Thursday, August 6, 2015

Better Bridge in Barry County August 20 2015


Better Bridge in Barry County


By Gerald Stein

 

 

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

 

 

Dealer:
Vulnerable:
Lead:
South
North/South
A

 

North
 
Pass
2
Dbl.
 
East
 
1
2♠
Pass
South
Pass
1
4
Pass
West
1♣
1♠
4♠
Pass
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

In a recent hand taken from an American Contract Bridge League tournament in Lansing, there was fierce competition for the final contract. With East/West not vulnerable, it seemed a smart move on their part to push on to 4♠. After all, East/West had 23 high card points between them and had a fit in a major suit. North/South with only 17 high card points also made a valiant attempt to reach a game in hearts. With two singletons in the South hand and one in the North hand, they were fairly assured of making the 4 contract. East/West did not allow the North/South pair to steal the contract and take away a 620 point gain. Instead, they were willing to go set one or two tricks as a sacrifice bid.

It did not take North/South to realize that knocking out the trump suit might be the best defensive move. According, after North took the first two heart tricks with the A and the K, there was no reason to lead another heart and let West use one of his eight trumps and throw away a loser card. However, wisely North shifted to his singleton diamond on the third trick instead of leading a spade. South put up the 7, and West won the trick with the Q. It was obvious to South that North had led his singleton diamond after winning the first two heart tricks. North wanted a diamond return for a ruff and down at least one trick.

West was in a dilemma now with the trump suit. Should she lead out trumps or play off the minor suits. West chose to lead a small trump to the 10♠ on the board. South took her A♠ and promptly led a diamond back to North. North trumped with the 4♠ for down one. North led a club and let West work the minor suits. It did not take West long to realize that North would also win another trump suit with either the 9♠ or the Q♠ for down two doubled.

In competitive auctions in duplicate bridge, there is often the opportunity to sacrifice going down two tricks not vulnerable for a minus 300 points for East/West. They did well to compete to 4♠, even at a doubled contract as they gave up 300 points in going down, but had they allowed North/South to play their contract in 4, they would have been sorry to have given up 620 points to North/South when North/South brought home the contract. Of course, the singletons in the North/South hands would have given them the advantage of making the 4 contract.

All in all, duplicate bridge is an exciting and pleasurable way to play bridge. Because each hand is scored independently, it is easy to see that if one board does not go your way, just wait until the next board arrives shortly. You can start afresh every eight minutes, the average time it takes to play a hand of duplicate bridge.

Gerald Stein

August 2, 2015

Number of words: 748

 

Bridge Notes: Are you interested in learning about duplicate bridge and playing it either at home or in a club? Nearby clubs include clubs in Battle Creek, Grand Rapids, Lansing, and Kalamazoo. Most of the clubs offer a variety of times for players to enjoy competitive bridge, with most of the games in the daylight hours. Club games are not the only ways to play duplicate bridge: Tournaments called Sectionals, Regionals, and National Tournaments are held in cities around the United States. Many players make these tournaments as vacation destinations, playing bridge as well as site seeing or even fishing for walleye in Lake of the Woods, Ontario. If interested or if you would like more information, visit the Home Page for the American Contract Bridge League website: www.acbl.org for lots of information and free downloads.

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