Better Bridge in Barry County
By
Gerald Stein
North
♠ 10 8
♥ A Q 9 6 5
♦ 5 4
♣ K J 7 3
|
||
West
♠ A 9 7 6 4 2
♥ J 4 3
♦ 3 2
♣ 6 5
|
East
♠ J 3
♥ 7
♦ K 10 9 8 7
♣ A Q 10 9 2
|
|
South
♠ K Q 5
♥ K 10 8 2
♦ A Q J 6
♣ 8 4
|
Dealer:
Vulnerable:
Lead:
|
South
Both
6♣
|
North
2♣
4♥
|
East
Dbl
Pass
|
South
1NT
2♥
Pass
|
West
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
In a local duplicate pairs game, today’s hand was
played nine times. Eight of the nine pairs ended up in the sensible and proper major
suit game with 4♥. Four of those eight who played
in the game suit in hearts, however, failed to make the contract while the
other four made the contact easily. What was the difference between those who
failed and those who made the contract? Let’s take a look.
In all of the hands played that reached 4♥, South opened 1NT with the right number of high-card
points with 15. North responded with 2♣, using the Stayman Convention to inform
partner that she had at least eight points and a four-card major. East threw in
a double following the 2♣ bid. While this could have been construed as a
take-out bid, most players knew that with 15 points in the South hand and at
least eight points in the North hand, that a take-out double was not realistic.
No, there was another message with the double: it is called a Lead-directing Double
informing West, if she got the lead to lead a club for an opening lead as East
had a strong holding in clubs.
South ignored the double, but perhaps she should
have paid more attention to it. South bid her four-card heart suit, and North
raised to 4♥. This happened in eight out of the
nine hands played for this round. West, with the lead, led the higher of her
two clubs, the 6♣. Had South been paying closer attention, she would have picked
up on the lead and played the hand differently. Instead, South saw the strong
hearts, the club suit from North, and not much more. Four hearts looked to make
easily, thought South. How wrong she was!
Picking either the K♣ or the J♣ made no difference
on the first trick. East would take the first trick with the A♣ if the K♣ was
played, or the Q♣ if the J♣ was played. The lead-directing double had done its
work properly, and East played and won the first two club tricks. West played
the 5♣ on the second trick, and an observant South should have picked up on the
high-low discard, suggesting that West had only two clubs. Playing the higher
card first and then the lower card the next time is a standard way of giving a
count signal. Poor South missed the signal and when East played a third round
of clubs, South trumped low. West overtrumped, and immediately West played the
A♠ taking the first four tricks. The North/South 4♥
contract was quickly set one trick for a minus 100 for North/South instead of
the plus 620 they should have earned.
What should South have done to preserve the victory
for her team? South should have won the third trick high with the K♥! That will safeguard a West opponent overtrumping
and setting the contract. True, it will still not be easy to make the rest of
the tricks with the J♥ in the West hand, but a
lead of the 10♥ from South should result in
gathering in all of the trumps without endangering the contract. Not taking
care of business that was there for the taking resulted in four teams receiving
poor scores for not making a makeable game. The other four teams who listened
to the bidding, knowing that the double was a Lead-directing Double and knowing
that to make that kind of bid, East would need at least five good clubs in her
hand, made the contract and a plus score. Additionally, watching the lead and
the second card played from West should also have been a tipoff that West had
only two clubs as well.
Hindsight is always a wonderful thing to talk about,
especially in a post mortem discussion
in bridge. Today’s hand was interesting because four pairs were able to read
the signs and take advantage of them while the other four pairs failed to see
or understand the signs right there in front of them. In the future, watch the
bidding more closely. Watch the leads and the subsequent play of cards to see
if you can read the defense’s mind. Doing that will help you end up on the plus
side of the score sheet instead of on the minus side.
Gerald Stein
July 27, 2013
Number of words: 832
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