Better Bridge in Barry County August 15 2013

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

 

 

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

 

 

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

South Both 4♥

 

North   Pass Pass	East   2NT! Pass	South 1NT Pass Pass	West Pass 3♦

Today’s column continues to look at defense as a means to score well in a bridge game. South, as dealer, opened a standard 1NT bid with strong stoppers in all four suits. With no response from North with only four high-card points, East bid 2NT, an alertable convention that East/West played in certain situations. Called the Cappelletti Convention, this artificial bid said nothing about a no trump hand. Instead, East’s bid of 2NT promised 5+ clubs and 5+ diamonds, and at least 15 total points. West was forced to bid, and West bid reluctantly, naming diamonds as her better minor suit. How West wished she could have mentioned her spades, but bridge agreements are all about trusting your partner and your bidding agreement. The bid of 3♦ held, and West was the declarer.

With the lead of the 4♥ from North, West played the K♥ from the dummy, taken by the A♥ from South. South led the K♣ at the second trick, winning, and she led the A♣ at the third trick that was trumped by 8♦ in the West hand. South had missed the count signal from North letting her know that by the play of the 7♣, a high card, that she had an even number of clubs, probably four. An alert South would have shifted to another suit rather than setting up the clubs in the dummy. This signal had to be a count signal as there was no use encouraging a club return with the Q♣ and the J♣ sitting there in full view for all to see.

West led the J♥ from her hand, only to see North trump with the 4♦, another count signal suggesting an even number of trumps. North led the 3♣ next, and the trick was won on the board by the Q♣ with West discarding a heart. A continuation of the J♣ saw South put up the A♦ to secure the trick for North/South. The lead of the 5♥ from South saw West trump with her last trump, the J♦. A small spade from West lost to the A♠ from North. East/West were able to secure the rest of the tricks by drawing the last of the trumps and claiming for down one trick vulnerable.

While it is true that North/South set the East/West team for down one trick and a minus 100 for the East/West team, it is important to think that North/South might have prevailed even better with a better defense on this hand. Missing the count signal might have cost a trick, giving West a place to discard a loser. While North/South did receive the top score of 100% on this board, most of the other North/South teams elected to play in 2NT themselves, going down at least one trick for a minus score. Playing defense can pay off at times.

Finally, sometimes, new conventions can work out just fine, and sometimes, like in this case, there was a definite shortage of diamonds between the two hands for East/West, and that led to a difficult play of the hand. The problem appears that East oversold her hand a bit. Using the Cappelletti Convention, she should have had five clubs and five diamonds to make use of this convention and to try for a fit in a minor suit after a strong 1NT bid. With only four diamonds, East probably stretched her hand, thinking it would work out just right. Unfortunately, for East/West, they received a bottom board for their efforts. Playing defense, as North/South did, worked for them, but even then, there were some defensive gaffes on their end as well. Bridge is a game of constantly improving and looking for the right cards and the right communication between you and your partner. Keep working on that partnership agreement.

 

Gerald Stein

August 2, 2013

Number of words: 811

Bridge Notes: Good news for those bridge players who wish to brush up or learn new skills in the defensive part of bridge. An American Contract Bridge League class on defensive signals, both attitude and counting signals, will be offered at Kellogg Community College this fall. Call the Life Long Learning office at KCC for information regarding “Defense in the 21^st Century.” Bring your partner and work on defensive skills together.