Better Bridge in Barry County
By
Gerald Stein
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North
♠ 8 7 3
♥ A Q 7 6
♦ K 5
♣ 9 5 3 2
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West
♠ K 10 9
♥ 10 8
♦ Q J 8 7 6 4 3 2
♣ ---
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East
♠ 5 4
♥ J 9 5 3 2
♦ 10 9
♣ Q J 10 7
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South
♠ A Q J 6 2
♥ K 4
♦ A
♣ A K 8 6 4
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Dealer:
Vulnerable:
Lead:
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East
Both
Q♦
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North
Pass
4NT
5♦
6♠
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East
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
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South
2♣
4♠
5♣
5NT
Pass
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West
4♦
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
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Captain M. North looked over at Rosie and Vera. They
had just come aboard the Barry County Bridge Barge with concerns about a 6♠
contract that had gone decidedly bad. Down two tricks and vulnerable, Vera and
Rosie had suffered a minus 200 point loss and a bottom board. Now they were
consulting with Captain North to see if he could help them understand just what
had gone wrong.
“As I said,” Captain North continued, “there was
nothing wrong with your bidding. Reaching a 6♠ contract was exactly the right
spot to be. The problems, as I see it, are the choices you made after the first
trick was taken. Rosie, you took the first trick in your hand with the A♦. Correct?”
Rosie responded with a nod of her head, “That is
exactly what I had to do. I had a singleton A♦.”“Right,”
responded the Captain. “Then you tried to get rid of your losing clubs by using
your side suits first. When West trumped your Q♥,
you were sunk. You lost the K♠ and another club later in the hand.” Both Rosie
and Vera nodded glumly.
“As I see it,” continued the Captain, “two things
happened that as declarer you needed to be aware of. You needed to listen to
the bidding, and when West interjected a 4♦ bid,
you should have picked up on the interference, but also the number of diamonds
in her hand as well as the strong possibility that she would be short in her
other side suits.” Again, Vera and Rosie nodded in agreement and understanding.
“The other thing is that you needed to draw those
trumps as fast as you could to avoid the loss of your side winners. Even
knowing that you would probably lose the spade finesse, you still needed to try
it. Hoping for a 3-2 split in spades and even losing the spade finesse would
have brought home the contract.” Vera and Rosie sighed in unison.
Rosie spoke up, “So, Captain North, after I won the
first trick in my hand, I led the K♥. Did I go
wrong on the second trick?” Captain North nodded, “Instead of taking the K♥ first, lead your 4♥
to your Q♥ on the board. You not only have
reached the dummy for a spade lead, but you have left yourself a way to get to
the board by overtaking the K♥ in your hand with
the A♥ on the board.” “Ahhhh,” came the response
from Vera and Rosie. “We see your plan indeed.”
“Once you are on the board with the Q♥, then lead a small spade and put up the J♠ to
finesse. You will lose the trick, of course, to West as the cards lie on this
hand, but it has the advantage of putting West on lead, and you have removed
two of the five outstanding trumps. You have three to go, and you should be
able to pull them effectively when you regain the lead.” Again, Rosie and Vera
nodded in agreement.
The Captain went on, “West will probably lead
another diamond hoping that it is partner East who is out of diamonds and can
trump for a setting trick. Fortunately for you, there is another diamond in the
East hand, and you can win the trick with the K♦.
Now you can draw the remaining trumps in two more leads, leaving you with two
spade trumps in your hand. Now, here is a tip for you to consider.” Here Rosie
and Vera looked up immediately. They were always ready for a valuable bridge
tip.
“Go ahead, Captain,” said Vera. “We are all ears.”
The Captain smiled again. “You have lost one trick already, and to make your
contract of 6♠, you must not lose another trick, or you will be set. So, try
this suggestion: make the defenders discard and have them try to save important
cards. They will be victims of a squeeze play on your part. They will have a difficult
time trying to save the setting trick.”
“What are you suggesting, Captain North?” asked
Vera. “Should we play our two spades after we know that all of the trumps are
out?” “Exactly!” exclaimed Captain North. “Lead the 6♠ and watch what they
discard. Then lead the 2♠ and see what they discard. Both East and West will be
hard-pressed to save the right card.”
Vera and Rosie considered that strategy and then
wondered what Captain North would suggest next. They could both see that East
would probably want to hang onto the clubs while West had easy discards with
all of those now-useless diamonds. East had only hearts and clubs left, so East
would try and protect the clubs and would throw away the hearts. They began to
smile as they saw what Captain North had in mind.
“After the final two spades are played from your
hand, Rosie, then play the A♣, and the K♣. When you see that West has no clubs,
abandon the clubs as East has saved a winning club. Now is the time for you to
lead your K♥ from your hand, and here is the
winning play: overtake the K♥ with the A♥. The J♥ will fall
from the East hand, and the 7♥ and the 6♥ will be winners. You have just made a small slam in
spades. Congratulations.” Here the Captain stood up.
“Thank you, Captain North, for one last adventure on
the Barry County Bridge Barge for this season. We will remember your suggestions
and try them out this winter on the LOL’s down in the Panhandle!” Vera and
Rosie started laughing and walked off the Barry County Bridge Barge together
waving to Captain North. “See you next spring,” they shouted. Captain North
smiled and sat down.
Gerald Stein
September 17, 2014
Number of words: 1082
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