Better Bridge in Barry County
By
Gerald Stein
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North
♠ K 5 3
♥ Q 3 2
♦ 6 4 3
♣ A K 7 4
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West
♠ A Q 9 7
♥ 7 4
♦ Q 9 7
♣ 10 8 5 2
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East
♠ 10 8 6 4 2
♥ J 9 6
♦ A J 2
♣ 9 3
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South
♠ J
♥ A K 10 8 5
♦ K 10 8 5
♣ Q J 6
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Dealer:
Vulnerable:
Lead:
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East
North/South
2♣
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North
1NT
3♥
Pass
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East
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
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South
1♥
2♦
4♥
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West
Pass
Pass
Pass
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In today’s hand, we continue our look at counting bridge
hands to arrive at not only the right contract but also to take all the
available tricks. It is often not enough just to make a contract, especially in
duplicate tournaments and competitions where every overtrick is valuable, but
to reach the point where a count of the points and the suits can help you to
reach that overtrick status and a winning success. Let’s take a look today at
the count in the North/South hands to figure out how to play the hand and be
successful and to receive a top board.
After East’s pass with only six high card points,
South opened with the five-card major heart suit. South had five hearts,
fourteen high card points, and a four-card backup suit in diamonds for her
second bid. South bid 1♥. After a pass by West
with eight high card points, North responded to the heart suit, first with a
forcing 1NT bid. This is a common bid that the North/South players have
developed. Called Two-Over-One, it is the practice to bid 1NT, when the
responder does not have 13+ points and a forcing-to-game bid. Instead,
North/South have agreed that 1NT now has a new meaning for their partnership. Instead
of the traditional 6-9 high card points that most bridge players use for a 1NT
response, the Two-Over-One system expands the count to 6-12 high card points.
While that is quite a range, it is also a forcing bid for one round for opener
to rebid again. In today’s hand that is what happened. North did not have
enough to go to the two-level for a force to game bid, but she was very close
with twelve high card points. Accordingly, North bid a forcing 1NT, knowing
that South would further describe her hand.
South responded with two diamonds, showing a new
suit of at least three diamonds and five hearts and at least 12 high card
points. At this point, North opted to jump in the heart suit, promising three
hearts and 10-12 high card points. That was good enough for South to count the
points between them and put the contract at 4♥.
West chose a passive lead with the 2♣, avoiding the
suits bid by the opponents, and not wanting to lead away from the spade suit.
North tabled her hand, and South thanked her, and she began the plan as always.
With fourteen high card points in her hand and twelve in the North hand, South
knew she had the requisite 26 points needed. There would be 14 high cards out
between East and West. If all went right, the points would be divided evenly
between the East/West pair. If you look at the East/West pair, you can see that
was pretty good reasoning with six in one hand and eight in the other.
With the club suit solid, the heart suit looked
strong if the suit broke 3-2 as it does over fifty percent of the time. The
diamond suit looked precarious especially if East could lead through the
diamond king. Spades were okay if a finesse worked on West. Knowing that 14
high card points were out, South elected to win the club lead into the short
side and took it in her hand.
Three rounds of drawing trump produced the 3-2
split. South shrewdly let the J♠ next, hoping that West would have the A♠. As
it turned out, West took the A♠ immediately and returned another club. South
won that club return in the South hand, and returned the 6♣ to the K♣ and then
played the A♣ as well discarding a diamond loser. South played the good K♠ and
discarded another diamond loser. South was ready to try her second finesse
having seen four points from West with the A♠, and one point from East with the
J♥. With five high card points accounted for,
South led a small diamond past East who, in second position, played the common
Second Hand Low strategy. South promptly put up the K♦
winning in the South hand. Two finesses in the same hand do not happen very
often, and most of the time, one of them will fail as, after all, a finesse
will win only 50% of the time. This time South was very lucky as both of her
finesses won. She played the final two hearts from her hand, and she conceded
the last trick to East with the A♦.
With excellent bidding and card play, South scored
well for the partnership with eleven tricks taken, a score of 650 points, and a
very good score in competition. While you may not be competing in a competition
or tournament, still the thrill of going for overtricks is part of the
challenge in bridge. Counting can help you figure out where the opponents’ high
cards are. Being aware of the count, both in numbers of cards out and number of
points in the deck is a challenging part of the bridge game. Give it a chance.
Start with just you and your partner’s points and begin to take a moment before
you plunk down that first trick. “How many points do we have as a partnership?
How many points are out against us? How are they divided? Did the opponents bid
to give us a clue where the points are?” Using your logical inner self will
help you grow and develop into a Count or a Countess. Good luck, Your Majesty.
Gerald Stein
December 14, 2015
Number of words: 1031
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