 3 ♣  K Q 9 7 6

 

 

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

North East/West 10♥

 

North Pass 2♥ 2NT Pass	East Pass Pass Pass Pass	South 1NT 2♠ 4♠	West Pass Pass Pass

 In today’s column, let us take a look at the bidding as well as the play of the hand, the two aspects of playing bridge successfully. A bridge player must not only bid well, but must also play the hand well. In today’s hand, check to see if North/South both bid the hand correctly and then check to see if North made a good plan to make the 4♠ contract.

After two passes, South opened the bidding with a strong one no trump bid, promising his partner North that he had a balanced hand with 15-17 high card points. While South does have all four suits stopped in this hand, it is not necessary to have that kind of control. Usually having three suits blocked with a balanced hand and the requisite points is enough to open the bidding at one no trump. After all, what is a partner for if not to be there for the fourth suit?

After a pass from West, North used the Jacoby Transfer Convention, a partnership agreement between North and South, to transfer his five spades to his partner by bidding one suit under the spade suit. North bid two hearts, informing his partner that he had five spades and required South to bid the spade suit immediately. It is a forcing bid, and a good partnership honors the agreement. The benefits of the Jacoby Transfer Convention are most obvious: North was able to tell his partner South about his five spades, knowing that South must have at least two spades in his hand to make the opening one no trump bid. (No voids or singletons for a no trump bid, and only one doubleton.)

South bid the 2♠ bid as requested, and it was back to North who revealed more information about his hand. In this case, bidding 2NT now informed partner South that he had 8-9 high card points and was inviting South to consider game in either no trump or spades. With three spades and at the top of the no trump range with 17 high card points, South readily bid 4♠, and the bidding was complete. So far, the North/South team had done everything right, but this is only one-half of the bridge game. The play of the hand is next.

The lead was up to West who had listened to the bidding as all defenders must do. West picked the 10♥ as her lead. This was an excellent lead, the top of an interior sequence, suggesting to her partner East that she had the 9♥ below the ten and that she might have something above the ten. In this case, the K♥ was the missing card.

South surveyed the dummy hand and duly thanked his partner North. Pausing for time to make a plan was second nature to South by this time in his bridge career. Instead of counting winners as is the case in a no trump contract and trying to figure out how you can win additional tricks, in a trump suit, the opposite approach is the way to make the plan. South must count not the winners, but the losers in both hands and figure out how to make those losers go away if there are too many or how to take enough tricks to make the contract.

South knew his objective was to take ten tricks with spades as trump. He could afford only three losers, or the contract would be defeated. South counted the losers before he called for even one card. What were his losers?

With an eight-card trump fit, South knew that a bad trump split of 4-1 or 5-0 would be disastrous. Hoping for the normal percentages of a 3-2 trump split, South counted one spade loser, the A♠. Looking next at the hearts, it was easy to see that there was one heart loser as well. The diamond suit was very solid, and there were no apparent losers in the diamond suit. There was a sure club loser of the A♣ for the third loser. If everything behaved as planned, North could be confident that he could bring home the contract of 4♠ for the partnership.

With his plan in place, South was now ready to call for the play of the cards. Taking the A♥ first, and then crossing to a good diamond, South led a small spade toward his K♠. The spade suit split 3-2 as hoped, and South lost the A♣, the A♠, and a heart. West’s good lead of the 10♥ paid off, as she used the K♥ immediately after East took the A♠ to limit the North/South team to their 10 tricks and no overtricks.  

Both teams played well on this hand. North/South bid and made their 4♠ contract through good bidding, a good plan, and a good play of the hand. East/West defended properly with an excellent defensive lead of an interior sequence, and they kept the North/South team to just what they deserved and no more.

Gerald Stein

October 4, 2012

Number of words: 1014

Answer to last week’s bridge question: Can the North/South team pick up another setting trick to defeat East/West even one more? The answer is yes if North does not lead out his A♦ and K♦ so quickly. North must lead a heart back to his partner who had a singleton. Then a trump on the heart lead from North puts East/West at minus 1400 points, a mighty score.

 

Better Bridge in Barry County October 4 2012

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

	North ♠  543 ♥  AKJ6 ♦  AK ♣  8763
West ♠  K62 ♥  9874 ♦  J94 ♣ J95		East ♠  J ♥  Q532 ♦  Q108532 ♣  102
	South ♠  AQ10987 ♥  10 ♦  76 ♣  AKQ4

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

East North/South A♣

North 4♠ Pass	East 2♦ 5♦ Pass	South 2♠ Dbl	West 3♦ Pass

Which is a better score? 1100 points made from defending and setting the opponents five tricks? Or bidding and making a small slam in the spade suit for 1430? What happened here? Let’s look at the play of the hands in this week’s column.

East, as opener, took advantage of her very weak hand and used a weak two-bid to interfere with the opponents’ bidding. With six diamonds, and not even good diamonds at all, East fearlessly bid the two-diamond bid and created some trouble for the North/South team. They were unable to communicate to each other the strong hand and the potential for a slam that each one had. East had done her job very well.

South with a strong hand and strong spades must start at the two or the three level to convey her strong hand to her partner North. It seemed that a bid of two spades left the door open for West to support the pre-emptive bid of her partner East. With three support diamonds, West was determined to make the bidding as difficult for North/South as East had done with her opening bid of two diamonds. West continued with the diamond raise to three diamonds even with only a few points.  

North entered the bidding with good support in the red suits and three spades to help partner South. North bid four spades, enough for game, but was there a better bid? Perhaps, but at any rate, East was now emboldened to continue the sacrifice. Not vulnerable, with plenty of diamonds between them, nine altogether, East jumped to a game bid in diamonds, bidding five diamonds.

South looked at their own vulnerability, and she saw that they, North/South, were vulnerable. Five spades or double? The choice was easy to make for South who knew that East had opened with a weak point count of no more than 10 or 11 high card points, and six diamonds. West’s single raise was also indicative of a weak response promising three diamonds and a few points perhaps. Take the sure thing of setting East/West or go for more? This time South chose to take the road most would have traveled, and she plunked down the red double card. Three passes ended the auction.

North/South had an easy time of taking two club tricks, A♣ and K♣; two heart tricks, A♥ and K♥; one spade trick, A♠; and two diamond tricks, A♦ and K♦, for down five tricks and a score of 1100 points on their side of the ledger. East/West could be seen smiling once the play of the hand had finished when all could see that North/South were solid for six spades worth 1430 or 6NT worth 1440. East/West rightly sacrificed and suffered “only” a 1100 point loss. Other teams playing the same hand might have bid the hand differently.

The interesting thing about playing bridge is that there are these many choices and decisions that one must make all the time. Bid or double? Sacrifice or defend? On today’s hand, it looks like the plus score went to the East/West team for losing 1100 points. They could have just as easily been down 1430 or 1440 points instead. Using the cards in their hands, East/West used the weak-two convention to disturb the bidding and did it effectively. They were competitive even with very weak hands, and it paid off for them. Good bidding, East/West.

Bridge question for this week: Did you see where North/South can get another trick if they had defended better? Then the score would not have been 1100 but 1400. Where is the extra setting trick going to come from? Answer next week.

Gerald Stein

September 24, 2012 Number of words: 683