Better Bridge in Barry County
By
Gerald Stein
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North
♠ 10 7 5 3
♥ 9 7 3
♦ Q 2
♣ Q 10 8 5
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West
♠ A J 9 6
♥ 10 6 5 4
♦ K 10 9
♣ 6 4
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East
♠ K 8
♥ J 8
♦ 8 7 6 4 3
♣ A J 9 2
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South
♠ Q 4 2
♥ A K Q 2
♦ A J 5
♣ K 7 3
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Dealer:
Vulnerable:
Lead:
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East
Both
4♥
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North
Pass
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East
Pass
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South
2NT
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West
Pass
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Today’s column uses player judgment as its main
deciding factor. With both sides vulnerable, South elected to stretch his no
trump opening bid and opened 2NT with a balanced hand and 19 high-card points.
Normally, a two-no trump opening bid is in the 20-21 high-card point range, but
this time, South chose a different route. With stoppers in all four suits,
South chose the 2NT bid, and all passed.
West chose an unusual lead with the fourth card down
in his heart suit, the 4♥. Probably West was
hoping to set up the spades later when East led back to him. At any rate, South
surveyed the dummy when it came down, and did not see much except for two
queens that might help out later. South covered the lead with the 7♥, the J♥ from East,
and South won the first trick with the A♥.
Making a plan, South next considered the clubs with
some possibilities. South led the 3♣, the 4♣ from West, played the Q♣ from the
board, and East won with the A♣. Back came the 8♥ from
East, won by South with the K♥, with low cards
from West and the dummy.
Switching suits, South led the 5♦ toward the Q♦ on the
board. West jumped in with the K♦, setting up
some useful diamonds for South. Transportation might be a problem, but there
were at least two diamond tricks for South to use later.
West led the 10♥
next, knocking out the 9♥ on the board, a club
discard from East, and South won with the Q♥ in
his hand. South considered the spade suit next and wondered why West had
ignored that suit so long. South led the 2♠, and West in a hurry as a defender
put in the J♠ instead of smoothly playing low. That put East in a precarious
position, and instead of unblocking the K♠, chose to play the 8♠, probably a
bad move as a defender.
West had finally set up the heart suit and played
the 6♥ winning. Here again, West seemed to be in
a big hurry to use up his high cards and next played the A♠. Of course, this
dropped East’s K♠, and South was smiling inside at his fortunate luck. Trying
to make something happen, West played the 9♠, and South won with the Q♠ in his
hand for only his fourth trick. East/West had taken five tricks already, and
South needed all the rest to make his two no trump contract.
South’s judgment about playing in no trump had been
right on, and he next proceeded to take the winning Q♦
on the board by leading the J♦ from his hand.
The good 10♠ on the board was played next, with South discarding a small club.
A small club from the dummy came to the K♣ in his hand for his seventh trick,
and the winning trick was the A♦, making eight
tricks and a top board of 120 points.
South had been very patient setting up tricks
efficiently and effectively. West, on the other hand, had been in a hurry as a
defender. Even East erred on the K♠ trick as that would have been a good time to
trap the Q♠ in the South hand with a spade return. East/West missed out as
defenders and could have set the contract with better defense. Of the 35 tables
that played this hand, only one South found the correct bid and correct play of
the hand. Others who chose to ignore the two no trump opening, bid a 1♣
convenient minor. That was a tough place to play as it was passed around, and
the South player found himself scrambling to find seven tricks with clubs as
trump. Making a 1♣ contract did not pay well: it gave the North/South team 70
points for making 1♣, and if they were lucky to make an overtrick, it was
hardly enough with 90 points versus the 120 played in the no trump contract.
The takeaway for today? There are several to
consider: first, South looked at his hand and saw the balance and the stoppers
in four of the suits. South was patient setting up tricks and letting the
opponents make the mistakes. When South first looked at his hand, he saw only
four tricks that he could count on. He needed another four to make a difficult
contract. Bidding and playing against defenders who were in a hurry to use up
their high cards certainly helped, but South deserved high praise for finding
the right contract and bringing home the winning line of play.
Gerald Stein
November 18, 2013
Number of words: 874
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