Better Bridge in Barry County December 26 2013

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

 

 

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

 

 

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

East North/South 9♣

 

North   1NT 2♠	East Pass Pass Pass	South 1♠ 2♥ Pass	West Pass Pass Pass

Today’s column takes a look at a smart declarer playing a part-score hand in a recent online tournament. With players at14 tables playing these exact cards, only this South declarer made the right play-of-the-hand decisions. First, however, let’s look at the bidding to see how the North/South team arrived at a part-score contract in spades.

The bidding went like this: after a pass from dealer East, South opened the bidding with 1♠, promising five spades and at least opening count of 13 high-card points. Described as a minimum hand in most books, South could not see much beyond a part-score for her team. When West passed, North responded with a 1NT Forcing bid. This forcing bid needs an explanation as the North/South pair was playing a Two-Over-One Forcing System. The idea is that when the occasion arises and North has 13 high card points, then a bid of a new suit at the two level is forcing to game. The major idea is that there are enough points between the two hands to make a game in no trump or one of the majors.

However, this time around, North did not have the requisite 13 high-card points to bid at the two-level and must use the 1NT bid in an expanded mode. Players who use a Two-Over-One bidding system have made the 1NT bid a forcing bid for one round, and they have expanded the high card point range from the normal 6-9 to a wider range of 6-12 high-card points. South had to bid again under this partnership agreement.

South did not dare rebid the spades even though she might have wanted to because she only had five of them. A bid of two spades from South would have promised six spades. Instead, South bid the heart suit, promising four hearts in her hand as well as the five spades originally bid.  North then knew the heart suit was not a good fit, and she took the partnership back to spades even though it was a 5-2 fit, not always the best fit for a trump suit. All passed, and the contract reached was the 2♠ bid.

The play-of-the-hand is crucial for success in the bridge world. The plan, of course, is always the first step as soon as the lead hits the table. The 9♣ was the lead, and South’s first question had to be: “Why did West lead the 9♣?” Once South saw the dummy hand from partner North, she had a good idea why West led the club. It had to be a singleton. South had to be careful to preserve her club in her hand as it was the only entry back to those beautiful clubs on the board. Accordingly, South won the club lead in her hand with the K♣.

South’s next three leads were crucial for the success of this hand. With opponents holding six of the trump suit, South could always hope that the spades would split 3-3. Unfortunately, most of the time, with six outstanding trumps, the split will be a 4-2 split. That was the case in today’s hand. West had four spades and East had two.

South proceeded with the A♠, the K♠, and then led the J♠ losing to West’s Q♠. While West still had one more trump, South had managed to keep control of the trump suit. She just had to be patient to get back in and draw West’s last trump.

West, after winning the Q♠ trick, led the A♦ from her hand, winning. A lead from West of another diamond put East in with a winning K♦. East next cashed the A♥ and the K♥. A smart defensive move would have been to return partner’s original lead. Remember the 9♣? Partners need to remember the leads as well as the declarer. In this case, however, East had forgotten what her partner had led on the first trick and led back, not a club, but a diamond.

South, with no more diamonds, trumped low with the 5♠ and won the trick. Then immediately, South played the 10♠, pulling the last spade trump from West. With the trumps all accounted for, South, who had played the hand patiently, led the 10♣ from her hand and overtook the ten with the A♣. Taking the Q♣ and the J♣ in order, South pulled off a top board by making the 2♠ contract with eight tricks for the North/South pair.

This was the only South player, who, with some luck and some help from the East defender, managed to make the 2♠ part-score contract out of 14 tables.  Eight of the fourteen went down two tricks for a -200 points, and the other five declarers went down three tricks for a -300 score.

The takeaways for today? Consider the lead as South did. She could count the clubs on the board and in her hand, and she knew that she must be patient and attack the clubs when the coast was clear. Another takeaway is for the defender East. Remember to return your partner’s lead when you get the chance. Not returning the club after seeing it as the opening lead allowed South a chance to get in with a diamond ruff, draw the last trump from West, and claim the final club tricks. What gifts we are given at Christmas time.

 

Gerald Stein

December 18, 2013

Number of words: 1043

 

Bridge Notes: Interested in learning about Two-Over-One Forcing System? Books at www.baronbarclay.com including another excellent book by Audrey Grant might be a good place to start. A class in Two-Over-One Forcing System is in the works for 2014. Watch for it.