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.