Better Bridge in Barry County January 8 2015

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

 

 

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

 

 

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

North Neither 4♣

 

North 2♣ 3NT 6NT	East Pass Pass Pass	South 2NT 4NT Pass	West Pass Pass Pass

In today’s hand, North had a dilemma. After the invitation to go to a small slam in No Trump, her concern was whether to go on to 6NT or stay at 4NT. Here is where our counting practice would have helped make that decision easier. Let’s take a look at today’s hand.

When North opened with another big hand, she knew that the best way to reach game with such a hand was to open the strong 2♣ bid. Since that is a forcing bid, North felt confident that a game would and should be reached. With 22 high card points, North only needed a small amount of help from partner South. Imagine her surprise when South responded with 2NT, a positive response promising at least 8 high card points and a balanced hand. That was just what North was hoping to hear.

North counted the points and came up with the 22 in her hand and the 8 in the South hand. She could count to 30, quite a distance from the 33 high card points needed for a small slam. North bid 3NT, satisfied that a game had been reached at this point.

South was prepared to offer a bit more, however, when she bid 4NT. This was neither a Blackwood bid nor a Roman Key Card Blackwood bid. Instead it was a Quantitative Invitation Bid to go to 6NT. South gave out additional information with this bid: her bid now showed 10 high card points.

With that information and knowing that there were 22 points in her hand and the 10 high card points in the South hand, North realized that a small slam in No Trump was a real possibility. With 32 high card points between them, North placed the contract at 6NT, and all passed. South would play the hand at 6NT.

While most modern players would question the lead of the 4♣, that was the lead from West, hoping to reach his partner with long clubs. The only one he reached was South who counted up the four club tricks, the two diamond tricks, the three heart tricks, and the one spade trick for ten quick tricks. Two more tricks would have to be set up or promoted. South played the four club tricks for the first four tricks, ending in the South hand on the last club winner.

South then led a small spade toward the Q♠ on the board. West snatched the opportunity and pulled in the K♠. Now South would have two spade winners and would need one more trick somewhere. As it turned out, there were multiple ways to win from this point on. With the spades dividing three-three with the opponents, and the hearts dividing three-three as well, it was just a matter of taking the winners. The 10♠ set up as a spade winner, but the 2♥ could also have been promoted into a heart winner.

All in all, South lost just the K♠ and won the other 12 tricks, making the small slam with ease. For their play of the hand, North/South gathered in 990 points and were among the top winners. Those players who stopped at 4NT did not count their points as they should have. The points were there all along, but those North/South players who counted the two hands together reached the optimum contract of 6NT.

While this particular hand was played ten times in a recent competition, only half of the North/South players reached the 6NT contract. How about a New Year’s Resolution for 2015? Count those points; then count them again. Figure out where the missing points are. When you know that you have the right numbers, confidently bid the correct contract. You will be in the winning half of your bridge group. Good luck in 2015.

 

Gerald Stein

December 28, 2014

Number of words: 746