Better Bridge in Barry County February 27 2014

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

 

 

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

 

 

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

North East/West K♦

 

North Pass Pass	East Pass Pass	South 4♠!	West Pass

Today’s column returns to an online duplicate bridge tournament where thirty tables vied for top honors. Of the thirty tables, only two tables managed to find the game with today’s cards for the North/South team. One team found a 3NT contract and made two overtricks. Today’s hand was played in 4♠. How well did the South declarer do with his opening bid of 4♠?

Learning from others is an important part of anyone’s education, and learning from bridge masters like Leo LaSota of Bridge Base Online fame is equally important to your bridge education. What would Leo do on a hand like this one? You guessed it. In third position, with two passes, not vulnerable, six good spades, and a good side suit in clubs, Leo would encourage you to bid 4♠ and see what happens. Many times, according to Leo, good things will happen to you and your score. Let’s take a look at today’s hand.

South took a look at his hand once he picked it up, and, realizing that he would be the third bidder, had in mind his bid even before the others had bid before him. With fourteen high card points, a singleton in hearts, and a hope that partner would have something, South bravely bid 4♠ shutting out everyone at the table. All passed, and the contract was 4♠ with South playing the hand.

West chose the K♦ as her lead, a strong lead from a sequence, planning to drive out the A♦ and establishing the Q♦ as a winner for the East/West team. With thanks to his partner North, South surveyed the North hand and liked what he saw. There was a bit of trump support, two valuable aces, one in diamonds and one in hearts, and three clubs which might come in handy later on in the play of the hand.

Nodding that he was ready, North called for the A♦ and played one of his two diamonds from his hand. South saw that he had to make an unorthodox move to make use of the hearts. What looked like three winners in hearts was deceiving. Playing a heart to his K♥ would leave South in a pickle. There would be no way or no entry back to the other two heart tricks. You can bet that East/West would not be helping South out by leading hearts to those good tricks. South realized the importance of using the hearts for two tricks if he was unable to use them for three.

South, on the second trick, played the A♥, a key play for his plan. He played the K♥ from his hand, and since he was still on the board, he promptly played the Q♥, using two good hearts immediately. From his hand, South pitched the losing diamond on the Q♥, feeling satisfied with that effective move. In his hand, there were now only clubs and spades with hearts and diamonds gone. South had made the diamond loser go away by that play.

Next, South led the 10♠, probably not best, but was trying to tempt East to play the K♠. East ducked smoothly, and South played the Q♠ winning the trick. The trouble with that play is that South used two honors to work the finesse. Another time, it might be a better move to play a low card from the dummy, planning the finesse with the Q♠ and using only one honor. As it turns out on this hand, it really did not matter, as South, after winning the Q♠, played the A♠ and dropped the K♠ from East. West would get one trump trick with the good J♠ later on.

Putting West on lead was part of South’s plan, and South led a small spade to West’s winning J♠. Remember West’s opening lead of the K♦ hoping to set up the Q♦? West played the Q♦ but was disappointed when South trumped with a small spade. Back in his hand, South began the second part of his plan: the club suit. With seven clubs in the North/South hands, it was South’s hope that the clubs would split 3-3 with the K♣ and the Q♣ outstanding. Accordingly, South first led the A♣ in case there was a bad club split. All played to the first trick. South next led the J♣ losing to West’s Q♣. Back came another diamond from West, an effective way to drive South out of trumps, but South trumped again. South led another round of clubs, the third round, and was delighted when all played to that trick, with East winning with the K♣. With a final trump in his hand and the thirteenth club, South would be able to trump any lead that East would attempt and would play the last good club for ten tricks taken for the North/South team.

With thirty tables playing these same cards, most South players opted for a 1♠ opening. With help from North, they would arrive at a contract of 2♠ and no more. All would make the bid plus two overtricks, but it was only this South player who bid the South hand with a 4♠ opening bid. With a score of 420, South ended up in second place on this hand with a terrific score of 96.3%. Leo LaSota would be proud of his bridge students who took the experiences that Leo had learned and shared them with others. Thank you, Leo.

 

Gerald Stein

February 20, 2014

Number of words: 1080

 

Bridge Notes: Learn Bridge in a Day? Class starts on Saturday, March 1^st, 2014 at the Hastings Community Education and Recreation Center at 9:30 AM. Call 269-948-4414 to see if there is still room to register.

Bridge Notes Two: An eight-week Beginning Bridge Course begins in Battle Creek on Monday morning, March 3^rd, 2014 at 10:00 AM. Call the Kellogg Community College Life Long Learning Center to register: 269-965-4134.