Better Bridge in Barry County July 11 2013

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

 

 

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

 

 

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

West Both Pick it

 

North   2♦ 3♥ 6♣	East   Pass Pass Pass	South 2♣ 3♣ 5♣ Pass	West Pass Pass Pass Pass

In another online duplicate bridge event, South was in awe of her hand. She thought, rightly or not, that this particular hand called for a strong 2♣ opening bid. Normally, a 2♣ bid promises huge points in the 22 plus range. The best that South could count was 17 with two worthless doubletons in spades and diamonds. Nine tricks are possible, but three no trump does not look like a favorable place to park a contract.

With ambitious bidding by South, there is always a danger. What is the danger? The lead, of course, from the West hand is the danger in this hand. What did West choose to lead from this hand at a 6♣ small slam contract? West had heard the bidding as had the rest of the table. Leading away from the honors in spades and diamonds did not sound appealing to West. The hearts had been bid by North so leading away from the Q♥ would be a bad choice. West chose the K♣ as her lead. How did it play out for South?

The K♣ was one of the two leads that helped South to make a small slam in clubs. The bidding was risky, but the play of the hand after the K♣ lead was favorable for South. South took the K♣ with the A♣ and surveyed the dummy. The hearts were certainly appealing, but the lack of entries to use them might prove difficult for South. No problem for South as she began her plan for taking not just twelve tricks but all thirteen tricks. What was the play on the second trick?

South led the K♥ at the second trick and saw a heart from each opponent. So far so good for South. She next led the A♥ and while the Q♥ did not fall, East followed with a heart. The hearts had split 3-2 just as South had hoped for. Using the 9♣ as an entry, South led a small club from her hand and drew the second club from East. Once on the board with the high 9♣, South played a high heart, expecting to trump high in her hand. When East trumped with the 7♣, South overtrumped, and poor West had to play the final heart, the Q♥.

With all trump out, the hearts set up on the board, and an entry via the A♦, South was prepared to claim the rest of the tricks. Making a small slam with an overtrick was a top score for the North/South team with 1390 points on their side of the ledger. They received in a competitive duplicate match 15.5 International Master Points. (IMPS), besting 15 other teams who played the same set of cards.

What about other leads on this hand? What happened if another lead is made instead of the K♣? Leading a small spade, say the 3♠, fourth down from your best suit, would have resulted in down one trick for a plus 100 points for the East/West team. Leading a small diamond, say the 4♦, again the fourth one down in your longest suit, would have resulted in down two tricks for a plus 200 for the East/West team. Leading a heart would not been a good lead for West either, as once South is in with the A♥, she can draw the trumps the same way and still has access to the board via the 9♣ and the A♦.

What about those teams that spurned the club suit and went to a 4♥ contract. Unfortunately, for those North/South teams even with all of those hearts, they will go down two tricks making only eight tricks for a plus 200 for the East/West team.

So, the message to take away from this hand is that the lead by the defender can make all of the difference in the success or the failure of the contract. West listened to the bidding, but it did not help and North/South claimed top spot. That means that East/West gave up the most points and earned the lowest score possible: a zero. With the lead, there is always that chance that as a defender that you will help the declarer succeed, or you will appear brilliant by choosing just the right lead and set the contract for a positive score for your team. What a thing that lead is!

 

Gerald Stein

July 3, 2013

Number of words: 981

Bridge News: Some new bridge classes are beginning to be planned for the fall through Kellogg Community Center and the Kalamazoo Bridge Center. Stay tuned for news about “Learn Bridge in a Day,” “Bidding in the 21^st Century,” and “Defense in the 21^st Century.” Dates and times will be available soon.

 

Better Bridge in Barry County July 4 2013

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

 

 

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

 

 

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

South Both 10♥

 

North   1NT 3♥	East   Pass Pass	South 1♥ 2♠ 4♥	West Pass Pass

In another recent online duplicate bridge tournament, today’s hand showed up. While getting to four hearts seemed rather routine, in competitive games, it is not enough to make the bid. The key to winning the top place in these tournaments is to reach for and obtain the overtricks. That is what happened in today’s hand. Let’s take a look.

South was the dealer and opened with 1♥, choosing the longer six-card heart suit over the five-card spade suit. Both suits were strong suits, and South had a ready bid for his partner North with the second strong suit. North and South played a 1NT response as a forcing bid, showing between 6 and 12 high-card points in the North hand. As it turned out, six high-card points were about all there was in the North hand.

South had planned to bid the spades anyhow, but now the bid of 2♠ was also a forcing bid. This bid is called a Reverse, bidding one suit higher than the first suit so that Responder is forced to bid again. To use a Reverse, opener must have a strong hand with the high-card points and length in the 17-19 point range. South’s hand certainly qualified for a reverse bid.

North went back to South’s original bid of hearts and bid 3♥. North pushed to game and the contract was set at 4♥. The 10♥ was the lead from West, and South surveyed the dummy and his own hand. There appeared to be no losers in the heart suit, a good chance of promoting the spade suit, no diamond loser with the A♦ sitting prettily in the dummy hand, and one club loser. All in all, South was pleased with the bidding and the contract. The play of the hand would determine how many tricks South could win. Mindful of the competitive nature of the tournament, South knew that overtricks would be most valuable to winning this hand.

With the lead of a trump card, South was assured of winning and drawing all of the trumps easily. Instead, South won the first trick with the A♥, and he led a small heart to the Q♥ on the board. Here South stopped to think about needing a trump to take care of a losing spade trick. Knowing that the spades would typically split 3-2, when there are five out against you, the question for South was this: “Do I follow the old bridge adage of “Eight ever, Nine never” when missing the Q♠ and finesse for it? Or do I play the A♠, the K♠ and see what happens?” Most bridge players would follow the tried-and-true method, finesse for the Q♠ and lose it to West.

Not South. This time South on the third trick, knowing that there was still one trump out, but still having one trump on the board, led a small spade from the board and played the A♠ and then immediately after that played the K♠. When South saw the Q♠ fall and East follow with a spade, there was an inner smile floating around in South’s mind. South took the J♥ next, pulling the last trump, and proceeded to play the J♠, capturing the last spade of East. The 5♠ and the 2♠ had been promoted to discard the sad-looking clubs, and South then played all of the hearts as well. The A♦ was the 12^th trick for South, and as he saw at the first trick, the only losing trick was the final club trick losing to the A♣ saved by East.

A number of things happened on this hand. First, even though North/South did not have the requisite number of points for a game in the major, where typically 25-26 points will bring home a game, yet South had two very strong suits that became the method to secure two overtricks on this hand. Second, the proper use of the reverse bid kept the bidding alive, and North was forced to bid a second time choosing his better suit. Third, South chose to ignore a long-established bridge axiom to take the finesse missing the Queen in a suit. Taking the Ace and then the King and hoping for the drop worked this time for South. Was South lucky? Perhaps. But when it all came down to the final analysis, here were the final standings: of the 34 times this hand was played in the duplicate bridge tournament, only one South managed to take twelve out of the 13 tricks for a score of 680. Earning a 100% on one hand is always a high-water mark for a bridge player. South earned that high distinction on today’s hand. Well-done, South.

 

Gerald Stein

June 25, 2013

Number of words: 889

Better Bridge in Barry County June 27 2013

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

 

 

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

 

 

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

East North/South 3♠

 

North   3♥ 6♣	East Pass Pass	South 1♣ 5♣	West Pass Pass

In a recent online duplicate bridge tournament, this hand caused some problems for a number of the tables who played it. Bidding and making a slam are two different things. Sometimes bidding is the key, and sometimes the play of the hand is the key. When both work together, the results can be a top board and a top score. Let’s see what happened with today’s hand.

South opened 1♣ with five clubs and 15 high-card points. Partner North used a splinter bid of 3♥ to show that he was short in hearts and had good support for clubs. With fifteen high-card points, North was certainly encouraging South to bid on. When South leaped to game, North pushed on to a small slam in clubs. Now to make that bid is the rest of the column.

West with a pathetic-looking hand did not have much of a lead although to her credit, she did listen to the bidding and knew that leading a heart when North had announced to the table that he was short in hearts did not make good sense. As a result, West chose the other major and led the fourth down, the 3♠. South played the Q♠ from the dummy, East covered with the K♠, and South won the trick with the A♠. So much for trick one.

South next unblocked the diamond suit by playing the A♦ from his hand. Playing the good J♠ next cleared the spades in the dummy. The 2♠ was led next from South’s hand, and here South played high from the trumps in the dummy, playing the Q♣. Leading the J♣ came next, and East played low. South played low, and the trick held. South was in the right spot to lead again from the dummy with the 10♣, and again East played low. On the third lead of trumps, with the 9♣, East was forced to cough up the K♣, and South played the A♣ winning. The 5♠ from the South hand was led next and was trumped on the board with the last club there, the 6♣. From there it was easy. South played the top diamonds starting with the K♦, the Q♦, and the J♦. South was able to pitch all of the losing hearts, making and claiming all thirteen tricks for a top board on this hand.

All in all, this hand was played a total of 24 times. Only three of the 24 made the top score of all thirteen tricks with a 1390 score. Four of the 24 made a small slam taking twelve tricks for a score of 1370. What are the takeaways from today’s hand? Basically, the best things that a partnership can achieve together are good communication and trust. In today’s hand, South listened to his partner’s bid, and he bid sensibly reaching for a game in a minor suit. North put the partnership into a slam position, and it resulted in an excellent score for the North/South team. Well done, North and South.

 

Gerald Stein

June 21, 2013

Number of words: 651

 

Bridge Notes: By the way, did you notice that if West leads a heart at trick one, the East/West team will win the first trick and limit North/South to twelve tricks instead of thirteen? Bridge is such a fun game!

Better Bridge in Barry County June 20 2013

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

 

 

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

 

 

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

East East/West A♣

 

North   1♠ 3♠ Pass	East 1♦ 2♦ Pass Pass	South Dbl 2♠ 4♠	West 1♥ Pass Pass

Today’s column provides a look at a lot of bidding by everyone at the table. With so much bidding going on, how does the North/South team end up in a game contract in spades? Let’s take a look.

East opened the bidding with a solid five-card diamond suit with thirteen high-card points and one point for length. Certainly that was a legitimate bid as an opener. With a shortage in diamonds, thirteen high-card points and one point for length, South was certainly correct in using the take out double to demand a bid from partner North.

With a weak hand, West elected to bid one heart. The hearts were certainly nothing to write home about, and West probably gave away some valuable information informing the table that she had four hearts and a minimum response in the 6-9 point range.

North with eight high-card points and shortness in clubs gave a one spade bid, promising at least four spades, but some might expect five spades over the one heart bid. At any rate, everyone was in on the bidding frenzy, and it did not stop there.

East continued her quest for diamonds despite not much of a response from West. She bid two diamonds. South countered with a two-spade bid, and gradually the North/South team made it to game at the four-level. With only 21 high-cards between them, it seemed like North/South would have a difficult time making this contract.

East chose the A♣ for her opening lead. Despite an encouraging sign from West with the 7♣, East thought twice about leading a second club at the second trick. A diamond lead came next with the A♦, and East/West had the first two tricks. Did East err on the first two leads in this hand? Let’s back up as it is easy to see that North/South will prevail with ten tricks taken with the defense that East/West proposed. What needs to happen to have East/West as the winning team on this hand?

Just as a declarer needs to have a plan before the first trick is played, so likewise the defenders should be using their time to make a plan to take the setting tricks and gain the upper hand. With everyone bidding and North/South reaching a major game that usually requires 25-26 points, East must stop and remember what she has heard from the bidding. What does East know once the bidding has ended? She knows the following: there are13 high card points in her hand, and probably six in her partner’s hand. That alone should send up a red flag. With 19 points between them, East knows that North/South have overbid and probably only have about 21 high card points. Leading out the aces cannot be the way to set this hand. What is the right move then?

With the laborious arrival at a game in spades (one spade, two spades, three spades, four spades), East should realize that her first lead cries out for a trump lead. South has already informed the table with the take out double that she is short in diamonds. Most likely, North and South each have four spades, and a spade lead each time will deprive North of any chance for extra tricks through ruffing in the dummy. A crossruff will easily hand North/South a game in the spade suit if the trump suit is left undisturbed. East can thwart that plan by her first lead. East chose the 2♠.

North won the trick with the J♠, and she led a small diamond toward the 10♦. East snatched the diamond return with the Q♦, and you guessed it: she led another small spade. North won again with the K♠ and tried another diamond toward the dummy. When East covered the 2♦ with the 4♦, North threw away a small club. West won with the 9♦. West led a heart and North won with the K♥. North next led her singleton 3♣ with East taking with the A♣, and East led a trump a third time, essentially destroying all hope for North of getting a crossruff.

Using this plan of defense, East/West won two diamond tricks and two club tricks because East listened to the bidding and knew that leading trump in this situation would be the most effective defensive strategy. North/South ended up short one trick for a minus fifty points.

The message on this hand is clear: when the auction is a competitive auction and everyone is bidding, there is something wrong. Saving the aces that East had as entries back into her hand was a powerful defensive move and gave the partnership a well-deserved positive score instead of a minus 420. East led the small trumps every chance she could and it paid off. The defenders were the ones celebrating this time.

 

Gerald Stein

June 16, 2013

Number of words: 914