Better Bridge in Barry County March 15 2015

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