Better Bridge in Barry County May 2 2013

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

 

 

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

 

 

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

West Neither 4♠

 

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

In a current bridge class at Kellogg Community College’s Technology Center in Battle Creek, the emphasis has been on the play of the hand. In fact, the class is an American Contract Bridge League-endorsed class called “Play of the Hand in the 21^st Century.” Taking time to make a plan, knowing what your objective is for a hand, counting winners and losers, and using specific techniques to fulfill the contract are all concepts that current students are working on. Today’s hand illustrates a number of those concepts. Let’s take a look.

With 19 high card points, South was poised to bid 2NT, knowing that partner North could pass as the bid is not forcing. North raised to 3NT, and the bidding part of the game was over. Now, South as declarer was ready for the play-of-the-hand business.

With the 4♠ as the lead from West, South first stopped, thanked her partner, and surveyed the dummy, counting winners in no trump. (Count losers in a trump suit.) South saw only three winners without giving up the lead: the A♠, the K♠, and the A♣. The six other tricks would have to be developed through promotion, long suits, or finesses. South could see that the heart suit would be a dangerous suit unless East had the lead and chose to lead hearts. Accordingly, South planned to stay away from the hearts. Looking at the minor suits, South saw seven clubs and eight diamonds. Which suit should South start with?

Taking the A♠ in her hand, South knew that with eight cards in diamonds, the usual split of outstanding cards in the defenders’ hands would be 3-2 most of the time. With seven cards in the club suit, the usual split of six outstanding cards in the defenders’ hands would be 4-2 most of the time. Remembering the bridge adage of “Take your losers early,” South began work on the diamond suit immediately, leading the top of the sequence, the K♦. Her objective was clear. Knock out the A♦ and the diamond suit would be set up. The clubs could wait for a bit.

South led the K♦ at trick two, and West pounced on that lead with the A♦. South was pretty sure that the lead of the first spade meant that West had the Q♠. Would the third trick be another spade? Instead of a spade lead which might have set up the J♠ for South, West elected to lead back the 10♦ and put South back in her hand. South won with the J♦, and still had control with the Q♦, and probably two more diamond tricks after that. First things first, however. The clubs needed to be worked on next while South still had control of the hand. Leading the A♣ or the Q♣ is the question that South next pondered. The objective was clear. Drive out the K♣, and that suit would be set up. What happened if the defenders ducked the trick and refused to take it immediately?

When South chose the Q♣ for her lead, starting with the short side first, another important play-of-the-hand technique, she was pleasantly surprised when East pulled in the trick with the K♣. Leading the A♣ first and then the Q♣ would also work, hoping that at the second club lead the East defender would take the trick. At any rate, East led back a diamond to the three diamond winners in South’s hand. From there, South led a club to the two remaining club winners on the board, and a spade back to the good A♠ in her hand. Two spade winners, four diamond winners, three club winners, and no hearts winners as expected made South very happy with a 3NT contract bid and made.

Making a plan, knowing your objective, knowing how the suits will break, counting your winners, taking your losers early, and being patient are all skills that good bridge players can and should develop. While there is much to think about, doing the thinking before the first trick is taken is the right step. Waiting until you are into the hand, even one trick, may be too late. Take your time, make a plan, and play those cards like a winner.

 

Gerald Stein

April 18, 2013

Number of words: 849

 

Bridge notes: Bridge offerings and games in the Battle Creek area at Burnham Brook Community Center are available throughout the week. Check their website for times and fees. A fee may be required for some games.

 

 

Better Bridge in Barry County April 18 2013

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

 

 

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

 

 

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

North East/West A♣

 

North Pass Pass	East 1♣ Pass	South 4♥ Pass	West Dbl

Captain M. North looked glumly out of his dining room window. The April rain pounded his roof, his siding, his windows. The thunder roared, the lightning lit up the sky, and the house shook. “T.S.Eliot had it right,” he muttered to himself. “‘April is the cruelest month.’” There would be no work today. There would be no cleaning and no repairs today. The Barry County Bridge Barge would have to wait for warmer and better weather.

Grabbing his coat, Captain North headed south to his local bridge club. Inside, the atmosphere was warm, cheery, and comfortable. Captain North took his place, ironically in the South chair, and met his partner June who was the dealer, and she passed. East, a formidable bridge player, opened 1♣. Captain North looked at his hand in amazement. There might be a sunny day in store for him after all. With all of those hearts and not much more, Captain North paused to make a proper bid. He remembered the words of Rosy and Vera, two of his frequent bridge players on his summer bridge cruises on the Thornapple River. A letter from the two of them spending time in Florida had arrived recently. The gist of the bridge hand that they had sent could be boiled down to Rosy’s final postscript. She had written these words: “Preempt early, and preempt often.”

Taking his cue from Rosy and Vera, Captain North bid 4♥ and West, another formidable bridge player, promptly doubled. “Oh, no,” thought Captain North. “That looks like a black cloud forming!”

With all passing following the double, Captain North assessed his hand again. His objective was clear. He needed ten tricks to make the four heart contract. He could only lose three tricks. He looked at the number of losers in his hand; there were probably none in hearts unless there was a very bad split which was probably unlikely. He counted two losers in spades, one in clubs, and two in diamonds for five losers. Two too many.

West who had doubled led the A♣ at trick number one. Down came the dummy from June, his partner, and he thanked her for her hand. Pausing to thank his partner also gave him time to look at the dummy and to see if there was a way to make some of the losers go away. Promoting the spades looked like a great way to get rid of several losers. There was nothing to do about the club. At least the lead was still in the West hand. Captain North would always play last as long as West had the lead.

West must have read his mind, as she led the 10♥ knowing that would put the lead to Captain North in the South. Captain North took the second trick with the A♥. Now was the time to work on promoting the spade suit. He had saved the J♥ on purpose as an entry to the dummy in case the defenders ducked the first spade lead. Captain North led the Q♠. His objective was to drive out the A♠ and use the K♠ on the board as a way to make his spade loser go away. West took the A♠ at trick three immediately and led the J♦ after seeing only one diamond on the board. East, the opener, took the trick with the A♦, but it would be the last one that the East/West team would take. Captain North would regain the lead on any card led by East, draw the final trump, play the good K♦, and play a small spade to the good K♠, making 4♥ doubled for an excellent score.

Captain North looked up to see his partner June smiling. She said, “Well done, Partner.” Captain North thanked her and looked out of the second story window. The sun had come out and the rain had stopped. It was a good day to play bridge.

 

Gerald Stein

April 11, 2013

Number of words: 816

 

Bridge notes: Did you notice that East/West have a powerful hand in diamonds? They can make a plus score of a diamond game by bidding 5♦. In fact, if North/South doubles them, they can be the ones who are doing the smiling. The sun would have been shining on them instead on North/South.

 

 

Better Bridge in Barry County April 11 2013

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

 

 

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

 

 

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

North None 5♦

 

North 1♣ 4♥ 5♣ Pass	East Pass Pass Pass Pass	South 2♥ 4NT 5♥	West 3♦ Pass Pass

A few weeks ago, we looked at one of the newer slam conventions called Roman Key Card. Today’s hand illustrates the effective use of the Roman Key Card Convention to avoid arriving at an unmakeable small slam. Let’s see how Roman Key Card Convention can provide a plus score instead of a defeated slam-try.

North opened the bidding with 1♣, promising at least three clubs and a minimum of 12 high-card points. South pulled out the old jump shift bid from yesteryear and bid 2♥. This bid from bygone years promised a strong forcing bid of 17+ with an interest in slam. This is a bid that you need to talk over with your partner as the jump shift is available as a partnership agreement, but in today’s modern bridge world, it also has a different message, promising a weak hand with six cards in the suit bid. So, be careful what you tell your partner. In this case, North and South were on the same page, and North knew that the bid was the strong jump shift bid because of their partnership agreement. As a defender, you have the right to ask your opponents the meaning of such a bid.

Bold West inserted a startling bid at her only opportunity, and she threw in a disruptive bid of 3♦, promising seven diamonds and not much more. Undeterred, North with the strong hearts, probably wondered what South had in hearts! Hearing strong support for the hearts, South moved to the 4NT bid asking for aces. This was not the Blackwood Convention that we all grew up with, but the Roman Key Card Convention where the asking for aces also asks for the king of trump. So instead of the four aces in Blackwood,  RKC asks for the four aces and the king of trump. The object is the same, but there is more accuracy in the bidding, according to most modern bridge experts.

North responded with a bid of 5♣, promising three key cards: the A♦, the A♥, and the important K♥, the fifth key card. Missing, however, were some unknowns. When South looked at her hand, she knew that the North/South team had four of the five key cards. South did not know that North also held the Q♥; neither did she know if the missing key card was an ace or the king of trump. Was it the A♦, K♥, or the A♣? No matter. South was prudent enough to know that there were a lot of gaps in the two hands, especially in the South’s trump suit. Going on to six hearts might be foolhardy. South placed the contract at 5♥ and all passed.

It always comes down to the opening lead in the game of bridge. In this case, West debated about leading the A♣ or one of the long diamonds or even one of the spades. Knowing that the three others at the table would be short in diamonds because of the seven in the West hand, West carefully led the fourth down from her diamond suit, the 5♦. That was the best lead for the East/West team.

South was immediately put to the test on the diamond lead. Seeing the dummy and the good hearts, South took heart and decided that West was leading from the only honor she had: the K♦. Calling for the 8♦, South successfully took the first trick with the J♦. There would be no diamond losers, but it looked like at least two club losers would be unavoidable.

Drawing four rounds of trump collected the 4-0 heart-split from East. Playing the A♠, K♠, and Q♠ next would have South with the first nine tricks. No matter how South played the club suit, she will lose two club tricks, one to the A♣ and one to the J♣. North/South successfully bid and made the 5♥ contract, collecting a plus score.

Let us look now at those bridge players who are more adventuresome in their bidding. Perhaps, South is determined to bid 6♥ no matter what. There is only one way to make such a silly contract. If West led as described earlier, North-South go down to defeat by one trick when West collects the two club tricks. There is no way to avoid that play of the hand. The only way that North/South can make a small slam on this hand is if West agonizes over the lead and plunks down the A♣ for the opening lead. If that happens, South is ecstatic and claims the remaining tricks and an undeserved slam hand. Do not be so generous giving away your aces. The diamond lead is effective and holds North/South to the 11 tricks that they deserve. Do not give away a trick on the opening lead. You may regret your hasty lead. Defense is an art and is probably one of the hardest aspects of the game of bridge. Be a thoughtful defender.

 

Gerald Stein

April 4, 2013

Number of words: 938

Better Bridge in Barry County April 4 2013

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

 

 

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

 

 

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

East Both K♣

 

North   Pass	East Pass Pass	South 4♥	West Pass

Captain M. North looked over the dwindling snow banks in southern Michigan. He was glad to see winter finally leaving, and he was watching for the return of the robins and the bluebirds. The time for regeneration and rebirth was at hand. It was time to prepare the Barry County Bridge Barge for the summer cruise-and-bridge tournaments on the Thornapple River. There would be a lot of prep work before the bridge players would return for their weekly cruises. But Captain North was ready for the warmer weather.

As he glanced over his mail, he saw a familiar-looking return address on the upper left corner of the envelope. “R and V,” he muttered to himself. “Who was that again? Panama City Beach? Another ad for a recreational vehicle?” He tore open the envelope to see the friendly handwriting of someone he recognized: “Ah, I remember now…Rosy and Vera, my two favorite bridge players are snowbirds down in the Panhandle of Florida. I wonder what they are up to now.

“Dear Captain North,” their letter began. “We are ready to return to Michigan and begin the summer cruises again with you. We will be home shortly, but we have a bridge hand that you should take a look at. You can tell us what you think when we arrive in April.” It was signed “Your bridge players, Rosy and Vera.”

Captain North looked at the hand on the back of the letter. With East as dealer, it did not take South long to take a look at the long hearts and no points and to see an astonishing bid of 4♥. Captain North gasped. No doubt, it was Rosy who bid that way. She loved to play South when she and Vera were teammates.

The auction stopped there at 4♥. The preempt bid had done its business. East/West had been shut out of the bidding, and they were no doubt groaning inwardly. A note caught the Captain’s eyes. “West will lead the top of the club sequence, the K♣.”  The Captain nodded knowingly. “And West will continue with the Q♣ once they win the first trick.” The Captain sat down to study the rest of the hand.

“The 8♣ would be a continuation of the club suit, but no doubt, South would ruff it with the 2♥. South would then lead the 5♠ toward the K♠/Q♠ in the North hand. West would take the A♠, and East/West would have taken three out of the first four tricks.” Here the Captain pondered the way that South would take the rest of the tricks and make a 4♥ contract with such a paltry hand of five high-card points, and not good ones at that.

“I suppose Rosy got a spade return, pitched a losing diamond from her hand, and won with the K♠. Leading the good Q♠ would have East trumping with the 10♥, but Rosy would overtrump with the J♥ winning another trick. She probably next led a small heart to the A♥ winning. Leading another spade forced East to play the Q♥, and Rosy overtook the Q♥ with the K♥. With four more heart tricks and the A♦, it was clear that Rosy was smiling with a 4♥ contract bid and made.” The Captain looked over the letter for a confirmation of his analysis. There on the back of the note was indeed the play of the hand as the Captain had mentally pictured.

On the back was a postscript written by Rosy, but it probably included ideas from Vera as well. It went like this: “Well, Captain North, did you figure out the hand? Vera and I are sure that you did. We have this motto that we would like to share with you for this coming summer cruise season: “Preempt soon and Preempt often!” Here Captain North knew that Rosy and Vera were giggling and laughing out loud.  It would be fun to have them back ready to ride the Barry County Bridge Barge and play in the bridge tournaments as they cruised down the Thornapple River. It was time to remove the shrink-wrap from the BCBB and get her ready for the warm months ahead. Captain North looked up just in time to see a pair of robins flittering across his yard. He smiled and nodded as he went back to work on the Barry County Bridge Barge.  

 

Gerald Stein

March 28, 2013

Number of words: 867

 

Bridge Notes: Did you notice that East/West could make a vulnerable game in No Trump with this hand? They never had a chance with Rosy at the wheel. “Preempt early and preempt often!”