Better Bridge in Barry County November 13 2014

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

 

 

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

 

 

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

North Neither 2♠

 

North Pass Pass Pass	East 1♦ 3♥ Pass	South 1♠ 3♠ Pass	West 2♥ 4♥

As a bidder, when do you know when to hold and when do you know when to go? In today’s hand, East opened the bidding with 1♦, promising at least three diamonds and a total of 12 high card points. Did you notice East’s distribution? With a hand with 4-3-3-3 distribution, East might have thought twice about opening this hand. Certainly, 4♥ seemed a bit too much given what we see in the East/West hands. With 22 high card points in the East/West hands, and an overcall in spades by South, the obvious inference was that most of the North/South points were in the South hand. North was silent all three times with good use of the Pass card.

South with a solid spade suit and 15 high card points and hearing no encouragement from North wisely pulled back when the bidding started to become dangerously high. Even 3♠ was a tad too much without any help from North.

At any rate, East/West won the contract for 4♥. Why did South not double? Generally, the overcall had said it all but a double usually means a loss of one trick for the defense. In this case, both East and West knew that the points were in the South hand. Without any help from North, South would defend the hand as it was bid.

Were you surprised that East supported the heart suit with only three hearts? With a weak hand to open the bidding, there was not much more East could do. Running to 2NT looked to be a disaster, especially after South had just bid spades. East created his own pickle of a situation. Perhaps East should have passed the 2♥ bid and waited to see what South would do.

North dutifully led a small spade to the waiting A♠ in the South hand. South smartly continued with the K♠ and won a second trick. Losing nothing by leading the J♠, South plunked it down on the table fully expecting West to use one of her four or five trumps. On the third trick, West won the trick by trumping high with the J♥. A strange play happened next when West led the 9♦ and let it run all the way to the South J♦. Why would West give up a diamond trick when she had three stoppers in diamonds? Was West hoping to make the other diamond trick go away as well as the two losing clubs by taking a diamond finesse?

At any rate, now South led the Q♣, a singleton, to the A♣ in the West hand. West then led the 10♦ to the A♦ in the East hand, played the K♦ and threw away a small club, and then led the Q♦ and threw away the other club loser. Unfortunately for West, North with only one trump, the 9♥, was able to trump the Q♦. Even drawing one round of trumps would have been a better call for West than playing it as she did.

West would eventually lose the A♥ for down two tricks, and 100 points for the defenders, North and South. West lost two spade tricks, the J♦ trick, a trump trick by North, and the A♥ by South. Only two defenders found the right combination to beat the 4♥ contract by two tricks. For their efforts, they received top boards and an 87.9% rating. Fifteen other defenders allowed the East/West team to go down just one trick and scored considerably lower.

For those of you who were wondering if South can make 4♠ on this hand, it is not possible with the strong diamonds in the East hand. Interestingly, however, there were six South defenders who allowed West to make the 4♥ contract. What did they do wrong on defense? The lead was the same, the 2♠, so North did her part correctly. No, it was the South declarers who messed up on those six hands. South won the first spade and then shifted to the Q♣. This allowed West to go immediately to the diamonds and get rid of the two diamonds and the Q♠. South neglected to take the spade winner on the second trick and did not get it. The moral of the story? Take your tricks when you can to set the opponents. Continuing the spade suit also forced West to use up a trump. All in all, today’s South defender played his cards right and ended up celebrating with partner North even though North had little to offer. Having the right lead and the right time to trump, however, showed the strength of the North/South partnership. Well done, North and South, as good defenders on today’s hand.

 

Gerald Stein

November 7, 2014

Number of words: 891