Better Bridge in Barry County
By
Gerald Stein
North
♠ 9 2
♥ Q J 2
♦ K J 10 7 3
♣ J 7 2
|
||
West
♠ A Q 10
♥ 5 3
♦ 6 5 4 2
♣ K 10 6 5
|
East
♠ K 6 4 3
♥ 10 8 7 6 5
♦ 8
♣ A 4 3
|
|
South
♠ J 8 7 5
♥ A K 9
♦ A Q 9
♣ Q 9 8
|
Dealer:
Vulnerable:
Lead:
|
North
East/West
Pick it!
|
North
Pass
2NT
Pass
|
East
Pass
Pass
Pass
|
South
1NT
3NT
|
West
Pass
Pass
|
Captain M. North was once again sitting in his
wicker rocker in his sunroom looking out at the beginnings of a new season. “Ahhhh,
spring is slowly arriving,” he muttered. “Today is the fifteenth of March. The
Ides of March!” His mind reverted to his tenth grade English class and the
tragic tale told by Shakespeare. “Poor Julius Caesar! He should have listened to
his wife. Calpurnia told him, ‘Don’t go to the Senate today!’ He never knew
what hit him when he arrived and saw his old friend Brutus.”
Captain North glanced at today’s hand just then. In
a local pairs game at one of the Kalamazoo duplicate clubs, the North/South
pair never knew what hit them when East/West defended against a 3NT contract. In
what appeared as a straight forward contract, South was the declarer in 3NT.
Listening carefully, however, were the defenders East and West who picked up
valuable information on the bidding from North and South. Just what were they
able to glean from listening to the bidding?
First, East and West knew that North who opened the
bidding was a passed hand. East and West had passed as well, so most of the points
had to be in the South hand. Sure enough, South opened with 1NT, promising a
balanced hand with 15-17 high card points. After a pass by West, North bid 2NT.
This was indeed a telling bid to the defenders. What was the information that East/West
had just picked up on that particular bid?
After a passed hand, North’s 2NT bid meant that she
had 8-9 high card points and a balanced hand. What the defenders inferred was
very meaningful to their defense plan. North chose not to use the Stayman bid
of 2♣, a popular convention that informs partner that she has a four-card major
suit. That did not happen. North had no four card major suits! Nor did North
use a transfer bid to say that she had a five-card major suit. Her suits,
therefore, were in the minors suits of diamonds and clubs. With 16 high card
points, South anticipated making an easy 3NT contract. What a surprise was he
in for!
With the information learned from their bidding,
West had to make the right lead. Did you pick a lead? Normally, in a no trump
contract, the standard lead is the fourth card down from your longest and
strongest suit, hoping to win the race in establishing a long suit to defeat
the contract. This time, however, West took in all of the information learned
from the bidding. With the minors in the North hand, and no four card majors,
someone had to have the majors. West looked at his hand. Leading from the spade
suit would be disastrous. That left only the heart suit as a choice. West hoped
to reach partner East with a heart lead! West led the top of a doubleton, the 5♥!
Captain North looked at the South hand and counted
the winners there. He counted eight winners: three heart tricks and five
diamond tricks. If West had led a club as he was “supposed to,” South would
have established a club winner by playing low and would have claimed the nine
tricks eventually. Instead, South saw that he was in a special mess now. South
tried numerous ways to get an extra trick. He led the 9♠ from the dummy, and
East played low. South let the spade ride all the way to the West hand. West
won the trick with the 10♠. Back came the second heart, the 3♥, and South saw that the East/West defense would get
their five tricks. They would win three spade tricks and two club tricks, and
that is exactly what happened. East/West had defeated the 3NT contract by
taking five tricks.
Captain North nodded appreciatively at the fine
defense that East/West had just performed on a hand that most declarers would
win handily. Of the nine times the hand had been played at the local club, the
lead had been a club each time except two. One defender had led a small
diamond, but the declarer still made the 3NT contract. The only defense pair to
defeat 3NT was this team with the unusual lead of the 5♥.
Captain North smiled at the success of the East/West pair. Instead of Caesar’s “Et,
tu, Brute!” it was the East/West team who claimed “Down one, Declarer.” Captain
North sat back in his rocker. Two Eastern bluebirds were checking out his
nesting boxes. It was going to be a fine spring.
Gerald Stein
March 15, 2015
Number of words: 873
