Better Bridge in Barry County March 15 2015

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

 

 

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

 

 

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

North East/West Pick it!

 

North Pass 2NT Pass	East Pass Pass Pass	South 1NT 3NT	West Pass Pass

Captain M. North was once again sitting in his wicker rocker in his sunroom looking out at the beginnings of a new season. “Ahhhh, spring is slowly arriving,” he muttered. “Today is the fifteenth of March. The Ides of March!” His mind reverted to his tenth grade English class and the tragic tale told by Shakespeare. “Poor Julius Caesar! He should have listened to his wife. Calpurnia told him, ‘Don’t go to the Senate today!’ He never knew what hit him when he arrived and saw his old friend Brutus.”

Captain North glanced at today’s hand just then. In a local pairs game at one of the Kalamazoo duplicate clubs, the North/South pair never knew what hit them when East/West defended against a 3NT contract. In what appeared as a straight forward contract, South was the declarer in 3NT. Listening carefully, however, were the defenders East and West who picked up valuable information on the bidding from North and South. Just what were they able to glean from listening to the bidding?

First, East and West knew that North who opened the bidding was a passed hand. East and West had passed as well, so most of the points had to be in the South hand. Sure enough, South opened with 1NT, promising a balanced hand with 15-17 high card points. After a pass by West, North bid 2NT. This was indeed a telling bid to the defenders. What was the information that East/West had just picked up on that particular bid?

After a passed hand, North’s 2NT bid meant that she had 8-9 high card points and a balanced hand. What the defenders inferred was very meaningful to their defense plan. North chose not to use the Stayman bid of 2♣, a popular convention that informs partner that she has a four-card major suit. That did not happen. North had no four card major suits! Nor did North use a transfer bid to say that she had a five-card major suit. Her suits, therefore, were in the minors suits of diamonds and clubs. With 16 high card points, South anticipated making an easy 3NT contract. What a surprise was he in for!

With the information learned from their bidding, West had to make the right lead. Did you pick a lead? Normally, in a no trump contract, the standard lead is the fourth card down from your longest and strongest suit, hoping to win the race in establishing a long suit to defeat the contract. This time, however, West took in all of the information learned from the bidding. With the minors in the North hand, and no four card majors, someone had to have the majors. West looked at his hand. Leading from the spade suit would be disastrous. That left only the heart suit as a choice. West hoped to reach partner East with a heart lead! West led the top of a doubleton, the 5♥!

Captain North looked at the South hand and counted the winners there. He counted eight winners: three heart tricks and five diamond tricks. If West had led a club as he was “supposed to,” South would have established a club winner by playing low and would have claimed the nine tricks eventually. Instead, South saw that he was in a special mess now. South tried numerous ways to get an extra trick. He led the 9♠ from the dummy, and East played low. South let the spade ride all the way to the West hand. West won the trick with the 10♠. Back came the second heart, the 3♥, and South saw that the East/West defense would get their five tricks. They would win three spade tricks and two club tricks, and that is exactly what happened. East/West had defeated the 3NT contract by taking five tricks.  

Captain North nodded appreciatively at the fine defense that East/West had just performed on a hand that most declarers would win handily. Of the nine times the hand had been played at the local club, the lead had been a club each time except two. One defender had led a small diamond, but the declarer still made the 3NT contract. The only defense pair to defeat 3NT was this team with the unusual lead of the 5♥. Captain North smiled at the success of the East/West pair. Instead of Caesar’s “Et, tu, Brute!” it was the East/West team who claimed “Down one, Declarer.” Captain North sat back in his rocker. Two Eastern bluebirds were checking out his nesting boxes. It was going to be a fine spring.

 

Gerald Stein

March 15, 2015

Number of words: 873

 

 

Better Bridge in Barry County February 15 2015

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

 

 

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

 

 

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

West North/South 4♦

 

North   Pass 2♠ 3♠	East   1♦ 3♦ Pass	South   1♠ Pass Pass	West 1♣ Dbl. Pass Pass

Captain M. North stared gloomily out of his sunroom window. The wind was howling; the temperatures were below zero; the wind chill was dangerously cold; and spring was a long way off. Even the birds were hiding and not allowing him to participate in the Great Bird Count for this year. “Winter in Barry County is tough,” he muttered to himself. His mind wandered back to the warmer days of last summer and the bridge cruises on the Thornapple River. “Ahhhh,” he thought. “Now that is a pleasant memory.” He dug into his stack of papers by his favorite rocker. There he found just what he was looking for: one of the hands that had given his bridge-playing group fits last summer. Today was just the time to take a look at why it had been so difficult for so many of the bridge players.

Captain North looked over the hands, and he noticed that there was a lot of bidding going on by all four of the players. East and West were looking for a part score in the minor suits, and South with the best hand at the table took a look at his spade suit, and at fourth seat overcalled 1♠. After a double by West, North came to life with four spades and a little help and pushed them to reach a 3♠ contract. Captain North looked at all four hands again and noticed that the high card points were split evenly between the two teams. Each pair had exactly twenty points. South would have a tough time making three spades with only twenty high card points.

West on lead tabled the 4♦. South thanked his partner and looked at the resources. While there were four spades in the North hand, there was not much else to help out. Before South did anything, he stopped to make his plan. East had bid the diamonds, so East probably had the K♦ since South could see the A♦ on the board and the Q♦ in his hand. Accordingly, South played a low diamond from the North hand, and sure enough, East gobbled up the diamond lead with the K♦. “That was a key play,” thought Captain North. By playing low, South now had two diamond tricks instead of just the one if he had put up the A♦. Still, there was a trump issue to worry about.

East on lead remembered his partner’s opening bid of 1♣, and sent the 8♣ through South to his partner. Again, South played second hand low, and saw his 10♣ lose to the J♣. “That was another key play,” thought the Captain. “Those clubs might come in handy later on.”

West seemed to be in a hurry to make something happen, so he led out the A♠. All he saw was small spades fall all around. Hesitant to start the heart suit, West then chose to underlead his K♣ and led the 7♣ right into South’s waiting Q♣. Captain North smiled. “South had to be happy with that lead,” he thought.

Next, South led the K♠ and saw a spade from West but a diamond discard from East. West would still get his Q♠ later on. Rather than take two of his trumps for one of West’s, South elected to use his good Q♦ next. “Ahhhh…” thought Captain North. “That was another key play for South.”

South then played the A♣ from his hand, dropping the K♣ from the West hand. “That too was a smart play!” Captain North had forgotten all about the awful weather outside. This was becoming an interesting hand. Would South make his contract after all?

With his work now done in his hand, South led a small spade from his hand, allowing West to win with the Q♠. True, he had to give up two for one, but now West had to lead back a heart. South won the return in his hand with the A♥, and then he led a small spade from his hand to the J♠ on the board. Now Captain North was captivated. “Nice move,” he muttered. In the North hand, South then led the good A♦ and promptly discarded one of his losing hearts from his hand. Still in the North hand, South then led the good 9♣ and discarded his other losing heart. “Well, done!” exclaimed Captain North, the howling wind and blowing blizzard long forgotten. The last trick, of course, would be won by South in his hand with the last good spade, the 10♠.

Captain North let out a contented sigh. He could now see why the hand had been so difficult for many of the players last summer on the Barry County Bridge Barge’s weekly trip down the Thornapple River. There were nine tricks there for the taking, and a sharp South had found just the right moves to get all of the needed tricks and make the contract. “Now, if only I could find the right moves to make this bad weather go away!” Captain North resumed staring out the sunroom windows. There were no birds in sight.

 

Gerald Stein

Number of words: 963

February 15, 2015

Better Bridge in Barry County January 8 2015

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

 

 

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

 

 

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

North Neither 4♣

 

North 2♣ 3NT 6NT	East Pass Pass Pass	South 2NT 4NT Pass	West Pass Pass Pass

In today’s hand, North had a dilemma. After the invitation to go to a small slam in No Trump, her concern was whether to go on to 6NT or stay at 4NT. Here is where our counting practice would have helped make that decision easier. Let’s take a look at today’s hand.

When North opened with another big hand, she knew that the best way to reach game with such a hand was to open the strong 2♣ bid. Since that is a forcing bid, North felt confident that a game would and should be reached. With 22 high card points, North only needed a small amount of help from partner South. Imagine her surprise when South responded with 2NT, a positive response promising at least 8 high card points and a balanced hand. That was just what North was hoping to hear.

North counted the points and came up with the 22 in her hand and the 8 in the South hand. She could count to 30, quite a distance from the 33 high card points needed for a small slam. North bid 3NT, satisfied that a game had been reached at this point.

South was prepared to offer a bit more, however, when she bid 4NT. This was neither a Blackwood bid nor a Roman Key Card Blackwood bid. Instead it was a Quantitative Invitation Bid to go to 6NT. South gave out additional information with this bid: her bid now showed 10 high card points.

With that information and knowing that there were 22 points in her hand and the 10 high card points in the South hand, North realized that a small slam in No Trump was a real possibility. With 32 high card points between them, North placed the contract at 6NT, and all passed. South would play the hand at 6NT.

While most modern players would question the lead of the 4♣, that was the lead from West, hoping to reach his partner with long clubs. The only one he reached was South who counted up the four club tricks, the two diamond tricks, the three heart tricks, and the one spade trick for ten quick tricks. Two more tricks would have to be set up or promoted. South played the four club tricks for the first four tricks, ending in the South hand on the last club winner.

South then led a small spade toward the Q♠ on the board. West snatched the opportunity and pulled in the K♠. Now South would have two spade winners and would need one more trick somewhere. As it turned out, there were multiple ways to win from this point on. With the spades dividing three-three with the opponents, and the hearts dividing three-three as well, it was just a matter of taking the winners. The 10♠ set up as a spade winner, but the 2♥ could also have been promoted into a heart winner.

All in all, South lost just the K♠ and won the other 12 tricks, making the small slam with ease. For their play of the hand, North/South gathered in 990 points and were among the top winners. Those players who stopped at 4NT did not count their points as they should have. The points were there all along, but those North/South players who counted the two hands together reached the optimum contract of 6NT.

While this particular hand was played ten times in a recent competition, only half of the North/South players reached the 6NT contract. How about a New Year’s Resolution for 2015? Count those points; then count them again. Figure out where the missing points are. When you know that you have the right numbers, confidently bid the correct contract. You will be in the winning half of your bridge group. Good luck in 2015.

 

Gerald Stein

December 28, 2014

Number of words: 746

Better Bridge in Barry County January 1 2015

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

 

 

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

 

 

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

North East/West 10♥

 

North 1♣ 2♥ ?	East Pass Pass Pass	South 1♥ 3♣ Pass	West Pass Pass Pass

In today’s hand, let’s continue the idea of counting to reach the very best contract we can with the cards that we have been dealt. Today’s North opened the bidding with a 1♣, promising as usual at least three clubs and an opening count of at least 12 high card points. With no interference from East/West, South bid 1♥, promising at least four hearts and at least 6 high card points. That is a long way from a game, however, where the partnership needs 25-26 total points to make a game in the majors or in no trump. Today, let’s look at a way that partnerships can work together to give more information and arrive at that ideal contract.

North knew from South’s bid that she had at least 4 hearts and at least 6 high card points. With her 13 high card points, it did not appear to North that there were enough points to arrive at a game contract in the heart suit. North bid a conservative 2♥ and awaited South’s response.

With extras, however, South bid 3♣. She was not trying to find a different trump suit. That had already been established with the support by North that hearts would be the trump suit. Instead, through their partnership agreement, South used a strategy to inform North that she had help in the club suit. Called “Help Suit Game Try,” South informed North that while the trump suit would be hearts, would it be 3♥ or 4♥? Help Suit Game Try works like this: South bid 3♣ to inform North that she had support for clubs as well as the heart suit. Two suits are better than one.

South’s 3♣ bid was a forcing bid to 3♥ at least. With extras, North was to take the partnership to game in 4♥. With 13 high card points, and at least 2-3 points for the singleton diamond, North saw the light and bid the 4♥ contract. All passed, and South prepared to play the 4♥ contract.

West saw little hope in her lead and chose a trump lead, the 10♥. South drew the trumps in three rounds, and ended up in her hand. Playing the Q♣ produced the K♣, and three rounds of clubs were played in succession all winning for South. South next played the A♦, trumped a diamond in the dummy and then played the spade suit. East/West won the A♠ and K♠ for their two tricks while North/South made game with eleven tricks and a 450 point score.

The key to this hand was the Help Suit Game Try employed by the partnership. This kind of bidding is important to add to your bridge bag of conventions as it helps to remove the doubts of whether you go on to game in a major or stop at the 3♥ level. Many who played this hand were able to make use of the Help Suit Game Try, and the partners confidently moved to the 4♥ level. Those who did not have the Help Suit Game Try as part of their bidding agreement were left to guess whether to go on or to stop at a part score.

Bridge is a game of conversations. In this way, North and South were able to relay information that was important to reach the major game contract. For their efforts, they ended up in a solid game in the major suit even though their high card points only added up to 24. They were able to use the second suit as a support suit to take additional tricks and make the contract. Without the club support and the information relayed about the clubs, it is doubtful whether North/South would have been able to bid 4♥ confidently. True, they might have gotten there by guess-and-by-golly, but isn’t it reassuring to know that there is a way to convey important information to your partner? Give Help Suit Game Try a chance in the New Year. You will have fun letting your partner know that you have extras in partner’s bid suit. Reaching game is always a lot more fun than playing in a part score and then realizing at the end of the hand that a game was there all along. Best wishes in 2015. Happy New Year to all Barry County bridge players and their families.

 

Gerald Stein

December 19, 2014

Number of words: 834