Better Bridge in Barry County
By
Gerald Stein
|
|
North
♠ J 9
♥ 9 7 6 2
♦ 10 7 5 2
♣ 8 6 4
|
|
|
West
♠ 6 5
♥ J 10 5
♦ A Q J 4
♣ J 9 7 3
|
|
East
♠ 8 4 3
♥ 8 4 3
♦ K 9 6 3
♣ Q 10 5
|
|
|
South
♠ A K Q 10 7 2
♥ A KQ
♦ 8
♣ A K 2
|
|
|
Dealer:
Vulnerable:
Lead:
|
West
Neither
J♥
|
|
North
Pass
2♦
3♣
|
East
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
South
2♣
2♠
?
|
West
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
When today’s South picked up her hand in a recent
duplicate game, she thought that Christmas had arrived early for her. With 25
high card points and a powerful hand, South knew that she had indeed been a
good girl and that Santa had smiled down on her with such a gift. South knew
that she had to make the most of this bridge hand, however. Not often does one
receive such a wonderful present.
South gasped inwardly when she picked up today’s
hand. Counting the high card points and the strong spade suit, she knew that
game was a certainty, but was there more there than that? Bidding carefully and
deliberately would be the path to follow. South opened with a strong 2♣ bid,
promising at least 22 high card points and forcing to game in most partnership
agreements. North inwardly shuddered at her hand, knowing there was little to
offer her exuberant partner. Still, the partnership agreement is to respond and
let partner describe her hand more fully. North bid 2♦,
a waiting bid.
South bid her suit, the spade suit, and she knew
that she had eleven tricks if the spades broke reasonably well. Would there be
more in the Christmas stocking this year? Perhaps, even a slam? South bid 2♠.
North broke the bad news to South in this way:
bidding because she must after the new bid by South, North bid the cheapest bid
she could, 3♣, informing South that she had very little, even to the point of
having fewer than four total points. With that information, South knew that the
burden was on her shoulders, and that she would have to make the final bid or
bids as there was little help in the North.
Here was the dilemma for South: should she go for a
sure game in spades, or should she risk a shaky slam in spades? She could count
eleven tricks in her own hand and knew there would be little help from North. What
is your bid following all of the information exchanged between the North and
the South players? Did you take the sure thing and bid 4♠? Did you jump to 6♠?
Did you try using the Blackwood Convention when you already knew that it would
be pointless?
Most South players took the sure gift of 4♠ as they
understood what their partners were telling them. Still, when the lead came out
and the dummy went down, South was pleased with her decision. North had
described her hand correctly, and there was little to say except the sincere
thank you to her partner.
Fearing a bad trump split, after winning the heart
lead in her hand, South led a small spade to the J♠ on the board. When the
spades behaved on a 3-2 split, South pondered her next major approach. Making a
game in spades was easy. There were only two losers: the 8♦ and the 2♣. Duplicate players are always looking for
that overtrick, that additional trick that will give them even the tiniest of
edges against others playing the same cards that they are playing. How could
South make it troublesome for the East/West defenders to save the right cards
to keep South from taking extra tricks? Looking at the dummy proved to be of
little source of information. It would have to be in hoping to save the right
cards and discard non-winners. That is not an easy way to defend.
South chose the following path to try and make an
overtrick: After pulling all of the outstanding trumps from East/West, South
played all of the rest of her spades, one after another, forcing four discards
for West and three discards for East. Next, South played her last two heart
winners, again forcing more discards from East and West. Finally, South played
the A♣ and the K♣. East and West had focused so much on the diamond suit that
they had failed to save a club. South played her lowly 2♣, and it won the 12th
trick for two overtricks instead of just the one overtrick that was there all
along. East/West took the last diamond trick together.
While no one bid the small slam in spades, it
appeared that with the approach that South used that a small slam is possible
on this hand. Not so fast. While some South players did use the long spades to
squeeze the defenders and take twelve tricks, while looking at the possible
leads and the percentages, it looks like bidding a small slam on this hand was
a risky proposition. A sure game at 100% with making overtricks or a 50% slam-try
based on the defender’s lead seems to be an easy choice. As it turned out, a
lead of the J♥ could produce a small slam by
playing all of the winners first and squeezing the defenders, hoping that they
would throw away their clubs. Also, a spade lead of the 6♠ or the 5♠ would make
a small slam in spades. However, the defenders would prevail if West chose the
A♦ or the 3♣ as an opening lead. Both of those
leads would have resulted in a set contract of 6♠ for South.
Today’s takeaway? Enjoy that beautiful Christmas
gift when it is dealt to you. Take the certain game and try for the overtricks
when the prospects of a small slam are slim or none. Happy Bridge playing at
this wonderful Christmastime.
Gerald Stein
December 11, 2013
Number of words: 1020
No comments:
Post a Comment