Better Bridge in Barry County November 12 2015

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

 

 

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

 

 

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

West North/South 10♦

 

North   1♥ 2♥ 3♣ 4♥ 5♥ 6♣ Pass	East   Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass	South   2♣ 2♠ 3♥ 4NT 5NT 7NT	West Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass

In today’s hand, let’s resume our discussion of using a new popular bridge system to reach a quality Grand Slam hand. Using Two over One Game Force, we saw in our last column that the partners may not stop until game has been reached. On some hands, like today’s hand, there is a need to push on to reach the ultimate goal of a Grand Slam contract. How did North/South reach the Grand Slam contract using the Two over One Game Force system?

West passed as the first bidder, and North with 13 total points and five solid hearts opened the bidding at 1♥. East passed, and South with a huge hand began the Two over One Game Force bidding. With no interference from the opponents, South, with 21 total points, bypassed the spade suit to let North know that they could not stop bidding until game had been reached. In this case, South already knew that slam was probably there for the taking. South bid 2♣, the beginning of the Two over One Game force bidding system. A bid at the two-level after opener’s bid in hearts or spades promised at least 13 high card points. North/South, without a need to hurry, would continue bidding until game and/or slam had been reached.

With South as the Responder and the Captain of the partnership on this hand, it was easy for North to rebid her hearts, promising a strong heart suit and an opening hand of 13 points. South now bid the spade suit, telling North that he had five clubs and four spades and for North to continue bidding until they reached the final contract.

North, with three clubs, now bid the club suit at the three-level, promising at least three of them. Now South named the initial heart suit, telling partner North that he had at least three hearts and that hearts would make a good trump suit. North raised to 4♥, and the Two over One Game Force system had gotten them to the game level effectively.

Now South went to work on a slam invitation: bidding 4NT, the Roman Key Card convention, South asked North how many of the five key cards she had. Remember the four aces and the king of trump comprise the five key cards in Roman Key Card. North responded that she had two key cards, the A♥, and the K♥. By bidding 5♥, she also informed South that she did not have the Q♥. South knew that as he had the Q♥ in his hand.

South next bid 5NT informing North that they had all five key cards, and he asked North how many other kings she had. North responded to that with 6♣, saying that she had the K♣. The bid was now up to South. With the knowledge that they had eight hearts between them, all of the stoppers in all suits, and the K♣ and two other clubs to go along with the long clubs in the South hand, South debated whether to put the contract at 7♥ or 7NT. Since his was the stronger of the two hands with 21 total points, South opted to play the hand in 7NT. All passed, and West tabled the 10♦ as her opening lead.

When North placed her cards down on the table, South began his plan immediately. He counted five heart tricks with a 3-2 break; five club tricks with a 3-2 break; one diamond trick with the A♦, and two spade tricks with the A♠ and the K♠. Thirteen tricks were there if all worked as he had planned.

At a glance, it is easy to see that the hearts and the clubs split 3-2 as he had hoped. That accounted for ten tricks. The A♦ and the two winning spade tricks added the last three tricks to make the thirteen tricks needed to make a Grand Slam. With a vulnerable side, North/South scored 2220 points for their successful bidding and making the Grand Slam in no trump. South realized that 7♥ would also have made easily on this hand.

The takeaways are as follows for this hand: Using Two over One Game Force, North/South realized at South’s first bid that they would not stop until they had at least reached game. There was no hurry, and the confidence of each partner in communicating the information in each hand went smoothly and efficiently to reach the ultimate goal in bidding: 7NT. The advantage of using Two Over One Game Force works well when the opponents do not interfere with the bidding. In this case, North and South had only to use the tools of their new system to reach the Grand Slam contract. Give Two over One Game Force a try, and see if improves yours and your partner’s bidding in future bridge games. Best wishes playing bridge in Barry County.

 

Gerald Stein

November 8, 2015

Number of words: 1041

 

Bridge notes: As reported last time, the American Contract Bridge League has a free site for learning how to play Two Over One Game Force as well as many other conventions that you may wish to add to your bridge playing. Go to www.learn2playbridge.com/editor/game3/1343.

Final Bridge Notes: After almost four years and 178 bridge columns, I am saying goodbye to this column and the Banner. It has been a most enjoyable time writing bridge columns and encouraging bridge players to improve their bridge game. Best wishes to all bridge players everywhere! Gerald Stein, Better Bridge in Barry County columnist. November 12, 2015.