Better Bridge in Barry County June 20 2013

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

 

 

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

 

 

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

East East/West A♣

 

North   1♠ 3♠ Pass	East 1♦ 2♦ Pass Pass	South Dbl 2♠ 4♠	West 1♥ Pass Pass

Today’s column provides a look at a lot of bidding by everyone at the table. With so much bidding going on, how does the North/South team end up in a game contract in spades? Let’s take a look.

East opened the bidding with a solid five-card diamond suit with thirteen high-card points and one point for length. Certainly that was a legitimate bid as an opener. With a shortage in diamonds, thirteen high-card points and one point for length, South was certainly correct in using the take out double to demand a bid from partner North.

With a weak hand, West elected to bid one heart. The hearts were certainly nothing to write home about, and West probably gave away some valuable information informing the table that she had four hearts and a minimum response in the 6-9 point range.

North with eight high-card points and shortness in clubs gave a one spade bid, promising at least four spades, but some might expect five spades over the one heart bid. At any rate, everyone was in on the bidding frenzy, and it did not stop there.

East continued her quest for diamonds despite not much of a response from West. She bid two diamonds. South countered with a two-spade bid, and gradually the North/South team made it to game at the four-level. With only 21 high-cards between them, it seemed like North/South would have a difficult time making this contract.

East chose the A♣ for her opening lead. Despite an encouraging sign from West with the 7♣, East thought twice about leading a second club at the second trick. A diamond lead came next with the A♦, and East/West had the first two tricks. Did East err on the first two leads in this hand? Let’s back up as it is easy to see that North/South will prevail with ten tricks taken with the defense that East/West proposed. What needs to happen to have East/West as the winning team on this hand?

Just as a declarer needs to have a plan before the first trick is played, so likewise the defenders should be using their time to make a plan to take the setting tricks and gain the upper hand. With everyone bidding and North/South reaching a major game that usually requires 25-26 points, East must stop and remember what she has heard from the bidding. What does East know once the bidding has ended? She knows the following: there are13 high card points in her hand, and probably six in her partner’s hand. That alone should send up a red flag. With 19 points between them, East knows that North/South have overbid and probably only have about 21 high card points. Leading out the aces cannot be the way to set this hand. What is the right move then?

With the laborious arrival at a game in spades (one spade, two spades, three spades, four spades), East should realize that her first lead cries out for a trump lead. South has already informed the table with the take out double that she is short in diamonds. Most likely, North and South each have four spades, and a spade lead each time will deprive North of any chance for extra tricks through ruffing in the dummy. A crossruff will easily hand North/South a game in the spade suit if the trump suit is left undisturbed. East can thwart that plan by her first lead. East chose the 2♠.

North won the trick with the J♠, and she led a small diamond toward the 10♦. East snatched the diamond return with the Q♦, and you guessed it: she led another small spade. North won again with the K♠ and tried another diamond toward the dummy. When East covered the 2♦ with the 4♦, North threw away a small club. West won with the 9♦. West led a heart and North won with the K♥. North next led her singleton 3♣ with East taking with the A♣, and East led a trump a third time, essentially destroying all hope for North of getting a crossruff.

Using this plan of defense, East/West won two diamond tricks and two club tricks because East listened to the bidding and knew that leading trump in this situation would be the most effective defensive strategy. North/South ended up short one trick for a minus fifty points.

The message on this hand is clear: when the auction is a competitive auction and everyone is bidding, there is something wrong. Saving the aces that East had as entries back into her hand was a powerful defensive move and gave the partnership a well-deserved positive score instead of a minus 420. East led the small trumps every chance she could and it paid off. The defenders were the ones celebrating this time.

 

Gerald Stein

June 16, 2013

Number of words: 914

Better Bridge in Barry County June 13 2013

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

 

 

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

 

 

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

South Both A♦

 

North   Dbl 4NT 6♥	East   Pass Pass Pass	South 1♥ 4♣ 5♠ Pass	West 3♦ Pass Pass Pass

Captain M. North straightened his sunglasses and put on his white cap. He was ready for another season of piloting the Barry County Bridge Barge up and down the Thornapple River. Bridge and cruising made a fine combination he had thought a year ago. Now into his second year, Captain M. North had a steady group of bridge aficionados and nature lovers ready to enjoy another year cruising from Port Charlton Park to Port Tyden Park and even as far as Port Irving on the northern part of the Thornapple River. As he looked over his boat, he knew that his passengers would be soon arriving for the afternoon cruise and bridge tournament. He was not disappointed.

Just then, up came two of Captain North’s favorite bridge players. Rosy and Vera always had a positive attitude about their bridge-playing, and they were always finding fun things to laugh about. He guessed from their hurried gait that they had something to tell him. It was usually about a hand of bridge that they had just encountered. As partners for many years, they shared a lot of stories and hands with him for his entertainment as well as his education.

True to form, up rushed Rosy and Vera. “Hello, Captain North. We have so much to tell you!” Captain North smiled. He knew that he was not only the captain but their captive for the next few minutes. They always tried to arrive early to tell him their latest adventure. The captain pulled up a chair at the closest table and beckoned for them to sit down. They began immediately when he asked, “So Vera and Rosy, where have you been since your return from the Gulf Shore area?” He knew that they wintered there and played bridge both with the snowbirds and the locals, probably doing quite well with each group.

Rosy began in earnest. “Oh Captain North, you would not believe what happened to me just this week.” With a quizzical look, Captain North only nodded. Rosy continued, “I actually ended up in our wonderful local hospital with a much-needed operation. I did not even know I had to be operated on.” Captain North responded, “What do you remember?” “That is just the point, Captain North; I remember only a small part of it. The doctor who gave me the anesthetic told me that I would receive a milky substance as part of the operation. He called it “Milk of Amnesia.”

Here Rosy and Vera burst into peals of laughter. Captain North could only smile at their enthusiastic humor. “And this must remind you of a bridge hand, no doubt?” he asked. “Why, yes, Captain North, it does,” joined in Vera with her eyes bright and twinkling. “Wait until you hear about our latest hand.”

Captain North nodded and waited. Vera continued, “This hand is what we call a very bad distributional hand. Rosy was South as usual, and I was North. Rosy opened 1♥, and well, we ended up at 6♥ before we knew what hit us.” Again, the two bridge partners chuckled some more.

Here Rosy took over. “Captain North, unlike my surgery where I could remember nothing, this is a hand that I had to remember everything. That is not an easy thing to do, as you know.” The captain nodded again, and Rosy went on. “The lead of the A♦ was a standard lead, especially when West had overcalled early in the auction. When I saw the fine board that Vera had provided for me, I knew a lot immediately and could put my memory to the test.” Here Rosy took a sip of water from her water bottle.

“As declarer, I remembered how important it is to make a plan as soon as the first card is played by your opponent. I thanked Vera and looked at the situation. I called for the 2♦, and East showed out. I knew immediately where all of the diamonds were: six in the West hand, and Vera had the other seven.”

Rosy paused again, “Now the question is what did East want to discard since the trick appeared to be West’s with the A♦. The most obvious look at the dummy would show that North had four spade tricks but had a losing 2♠. East had a spade to discard and still would have the setting trick possibly. East discarded a small spade on Trick one.”

Rosy continued, “I trumped the A♦ with the 10♥ and drew four rounds of trump with everyone following. Now I had a count on all of the trump. They were all gone!” Here Vera and Rosy again broke into laughter. Poor Captain North. He nodded again.

“So I knew the two red suits were all accounted for. I began the spades and immediately saw that West was out of spades, so I knew the spade suit as well. North had five, I had two, and East had six to begin with, but remember, she had pitched one on the first trick.” The Captain responded, “Yes, I remember.”

“I drew four rounds of spades, and I stopped. I played the A♣ with both East and West following. I led my last little spade, the 2♠, to the 10♠ left in the East hand. East was in a pickle with just two clubs left, and she had to lead a club to my waiting K♣ and Q♣. We made a small slam in hearts.”

“So,” the Captain spoke as he stood up, “you in fact executed an end play and made your small slam.” “Well, I am no expert on that, Captain, but I do know I remembered enough to make a plan, thank my partner, and count the tricks as they showed up. I guess you could call that a good ending if you want to.”

Here Vera and Rosy once again burst in laughter. The poor Captain North shook his head and could only marvel at his two favorite bridge players, Rosy and Vera.

 

Gerald Stein

June 9, 2013

Number of words 1119

Better Bridge in Barry County June 6 2013

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

 

 

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

 

 

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

North North/South 10♠

 

North Pass 2♦ (2) 3♣ (3) 4♣ (5) 7♥	East Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass	South 2♣ (1) 2NT 3♥ (4) 4NT (6) Pass	West Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass

1.      2♣: Strong two club opener, forcing.

2.      2♦: Waiting bid, forcing.

3.      3♣: Following South’s 2NT bid, Stayman Convention.

4.      3♥: Stayman response: Four hearts in the South hand.

5.      4♣: Gerber Convention: Asking for aces, following the 2NT bid

6.      4NT: Gerber Response: South answers with three aces.

Today’s column takes us on a path to a Grand Slam in hearts. What were the steps that the North/South pair followed to reach such a lofty and desirable bridge contract? Let’s take a look and see if we can follow their bridge thinking and bridge conventions.

After two passes, including partner North who cannot hold more than eleven points, South opened the Strong Two Club bid. A forcing bid, South opened with twenty-three high-card points and a powerful hand. North dutifully responded 2♦, a waiting bid, to hear more about the South hand.

South next bid 2NT, informing partner North, that her hand was balanced and no trump would be an acceptable spot to place the contract. North then pursued that approach by bidding 3♣ following a no trump bid as the Stayman Convention asking for a four-card major suit. North had two such suits and would be happy to play in either one. South responded with 3♥ letting North know that she had four hearts in her hand.

At this point, North took a rather unusual move after hearing about a fit in hearts and bid 4♣, the Gerber Convention. Usually used after no trump as an inquiry for aces, it is not typically used after a fit in a trump suit has been found. At any rate, South responded to North’s request for aces by bidding 4NT informing North that she had three aces.

A leap of faith followed next, as North jumped to 7♥ and the contract was sealed there. A Grand Slam is not often reached in most friendly bridge games, and it is a wonderful challenge not only to bid a grand slam but to successfully take all thirteen tricks.

With twenty-three high-card points in the South hand and ten high-card points in the North hand, it appeared that North/South were three or four points shy of the needed thirty-seven points for Grand Slam. South set about with a plan that looked promising. The lead of the 10♠ began the play of the hand. What was South’s plan as she surveyed the dummy?

South immediately saw ten tricks with the aces and kings between the two hands. With all of the kings and all of the aces, it was easy to see that East/West held only seven points in queens and jacks. Still it would not be easy to bring home the contract.

Setting up a side suit would need to be a method to obtain an extra trick or two. Using trump would be another way to take care of losers. South knew that typically a trump suit will split 3-2 when there are five out. Drawing trumps immediately would be a must-do situation.

Accordingly, South took the first trick with the A♠ in the South hand, noting that East had played the J♠, a good sign for South. Three rounds of trump removed the three from West and two from East with a diamond discard from East.

South next took three rounds of diamonds with the A♦, K♦, and the Q♦ with South discarding spades from the North hand. The K♠ dropped the Q♠ from the East hand and a small spade from West. South had successfully removed the losing spades from the North hand by discarding them on the good diamonds.

At trick nine, South took the A♣ from her hand with all following. South then led a small spade and when it was covered by the 9♠ in the West, South trumped with the 9♥, the last trump on the board. The K♣ was played from the dummy with South playing the J♣. A final club was led from the dummy and trumped with the last heart in the South hand for trick number twelve. The good 8♠ had been promoted and was the thirteenth and final trick for the North/South partnership, bidding and making a Grand Slam.

Using all of the tools that North and South had in their partnership helped get them to the desired contract. The use of conventions that are familiar to all bridge players helped them reach a tough contract. With judgment and some luck, North and South had reached the right bid. It was South, however, as the declarer who knew the proper steps to a successful completion of the two-parts of a bridge contract: the bidding and the playing of the hand. Counting the sure winners, knowing the number of outstanding trumps, drawing trumps, eliminating losers by discarding them on winners, trumping a loser, and then finally promoting a winner through all of these techniques certainly showed the skill of the South player. Congratulations and high fives to the North/South team on an exhibition of a grand event in the bridge world.

 

Gerald Stein

May 30, 2013

Number of words: 1004

 

Bridge notes: Bridge classes at Kellogg Community College will resume again in the fall with a “Defense in the 21^st Century” class as well as a beginning bridge class called “Bidding in the 21^st Century.” Hope to see you there.