Better Bridge in Barry County July 29 2015

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

 

 

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

 

 

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

East Both A♠

 

North   1♦ ?	East Pass 1♠	South 1♣ 3♣	West Pass Pass

Duplicate Bridge Scoring Part Two

 

In a recent duplicate bridge tournament held in Lansing, this hand came up and was played numerous times with varying degrees of success. In duplicate bridge, the object is always to make the best score with the cards that you have been dealt. Your opponents have also received the same cards as others so the element of luck is removed, and the true test is how well you can do with the cards that you hold in your hand.

In this particular hand, East as the dealer had ten  high card points; South had eleven; West had eight, and North had eleven. This was not a hand to get too excited about as everyone soon realized that the points had been distributed fairly evenly among the four hands. It was up to North/South with the preponderance of points to make something happen.

After East the dealer passed, South had a tough decision. Should she with eleven high card points and a void in spades open the bidding with 3♣’s? Some did exactly that, and the hand was passed out, and the contract was 3♣’s in the South. Today’s South, however, was a bit tournament-savvy, and so she opened 1♣ planning to jump her next bid. After West passed with his eight points, North bid 1♦ bidding up the line and promising at least four diamonds and at least six points. Perhaps, North should have bid differently, but who knows what to do in a tournament some times?

East wanted to let his partner know about his decent spades, so he overcalled 1♠. This gave his partner some kind of idea for a lead, and the bid was justified with five spades and ten points at the one level. South now jumped to 3♣’s as she had planned showing seven clubs and extra points, mainly with the new information about the spades being in the opponents’ hands. West wanted to bid but with the vulnerability status, 3♠ was too high. West passed.

Now it was up to North. He had promised at least six high card points, but now he knew more about his partner’s hand and that she had a lot of clubs. While he does not have much help in clubs, he does have two aces, one in hearts and one in diamonds. What should North have bid at this point? Should North pass and play the hand at 3♣’s? Should North name another suit? What would it be? Should North bid 3NT without a stopper in spades? Should North have bid 4NT asking for aces and a slam try?

In reality, North failed his partner by passing the jumped bid. The bid, of course, is the 4NT bid asking for aces. South would have responded 5♦ that she had one ace, and North would have placed the contract at 6♣. Does the contract make at 6♣’s? Of course it does, and North/South would have claimed the highest score on that hand by making a small slam and gathering in a first place finish by scoring 120 for the game score, 500 for the vulnerable game bonus, and 750 for the small slam in a minor suit for a score of 1370.

How did those who passed the jump bid do in comparison? Three teams did exactly that and scored five tricks for a score of 100 plus the part score of 50 for 150. Of course, it is easy to see that they failed to come even close to those who ventured on to the small slam. For their efforts, they were awarded the lowest score on this hand. They did very poorly.

For those who bid game and scored 620 or even 660, they were rewarded for their making more points than those who stopped short of game. They were near the top of the scores on this hand.

Some pairs worked hard to get an extra trick making six clubs even though they had not bid the game nor the slam. For making six without bidding game, they scored 170, a twenty-point gain which is better than those who made five and a 150 score. They scored in the middle of the group instead of the bottom level.

What are the takeaways about scoring in Duplicate Bridge? Bid the right contract and make it! This will give you the best chance on this particular hand. Of course, you need to do that consistently, as you will play 24 or 25 hands of bridge, and you hope to score at least 50% or better on the 24 or 25 hands. Secondly, even if you fail to bid the right contract, try to take as many tricks as you can to make up for failing to bid the right contract. Sometimes, an extra trick or two will propel you into a better score than just taking the apparent tricks. Of course, you must also realize that you will defend half of the time as well as declare. So you have twelve boards to make things happen for your team.

Try playing Duplicate Bridge as a chance to see how you can be competitive in the bridge world. You will soon find that you are looking for the best contracts and the best ways to take all the tricks that you can. You will find that you will become a better bridge player and not just a lucky bridge player. Best wishes.

 

Gerald Stein

July 25, 2015

Number of words: 1016