Better Bridge in Barry County June 14 2012

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

	North ♠ 7543 ♥ K987 ♦ A53 ♣ K2
West ♠ KQ6 ♥ 10642 ♦ K84 ♣ 754		East ♠ 109 ♥ QJ53 ♦ 762 ♣ QJ96
	South ♠ AJ82 ♥ A ♦ QJ109 ♣ A1083

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

West None 2♥

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

Captain M. North surveyed the deck of his pride and  joy. The Barry County Bridge Barge was all set to leave shortly from the Charlton Park Pier. What was he missing? Or who was he missing? This nagged at the captain as he set about aligning chairs and tables for the trip down the mighty Thornapple River for the weekly cruise and bridge tournament.

Just then two of the bridge players prepared to board the BCBB for the afternoon’s session. Rosy and Vera, two experienced players, were bouncing up the gangplank. “Oh, Captain North! We are so glad to see you!”

Captain North looked up with a smile. “Of course! Rosy and Vera! Where have you two been the last couple of weeks? We all missed you and your bubbling personalities.” “Captain North, you say that to all of the ladies,” retorted Rosy. But the Captain could see that they were happy to be back. “Where have you two been recently?” he asked.

The Captain realized too late that he had asked the fatal question. Now he was a captive as Rosy and Vera pulled up empty chairs, and he knew that they would tell all. He shrugged and smiled. “Fire away,” said the Captain.

“Oh, Captain North, we have had the best vacation ever!” started Vera, with a huge smile. “We left Barry County for the northern-most regions of the Upper Peninsula.” “Da Yooper!” giggled Rosa, and they broke into laughter. Captain North waited.

“Yes,” interjected Rosy, “we wanted to play bridge in another state so we went to the Upper Peninsula to a huge bridge tournament near a town called Escanaba. You may have heard of it?” Before the captain could respond, Vera said, “Youbetcha!’ and they again broke into peals of laughter.

Regaining their composure, Vera and Rosy continued with their northern adventure. “We went to the north to play in the WUMBA tournament. It’s an old Indian word for Wisconsin Upper Michigan Bridge Association, and they run the tournament for a week up there. Can you imagine?” The Captain sat still.

“Well, we had a wonderful time, and we found one bridge hand that we just had to share with you. Here it is,” and Rosy pulled out today’s hand. “The bidding was quite extraordinary as you imagine, Captain North.” “Yes,” said Vera, “imagine getting all the way to a six spade contract with that hand, eh?”

The Captain looked over the hand in question. “Hmmm…the North-South team doesn’t seem to have enough points for a small slam hand. How did they…?” But he was too late. Rosy and Vera were ready for him. “Captain North, we will tell you how it happened.”

“West led the safe 2♥ for an opening lead. South took the A♥,  having made her plan. There looked to be definite losers in the spade trump suit. Wouldn’t you agree, Captain North?” asked Rosy. The Captain could only nod.

“From then on, South was in charge all the way. She led the 9♦, the 10♦, and the J♦ finally capturing West’s K♦ with the A♦ in the dummy. South then played the K♥ and threw away the good Q♦. Imagine that!” said Rosy.

“Then, Captain North, South called for the K♣ and played a small club from her hand. She led a small heart from the dummy and trumped it in her hand with 2♠. She then led the A♣ from her hand and played the small club from the dummy. She then led the 8♣ from her hand and trumped it on the board with the 3♠. She then led the 9♥ from the dummy and trumped it in hand with 8♠.” Here Rosy paused to catch her breath. Her eyes were dancing with excitement.

Vera continued, “This is the best part, Captain North. Did you notice South has not drawn one trump yet?” Captain North could only nod. “South then led her last club planning to trump on the board. West is in a predicament with K♠, Q♠, and 6♠. If she trumps with the 6♠, then South will call for the 7♠ on the board. So just what did West do, Captain North?”

The Captain waited. Rosy jumped in immediately. “West put up the Q♠ and took the trick, but now she is in a no-win situation. She was stuck in an end-play. She led the 6♠, with everyone following to South’s J♠ which won the trick. South’s A♠ took the 12^th and final trick, making the six spade small slam! How about that, Captain North!”

The Captain rose from his seat. “Congratulations, Rosy and Vera. Who of you played South on this hand?” They both began to giggle immediately. “Oh, Captain North, neither of us played that hand. We found it on the hand records after the tournament, and we thought you might like to hear about this hand that we didn’t play.” They broke into laughter.

The Captain was speechless. “Oh Captain. We also stopped at the Fort Michilimackinac once we crossed the bridge. We wanted to enlist in the British army, but they told us we were “trolls” because we lived under the bridge, and that we couldn’t cut the mustard. I think they were wrong.” Both Vera and Rosy started laughing again. The Captain walked away shaking his head once again. “Welcome back, Rosy and Vera,” was all he could muster.

Recent answers to Bridge questions: “To cut one’s leg off” in bridge lingo means that your opponents have won a game and your part score was eliminated.

“A Golden Fit” in Bridge lingo means that you and your partner have an eight-card or more trump fit.

Today’s question: What does it mean to “cut the muster”?

Gerald Stein

June 7 2012 Number of words 1037

Better Bridge in Barry County June 7 2012

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

	North ♠ 42 ♥ QJ9865 ♦ KQ42 ♣ 9
West ♠ KJ95 ♥ 102 ♦ 8 ♣ AQ10432		East ♠ Q10876 ♥ A3 ♦ 1097 ♣ J86
	South ♠ A3 ♥ K74 ♦ AJ653 ♣ K75

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

South East-West Pick it

North 2H 4H	East 2S Pass	South 1NT 3H Pass	West 2C 3S Pass

After a competitive auction, the North-South team in today’s hand arrived at a Four Heart contract. With an opening bid of 1NT by South (15-17 high card points and a stopper in every suit), the North-South team seemed to have the edge in the auction. North knew that his partner had at least two hearts in his hand to make the no trump bid, so the North-South team was extremely confident that they had a Golden Fit in hearts with six hearts in the north hand, and three in the south hand.

Conversely, the East-West team, while trying to compete in this auction, was either outgunned or frightened off by the one no trump opening bid by South. This team too had a Golden Fit in two suits: spades and clubs with nine cards in spades and nine cards in clubs. The four heart bid eliminated the four club bid, which, by the way, can make four clubs in the East-West hands.

That leaves the only open bid for the East-West team at four spades, but with unfavorable vulnerability, it appeared that the East-West team was unwilling to go for the four spade bid even though it might have been a good sacrifice to do so.

Looking at the total points in the four hands, it is not too difficult to see East-West’s thinking on the bidding from their perspective. What was known from the first bid was that South had at least 15 high card points. West, with a fine six-card club suit was well-situated to overcall in clubs and enter the bidding war with ten high card points, two more length points plus a singleton in diamonds and a doubleton in hearts. West was comfortable with her bid.

North entered the bidding next with a free response bid of two hearts, having six hearts, eight high card points, and shortness in clubs and spades. North knew that no trump would not be a good contract and steered the auction to a heart contract.  East, then, used the spade bid as a way to enter the bidding and to let his partner know that he had at least five spades, seven high card points, and shortness in hearts.

Looking, then, at the total number of points spread around the table, it is easy to see that the North-South team has the preponderance of points with 23 high card points and a good fit in hearts. However, the East-West team, even though they have a club fit and a spade fit, can muster only 17 high card points, a far cry from the 25-26 points needed for a game in a major suit.

Interestingly, the contract was won out by the North-South team, and they can make four hearts easily indeed if they are handed the contract by the East-West team. If they take an extra trick at this contract, due to poor defense by the East-West team, they will do even better, and they will win the majority of points on this hand.

Unfortunately for the East-West team, even though they had only 17 high card points, they are the self-inflicted victims here of non-aggressive bidding. For, it is clear to all that the East-West team can prevail at four spades. The team will lose one spade, the Ace of spades; they will lose one heart trick, since they have the Ace of hearts to cover the other loser; and they will lose one diamond trick. True, East will have to finesse the King of clubs, but that is a given with the one no trump bidding by South. All in all, the East-West team, thinking that they should not sacrifice because of the unfavorable vulnerability, missed a game that could have put them on the top of the list on that hand instead of at the bottom. Bridge is a bidding game. Bid and you will see that aggressive bidding is the norm in today’s bridge world.

Bridge Question for this week: What is meant by a Golden Fit in bridge lingo?

Gerald Stein

May 30, 2012

Number of words 750

Better Bridge in Barry County May 31 2012

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

	North ♠ K7 ♥ 986 ♦ AQ973 ♣ J95
West ♠ J95 ♥ J10752 ♦ K2 ♣ 632		East ♠ A10863 ♥ Q4 ♦ 8 ♣ KQ874
	South ♠ Q42 ♥ AK3 ♦ J10654 ♣ A10

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

West Both ♠ J

North Pass 3 D	East 1 S Pass	South 2 D Pass	West Pass Pass Pass

 In today’s column, let us look at a bad contract for North-South. With a 10-card fit in diamonds, the North-South team was content to play at three diamonds. Although they make three diamonds easily, they received a bad score compared to the other teams playing the same cards at other tables. What happened? Were they frightened off by East who bid one spade in third seat? For third position, most players know that they can open a bit lighter than the normal opening bid of 13 points. Is that what happened here? Let us see.

East indeed did open a bit light, but to her credit, it was a good bid with 11 high card points and one for length. While her spades are not the best, a knowledgeable bridge player knows that if she doesn’t get the bid, at least her partner will have a lead to her spades. The lead indeed was the jack of spades from her partner.

Where then did the North-South team go wrong? South has a solid 14 high card points in his hand and one for length in the diamond suit. His 2 diamond bid is a bit ragged with jack high, but at least we give him credit for bidding. West with five high card points and one for length might have ventured a two-spade bid, showing at least three spades and a minimum hand, and at some tables that is exactly what happened. At other tables, West passed without much effort.

North with ten high card points and one for length supported the diamond bid by bidding three diamonds. The contract is set at three diamonds played by South. What did North-South miss?

Counting the points in the North-South hand, it is easy to see that they have a total count of twenty-five points, enough in these bridge days to bid and make game in three different strains: spades, hearts, and no trump. There are definitely not enough points to make game in diamonds where twenty-nine points usually are needed for the five-diamond bid, yet, on this hand, five diamonds is a possible game. What North-South missed, even though there was an intimidating bid by the East-West team in spades, was a game in three no trump. Who missed the game for North-South? Or was it impossible to find?

It appears that this is where a partnership agreement needs to be firmly established. Instead of being content to play three diamonds for a part score and, in this case, a decidedly poor score compared to others, it is up to the Responder to suggest no trump. A cue bid of two spades by North if West does not bid, or a cue bid of three spades by North if West does support her partner’s opening spade bid promises a limit raise of 10-11 points in the North hand. Or, alternately, North can bid two no trump, and North would play the hand as declarer in no trump. That is all that South needs to hear. With his 14 points and 10-11 points in his partner’s hand, it is easy for South to bid three no trump. Will it make?

Three no trump by South (or North) will make all day long. With the jack of spades lead by West, South pauses and counts his winners. Five diamond tricks (a finesse is needed), one spade trick, two heart tricks, and one club trick will bring home the three no trump contract. Was it a risky bid for North-South to make? With some help in the spade suit (the king of spades), good diamonds, North can turn a safe three diamond contract into an invitation for South to consider and play the contract in three no trump. Instead of a bottom score, which is what they received for making three diamonds, they could have had the top score by bidding and making three no trump. Whenever there is a fit in a minor suit, consider playing the contract in no trump. You will be surprised at your success and your top score to boot.

Gerald Stein

April 28, 2012

757 words

Better Bridge in Barry County May 24 2012

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

	North ♠ A5 ♥ KQ7 ♦ A94 ♣ KQ1062
West ♠ QJ9762 ♥ 109 ♦ J108 ♣ 94		East ♠ K84 ♥ 84 ♦ K7632 ♣ J73
	South ♠ 103 ♥ AJ6532 ♦ Q5 ♣ A85

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

South Both Q♠

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

Today’s column features a hand that came up recently in a nearby duplicate bridge tournament where the same hand was played 11 times at 11 different tables. Of the 11 contracts bid and played, only four reached the small slam contract. The seven other pairs reached game in hearts, but they missed the slam opportunity. What happened to those teams? Why did they not reach the slam hand?

South opened the bidding with a solid six-card heart suit, and another ace in the club suit. North has the big hand on this deal, and he is the captain of the team. He will place the contract, right or wrong, at what he feels is the appropriate level. That is how the game of bridge is played: partnership agreements mean everything.

North has two options on his first bid: he can go slowly, bidding two clubs informing his partner that he has at least ten points and a good five-card club suit. He plans to bid again as this is a forcing bid, and he is an un-passed hand. He expects his partner to continue the bidding. His second option on his first bid is to make a strong jump shift bid of three clubs, informing his partner that he has 17-19 points, and he is thinking of a slam hand.

The first option gives South a chance to rebid his hearts, informing North that he has six hearts and a minimum hand. Not much more than an opening hand is his message to his partner. The second option opens his eyes a bit as he knows that the partnership could be looking at a slam opportunity. However, he is not the Captain of the team, but only the opener. It is up to the Captain to place the contract.

North’s second bid uses the Blackwood Convention to ask for aces in his partner’s hand. He is, indeed, taking the captaincy role to heart. South duly responds with five hearts, informing his partner that he has two aces, the two that North does not have. It now comes down to the final decision for North: to go or not to go to six hearts. Four of the eleven teams found the right bid by plunking down the six hearts card from their bidding boxes, and South played the hand at six hearts.

The results were in shortly when South took all thirteen tricks on the opening lead of the Queen of spades. Taking the ace of spades, drawing two rounds of trump, and running all the clubs, discarding the diamond and spade losers, and cashing the ace of diamonds makes seven hearts all day long. In fact, on this hand, not only is seven hearts a good contract, but North-South can make seven no trump and seven clubs with the same cards. Ironically, they could only make one spade and two diamonds if those suits were trump.

The final thought about this hand is this: when in doubt, bid it! Seven teams played it safe at four hearts and made seven. Four teams bid the slam and took the top boards, taking all thirteen tricks and claiming the best hand of the afternoon. Bridge is not a game for the faint-hearted. It is a competition, and those who linger on the sidelines are lost to those who bid and take their chances. Go ahead and bid! You may go down, but at least you will have given it a good shot!

Gerald Stein

Number of words: 661

May 22, 2012