Better Bridge in Barry County September 26 2013

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

 

 

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

 

 

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

South East/West J♠

 

North   2♥ 5♦ Pass	East   Pass Pass Pass	South 1♥ 4NT 6♥	West Pass Pass Pass

Last week we looked at bidding and making a slam hand with fewer than the requisite points for a small slam. This hand came up this week at a local bridge club, and once again it illustrated the point that a small slam can be made on fewer than thirty-three points. In this case, however, it was not the skill of the declarer but the poor defense of the defenders that allowed this slam to be made. Let’s take a look.

South opened this hand with twenty high card points, a strong heart suit and side aces. His opening bid was 1♥. West passed, and North supported the heart suit with a 2♥ bid promising at least three hearts and 6-9 high card points. With a pass from East, South leapt to 4NT, the Blackwood Convention, asking for aces. Needing only the one ace could propel South to a 6♥ slam contract. When North bid 5♦, signifying the missing ace, South placed the contract at 6♥.

Defenders always have the daunting challenge of picking the right lead and hoping to set the contract. In this case, West started out fine with the J♠ as the opening lead, the top of a sequence. South stopped long enough to thank his partner and look at the board, planning on twelve tricks. A missing K♥ and a missing K♣ did not look very promising for this hand. It appeared that South with twenty high card points in his hand and nine high card points in his partner’s hand had definitely overbid. A 4♥ contract would have been safe and proper. Alas, it was too late for that action.

South’s first move was to win the spade lead with the Q♠ on the board. That should have alerted the West defender immediately. East played the 9♠, another strong indicator for the West defender to continue that suit. Winning the spade trick on the board allowed North to lead the 10♥ hoping that East would have the K♥ and would cover the honor or let it ride through winning the trick. No such luck here. The finesse lost to the K♥ in the West hand. Winning that trick should have meant the doom for the North/South slam contract. Here, however, is where the defense broke down and allowed the North/South team to make an undeserved small slam.

What happened next? With all of the signals out there, the Q♠ winning suggesting that South had both the K♠ and the A♠, the high 9♠ card from partner East, and the opportunity to set the contract on the next lead, what did West fail to do? She failed to continue the spade suit that she had started with on the opening lead. That continuation would have meant that East with no more spades would have trumped with her remaining heart, for down one trick and a bottom board for the North/South pair.

Instead, West tried to make something happen by leading a new suit, in this case, a small club instead of the setting spade lead that partner East so desperately wanted. North put into a quandary for a moment realized that the only way to make this contract was to let the small club lead come all away around to his Q♣. When East put up the J♣, South was able to win the trick with the Q♣, paving the way to making the small slam contract.

Drawing trumps next pulled the trumps from both East and West, and with two good diamonds, the K♦ and the A♦, the A♣ to cover the lone club left in the South hand, South was able to claim and receive a 980 point score that was totally undeserved. In this case, misdefending this hand allowed the North/South pair to make a slam that had no business being bid or being made. Bridge is funny like that. You can have 21 high card points and fail to make one no trump.

It appears that South, enamored with his hand and his twenty high card points, did not take the time to count the points between the two hands. With twenty in his hand, and his partner’s bid informing him that she had 6-9 high card points, South should have been content to play at a 4♥contract and not take the unnecessary risk of bidding a faulty small slam. Bidding by the numbers is still the way to do well at bridge. Once in a while, you might get away with a risky bid. You cannot count on the defenders to misdefend. You can count on your points and your partner’s points. That definitely is the point of today’s hand.

 

Gerald Stein

September 18, 2013

Number of words: 960

 

Bridge Notes: A class in Bridge defense has currently started at Kellogg Community College in Battle Creek through the Life Long Learning program. To enroll, call today at 269-965-4134 to see if there is still room for you.

Bridge Notes Two Correction: The “Learn Bridge in a Day” program will be held on Sunday, October 20^th, 2013 at the Kalamazoo Bridge Club in Kalamazoo. Contact them through their website: www.kzoobridge.com.