Better Bridge in Barry County November 7 2013

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

 

 

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

 

 

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

East Both A♣

 

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

(1)   Negative Double promising 4 of the unbid major and six high card points.

The spade suit is your best friend if you are declarer. In a recent duplicate club game, today’s hand was played nine times, but only three times in the spade suit for North/South. Five North/South pairs chose to let East/West play in hearts. One East/West team chose to let North/South play in clubs. Of the three pairs who played in spades, however, for the North/South pair, two went down to defeat by being set one trick at the low level 3♠ contract. Did East/West steal the contract away from North/South on five of those hands? Did North/South fail to use their bridge skills to bid to the proper spade contract and then fail to make the contract by faulty play of the hand? Let’s take a look and see what happened to the North/South team and what should have happened. Remember the spade suit is your best friend if you are declarer.

East as dealer passed as first bidder, and South opened the auction with 1♦, a convenient minor, promising twelve high card points and at least three diamonds. West overcalled with 1♥, promising at least five supposedly good hearts and ten high card points or more. North used the effective bidding tool of the Negative Double, a handy use for the double at low levels. It has nothing to do with penalty at that low level, but it gives partner South a lot of information without using up any bidding space. A double in this situation promises four cards in the unbid major, in this case your favorite suit, spades, and at least six high card points. If North would have had five spades, he would have bid 1♠, and his partner would have known that he had five spades, bypassing the Negative Double.

East passed again, and a reluctant South duly bid the spade suit, knowing that she only had three spades, but also knowing that she must not pass the Negative Double for fear that it would be turned into a penalty double of 1♥. South bid 1♠. Some tables had aggressive bidders for the East/West team and continued the bidding to 3♥. Most North/South teams folded and gave away the contract to the five pairs that bid up to a 3♥ contract. Did they just give away the farm?

Three North/South pairs bid up to 3♠ of the nine pairs playing, but two of the three played the hand poorly and allowed East/West to gain points by setting the spade contract by at least one trick. There is reason to believe that faulty play of the hand was at work here. Is there a way to play the hand better than the way most of the North/South pairs played it? Let’s see.

With South as the declarer in a 3♠ contract, West led the unsupported A♣, probably thinking that he could lead the 6♣ next and also have a chance to look at the dummy. The A♣ held, and West shifted to a heart, thinking perhaps that East might have the A♥. No such luck as the K♥ held the second trick. Here was the crucial time for South to make this hand. Even though South had only three spades and the dummy had four, South can always hope that the outstanding spades will split 3-3. No such luck, as most of the times, that outstanding combination will split 4-2. The correct play of the hand is a lead of the 4♠ from the dummy to the J♠ in the declarer’s hand. West took the K♠ trick for their first trick.

West shifted to the 9♦ on the next trick, Q♦ from the board, K♦ from East, and the A♦ from South. South continued the trump-pulling by leading a 3♠ from her hand to West’s waiting A♠. The dummy and East followed each with a spade. A small heart lead from West allowed South to discard the 7♦ and win with the A♥ in her hand. Using her last trump, the 9♠, from her hand, South led to the board, and overtook the 9♠ with the 10♠ with West playing a small spade and East showing out. South played the top spade, the Q♠, and drew West’s last spade, pitching her loser 7♥. Once on the board and all trump accounted for, South played the J♦ winning, led a small club to the K♣ in her hand, led her last club to the board, overtaking the 10♣ with the Q♣, and played the last two good club tricks, making ten tricks in spades.

South was able to take ten tricks while East/West took the A♣, the A♠, and the K♠. Astute playing of the cards by South gained a well-deserved top on this hand with a score of 170. It is easy to see that the plan was there to make this contract. What was the deciding factor in making this contract? The basic rule of bridge once again came into play: “Get the kiddies off the street.” Draw the trumps and let the opponents make the mistakes. With the side suits of clubs and diamonds set up, essentially by the defense, it was just a matter of letting the defense take their two spade tricks and their one club trick, and no more. Once again, it is important to remember: the spade suit is your best friend if you are the declarer. The takeaway? If you have the spades, you should have the bid.

 

Gerald Stein

October 28, 2013

Number of words: 1038

Better Bridge in Barry County October 31 2013

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

 

 

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

 

 

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

North East/West 8♥

 

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

 

High card points or wild distribution: which would you rather have? In today’s hand, North and South had one half of the forty points in the deck; they had twenty points while East and West had the other twenty points. Knowing that it usually takes twenty-five or twenty-six high card points to make a game in the majors or in no trump, how was it that the North/South pair arrived at a 4♥ contract with only twenty points? The answer, of course, is wild distribution. Let’s take a look.

North as dealer opened the bidding with 1♦, promising 12 high card points, and at least three diamonds. In this case, she had five diamonds. East with six clubs and twelve high card points overcalled in the club suit with 2♣. East’s clubs should have been a bit better than those in her hand, but if one waits for the perfect hand in bridge, that could be a long wait! South with a void in clubs and a singleton in partner’s diamond suit felt compelled to bid the heart suit. With seven hearts, South knew that there was huge trumping power with all of those hearts. West with club support and knowing that East had to have five to overcall supported the clubs by raising to 3♣.

North doubled, probably for penalty, as her clubs were strong, and East passed. South took the initiative and bid her spades informing North that she had two suits, hearts and spades. When West passed the spade bid, North bid 3NT, a scary bid for sure, with the wild distribution, singletons, and voids that were obvious in this hand. East doubled for penalty, and South pulled out of 3NT by bidding 4♥. With all passing, the contract was 4♥ in the South.

West guessed correctly that South was short of clubs by North’s penalty double on the 3♣ bid. Hoping to reduce the number of trumps in the dummy hand, a wonderful defensive strategy, West led the 8♥, the higher of her two trumps,  informing partner that she had only two trumps. East was able to take the trick with the K♥. With there being no point in playing another trump as the dummy had no more, East switched to the higher of the two spades in her hand: the 5♠. South played low, and West was forced in third position to play third hand high and went up with the Q♠, effectively setting up the spade suit for the North/South team. South won the Q♠ with the K♠.

The A♦ was the next lead by South from the North hand, with all following. South played her singleton 4♦, and she next led a small diamond from the board, trumping with a small heart in her hand. Leading the Q♥ drew out the last heart from West, and East won with the A♥. East’s lead of her last spade was won in the dummy with the 10♠. Another diamond from the board was trumped in the South hand with a small heart, and South then drew the last outstanding heart with the J♥. The rest of the tricks were South’s as she claimed with all of the remaining hearts and played the spades from the top down, winning five spade tricks, five heart tricks, and one diamond trick for eleven tricks taken.

While a hand with only twenty high card points does not often make a game contract in the majors, it is easy to see that in today’s hand that that is exactly what happened. The wild distribution allowed a bold North/South pair to bid and make a 4♥ contract despite the aggressive bidding going on during the course of the bidding. While it is noteworthy that playing in a heart contract is a better and safer contract for the North/South pair, still it is possible to make a 4♠ contract. East/West at best could make only a 2♣ contract so it was a bold North/South team who found the fit with the long suits, the void, the singletons, and some important high cards. When you find yourself with long suits, consider how important those cards could be if they are the trump suit. They are almost worthless if you are a defender so the takeaway for the day is this: bid those long suits and hope your partner has some help. In today’s hand that is just what happened. North/South bid effectively and played well enough to bring home a non-vulnerable game and an overtrick for 450 points with only twenty high card points in their hands.

 

Gerald Stein

October 22, 2013

Number of words: 915

Bridge notes: Look for a class after the first of April on learning eight important bridge conventions. Entitled “Eight Bridge Conventions You Should Know and Use,” this class will be useful for all levels of bridge players.  

Better Bridge in Barry County October 24 2013

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

 

 

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

 

 

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

North Neither 5♠

 

North Pass Pass	East 1♦ Pass	South 1NT Pass	West Dbl

Captain M. North lounged in his sunroom, looking out at the rain and the incoming sleet during the end of October days. The summer bridge cruises on the Thornapple River were over. The Barry County Bridge Barge had once again been cleaned, covered, and stored for the winter. Now relaxing in his wicker rocker, Captain North reflected back on the summer, his trip to Ontario’s Lake of the Woods, and one of the hands that he had played during his vacation. It was a hand to remember as he as South had been the declarer in a doubled 1NT contract. His overcall with thirteen high card points was a balancing bid, but when he was doubled and everyone passed, Captain North wondered if he had done the right thing, especially with the weak clubs in his hand. Oh, well, he thought. Here goes…

Needing seven tricks in a 1NT contract, Captain North was surprised when West led the 5♠. “Why did she lead the 5♠?” wondered Captain North. “Could it be that she had no diamonds to lead to partner’s opening bid?” Most partnerships expect a lead to partner’s suit if possible. That keeps the partnership very happy. In this case, the lead was a telling lead. West had no diamonds. Captain North had a count of the diamonds immediately with that first lead. East had five diamonds, and Captain North and his partner had the other eight diamonds between them.

Captain North surveyed the dummy, seeing the four useful diamonds and the A♠. Not a lot to go on, but remembering his Latin, “Dum spiro, spero!” (While I breathe, I hope.), Captain North thanked his partner and planned the play of the hand. With three sure tricks, two in spades and one in hearts, Captain North needed to drive out the A♦ to promote the diamonds. Still that might not be enough. That would only bring the total number of tricks to six, one short.

Captain North won the first spade trick in his hand with the K♠. Leading the 10♠ from his hand, Captain North saw West cover with the J♠. Captain North won the trick with A♠ in the dummy, and he was delighted to see the Q♠ fall from the East hand. Things were looking up for Captain North. The 4♦ from the dummy was ducked by East, and the Captain won with the J♦ for his third trick.

Leading the Q♦ from his hand, Captain North saw East take the A♦ and then lead and win with the K♣. Here East did a strange thing, and often it is our opponents who make the mistakes that allow us to make the contracts. Instead of continuing the club suit, East shifted to a heart leading the Q♥. Perhaps West did not signal with a high club and instead played the low 4♣, a discouraging signal. At least that is how East interpreted the shift to a new suit. Starting a new suit as a defender can be a disastrous play.

At any rate, with the Q♥ as a lead from East, Captain North rose with his A♥, and he won his fourth trick. The 9♠ had been promoted to a winning trick, and the Captain played that next for his fifth trick. His sixth trick was the K♦, and his seventh trick with a lead from his hand of the 3♦ found a happy home with the 10♦ in the dummy, winning his seventh trick.

Captain North smiled in his warm and cozy sunroom as the rain continued to beat against the window panes. A doubled no trump contract gave him a score of 180 on his side of the ledger. A 98.5% score showed him that he was near the top of all players playing that hand. Someone else had also found the same play, but the Captain was indeed proud of his bid and his play of the hand.

The Captain mused about the defense’s play. What had prompted East to shift to a heart after winning the K♣ lead? Was it the lack of an encouraging signal from West? The Captain knew that he had to think of things like that because as a bridge player he knew that he would be a defender 50% of the time. He did not want to make the same mistakes that these defenders had done. Also, he wondered about West’s double instead of bidding the hearts. And he wondered about the lead of a spade instead of the hearts. The Captain had the rest of the afternoon to ponder these defensive moves, but for now, he slowly rocked back and forth in his wicker rocker, smiling at the falling rain outside.

 

Gerald Stein

October 19, 2013

Number of words: 933

 

Bridge Notes: A Beginning Bridge class is set to start on Monday, October 28, 2013 in Battle Creek at the Kellogg Community College Technology Center on Hill Brady Road. Call to enroll in the Institute for Learning in Retirement program today.

 

Better Bridge in Barry County October 17 2013

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

 

 

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

 

 

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

North North/South 7♣

 

North Pass 3NT	East Pass Pass	South 1NT Pass	West Pass Pass

In today’s bridge column, the question is posed to the players: which is better: to make three no trump or to go down three tricks vulnerable in no trump? The answer, of course, depends on which partnership has won the auction and which partnership plans to defend and try to set the contract of three no trump played in the South hand. This hand illustrates the powerful tools that are at the disposal of the defenders if they will just use them correctly. Let’s take a look.

After a straight forward bidding auction, South was the declarer at three no trump. With fifteen high card points in the South hand and ten high card points in the North hand, it looked like South had enough points to make the 3NT bid. South duly thanked her partner and counted the winners in both hands first following the 7♣ lead, no doubt, the fourth down from the longest and strongest suit in the West hand. South counted three diamond winners, one spade winner, and with the lead of a club, two club winners. That only reached six tricks, and three more are needed. Where would the other three tricks come from?

Using the rule of 11, South took the time to subtract the 7♣ from 11, and that gave her the number of cards higher than the 7♣ in the other three hands: the dummy, the East hand, and the South hand. Unfortunately, for South, there is no little club on the board, and the J♣ won the first trick for South. East showed out, and South had an exact count of the rest of the clubs, knowing that West was the dangerous opponent with five clubs left in her hand including the A♣.

Hoping to set up the clubs in her hand, South called for a small diamond and won in her hand with the A♦. She next played the Q♦ unblocking the suit in her hand and was delighted to see the J♦ fall from the West hand setting up the good diamonds on the board. South next played a small club from her hand, hoping that West would rise with the A♣ and allow an entry to the board for her. West, wisely, however, knew her defensive techniques and ducked the offer, allowing South to win a second club trick. This is called a hold up play, and West was patient and held up the A♣.

Winning the club trick on the board was not to South’s delight. However, she was on the board, and she played the two diamond winners, bringing her total to six tricks won: two club tricks and four diamond tricks. Now came the moment of truth. Stuck on the board, South must take the spade finesse, hoping that East had the K♠ as well as the A♥. A small spade was led from the dummy with East playing low. South put up the Q♠, but alas, West won with the K♠, and proceeded to run the next three club tricks. West exited with the Q♥, and South forced to discard important high cards was left holding the A♠. East took the A♥ and the good J♥ for down three vulnerable and a minus 300 score for North/South.

What happened here? A dazed South wondered that as well. Of the seven times this identical hand was played in a local duplicate session, two North/South teams did in fact make the contract of 3NT, taking a top score for their team of 600 points. Three other teams who defended the 3NT contract found the winning defense strategy and took top scores for the East/West team with 300 points earned for their side.

What is the take-away for today’s hand? Defense is a difficult concept to perfect, but there are tools and techniques available for the partnerships that want to work on their defense skills. In this case, the all-important lead of the club suit eventually set up the clubs for East/West. Additionally, using the hold-up play or ducking a trick temporarily can provide big dividends as happened in today’s hand.

With an arsenal of defense techniques, practice your defense and see if you can be held in awe by your opponents. Leads, attitude, count, and suit preference signals are all part of that package of good defensive tactics. Use them well and watch your opponents weep.

 

Gerald Stein

October 2, 2013

Number of words: 938

 

Bridge News: A beginning class for new bridge players or those who wish to review the new Standard American system will begin on Monday, October 28^th. You are invited to enroll at KCC’s Life Long Learning program at 269-965-4134. Need a ride from Hastings? Let them know that.

Bridge News Two: “Learn Bridge in a Day” is a fast way to see if you would like to learn the world’s best card game in a very short intense time. It all starts on Sunday, October 20^th, from 1-6 PM in Kalamazoo at the Kalamazoo Bridge Center. Visit their website: www.kzoobridge.com