Better Bridge in Barry County October 22 2015

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

 

 

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

 

 

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

South Neither 7♣

 

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

According to a recent news release from the American Contract Bridge League, “a new bidding system has taken over the (duplicate) club and tournament scene. Designed to help all bridge players to get to the best games and slams, 2 over 1 Game Force is for players who have a firm understanding of Standard American bidding system and are ready to improve their bidding.” Today’s hand will explore the 2 over 1 Game Force system. Judge for yourself if this is something for you and your regular partner.

2 over 1 typically in the Standard American system meant that your partner had at least ten high card points and was a forcing bid for at least one round. The problem was that just how many points beyond the ten did your partner have? Enter 2 over 1 Game Force which changed some of that basic concept and added a new twist: extra points were added to the responder’s bid. Now instead of promising at least ten points, responder was now promising 13 high card points. After partner’s 1♥ or 1♠ opening bid, a bid at the two-level in a new suit would mean that neither side should pass until game was reached.

Let’s see how this would work out in today’s hand. South with 16 total points and five hearts opened the bidding with 1♥. A pass by West allowed North to bid 2♦, bypassing the four spades, to tell partner that she had at least 13 total points and that game was the contract for them. With 15 high card points, North did not want to miss game when she knew that the combined total of their two hands was at least 26 or 27 high card points.

Even when East jumped in with an interruptive preempt bid in clubs, South was undeterred. With a stopper in club with the A♣, South confidently bid 3NT. All passed, and West tabled the 7♣, the top of a doubleton to the bid that her partner had just made. North placed her cards on the table, and South surveyed the cards and began to make his plan.

Counting up the tricks, South saw four spade winners, two heart winners, one diamond winner, and two club winners for a total of nine tricks. Knowing that East had a bucketful of clubs prompted South to make an easy decision: Take the nine tricks and run. That is exactly what South did, taking the first nine tricks before allowing East/West to get in and take the last four. The contract of 3NT was brought home neatly by the use of the 2 over 1 Game Force system. Both North and South knew through their partnership agreement at what level they should be. Despite East’s interruptive bid, the North/South partnership had enough points in high cards to justify the game contract in no trump.

Playing 2 over 1 Game Force let North/South comfortably bid their hands without worry that partner would pass and that they would miss a game. Until game is reached in 2 over 1, partner should never pass. That is the beauty of this system.

Another key feature is that there is no need to jump to game in a hurry with 2 over 1 Game Force. Taking the time to reach the right game is the key here. In today’s hand, while hearts was suggested as a possible game choice, the fit was better in no trump with the dangerous opponent West having all of the missing hearts. Game in 4♥ would have been disastrous.

While 2 over 1 works well when there is no competition from the opponents, when there is an intervening bid before 2 over 1 can be implemented, 2 over 1 Game Force is off. Continue with the Standard American bidding that you have been using to continue the search for the best contract. In today’s hand, while there was competition from the East hand, it was after the 2 over 1 Game Force message had been given, delivered, and received. South knew that game was theirs.

If partner does not have the requisite 13 points to answer and has to pass or bid at the one level, 2 over 1 Game Force is no longer on. Having both hands with 13 or more points is the way to use 2 over 1 most effectively.

One final advantage to 2 over 1 Game Force is the ability to find and bid slams more effectively. There is no need to hurry since both partners know that game is assured, but there may be even more out there for them to discover. All in all, 2 over 1 Game Force is a force to be reckoned with. Give it a try. You may find your bidding has become more descriptive and reassuring to you and to you partner. Good luck trying 2 over 1 Game Force.

 

Gerald Stein

October 15, 2015

Number of words: 971

 

Bridge Notes: For more information on 2 over 1 Game Force, go to the American Contract Bridge League’s new bridge site for learning new bridge programs: www.learn2playbridge.com/editor/game3/1343  This program is free and will give you an opportunity to try bidding the 2 over 1 Game Force system.

Better Bridge in Barry County October 3 2015

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

 

 

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

 

 

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

East Both 4♠

 

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

In a recent club game in Kalamazoo, today’s North/South pair reached a solid 6♥ contract after South opened 1♥. While this hand was played twelve different times, only two teams reached the small slam in hearts. One daring pair reached a small slam elsewhere. Can you guess where they ended up?

The question of the day is this: how is it that of twelve attempts, only two pairs reached the 6♥ contract? The other team who made a small slam made it, of course, in 6NT. What was the road map for three pairs to reach the small slam status? Let’s take a look.

With six strong hearts and five strong clubs, it was South’s turn to shine. The old bridge adage of “Six-Five Come Alive!” aptly fits South’s hand. With 17 total points, South was prepared from his first bid to reach game at the very minimum. Aspirations of slam danced merrily in his head.

North, with a strong hand as well with 18 total points, bid her spades without a jump bid, choosing instead to bid up the line and taking a slow-but-sure approach to see what South would do. With North’s hand as undetermined and an un-passed hand, South was forced to bid again, and South promptly jumped in hearts, his suit of choice. There was no need to mention the clubs. He wanted North to know he had good hearts and a strong hand as well.

Now North came alive, using the Roman Key Card convention to ask for key cards. “How many of the five key cards do you hold?” was her message to South. Many bridge players now have given up the regular Blackwood Convention in favor of the Roman Key Card convention where the four aces and the king of trump constitute the five key cards. The advantages seem to be extra information, including whether there is a concern about the missing trump cards.

In this case, South had two key cards: the K♥, the agreed-upon trump suit, and the A♣. But there is more to Roman Key Card convention than that. South has two ways to show how strong his hand is by his response to the question of key cards from North. The two choices are as follows: a bid of 5♥ would have shown two key cards without the Queen of trump. The other choice was 5♠, the showing of two key cards and the Queen of trump. South bid 5♠ showing two key cards and the Q♥. North as Captain of the Hand placed the contract at 6♥.

The lead from West was the 4♠, and North tabled her cards, much to the delight of partner South. With a “Thank you, Partner,” South began to make his plan. Twelve tricks were needed, and it was easy to figure out that the A♥ was going to be a definite loser. The club suit would take care of the rest of the losers once the trumps were drawn.

South won the first trick with the A♠, promptly led a small heart from the board, and played an honor card from his hand. When West ducked the first time, South persisted with another honor card, and West took her A♥. A spade return or a club return would not hurt South nor a diamond return as South never had any plan to take a finesse. There was no need to jeopardize the contract with a finesse when the clubs were so strong. It was just a matter of unblocking the K♣ and returning to the South hand.

South drew East’s last small trump and claimed with the good clubs taking the rest of the tricks. The only loser was the A♥ as South had realized immediately. North and South claimed a fine score of 1430 for making 6♥ vulnerable. Only one other North/South pair made that contract as well.

What about that daring pair who reached 6NT? While it makes twelve tricks as well with the loss of the A♥, it seems that this is a dangerous bid with two singletons in the South hand and one singleton in the North hand. Still it is hard to argue with success as that extra ten points for bidding 6NT and making 1440 vaulted them into first place and top board on that hand. So three of the twelve times the hand was played only resulted in three slam bids when all of those points were there for the taking.

Where did most of the other nine pairs play? Most opted to play in 3NT usually making six for 690, far below the points for small slam. Others chose 4♥ making six as well for a score of 680. The takeaways today seem to be quite evident. Counting the points in both hands is crucial to reaching slam level. Remember that usually 33 points are needed for a small slam while 37 will usually be enough for a grand slam. Using Roman Key Card convention adds additional information for the bidders in a slam situation. Consider upgrading your Blackwood Convention to Roman Key Card. As always, enjoy playing and bidding the big hands when they show up. You will remember them a lot longer than those part score bids of 1NT or 2♥. Enjoy playing bridge in Barry County.

 

Gerald Stein

September 27, 2015

Number of words: 999

 

 

Better Bridge in Barry County September 10 2015

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

 

 

	North ♠  10 x x x       ♥   x x  ♦  A Q J x x  ♣  A x
West ♠  x x     ♥  6  ♦  10 x x x    ♣  x x x x x x		East ♠  Q x x  ♥  10 x x x ♦  x x ♣  x x x x
	South ♠  A K J x ♥  A K Q J x x    ♦  K x    ♣  8

 

 

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

North Neither 6♥

 

North 1♦ 1♠ 5♥ Pass	East Pass Pass Pass Pass	South 1♥ 4NT 7♥	West Pass Pass Pass

One of the highlights of going to major bridge tournaments is the chance to play with other players. Many have traveled great distances to play bridge at a huge tournament. At the National American Contract Bridge League Summer Tournament held in downtown Chicago a few weeks ago, this hand came up in a team game. North, my favorite partner, opened with 1♦, promising at least 12 or 13 high card points and in our system agreement promised at least 4 diamonds. I had a blockbuster hand as the South player. Slam was in the realm of a real possibility. Just put the two hands together, and you will see what I mean. Which slam would it be and how high were, of course, the leading questions in my mind.

I bid my heart suit knowing that it would be a source of at least six tricks and with the two top spades two more tricks for eight tricks in my own hand. When my partner bid 1♠, bidding up the line, I knew that her hand was limited, but that she probably had five diamonds and four spades. What I did not know was this: did she have any aces?

My jump to 4NT was Standard Blackwood, asking for aces. The normal response is 5♣ for all or no aces; 5♦ for 1 ace; and 5♥ for two aces. When she bid 5♥, my heart gave a jump, and I knew we had all of the aces. I placed the contract at 7♥. Our opponents let out low whistles, and my partner prepared to place her cards on the table.

The lead was the 6♥, a singleton, and a good lead for me as the declarer. My partner placed her cards down, and I looked at the wonderful diamond suit and the A♣ and nodded my approval and thanked her for her hand. Playing small from the board, I saw East play the 10♥, and I pulled in the first heart trick with the J♥. Drawing three more rounds of trump finished off the East player.

I next played the K♦ from my hand and a small diamond from the board. I then led my remaining small diamond from my hand to the A♦, played the Q♦, the J♦, and dropped the 10♦ from the West hand. I still had the A♠, the K♠, and the A♣ plus two trumps left over for a 7♥ contract bid and made. We scored 1510 points for our team. When we compared scores, our opponents who played the exact same cards as we had just played only managed to get to 6♥. We picked up 500 points on just the one hand. What a thrilling experience for us at a National Tournament.

While bidding and playing a Grand Slam is a relatively rare occurrence, when it happens at a National Tournament where there are 10 days of competitive bridge from 9 AM in the morning until the last game starts at 11:00 PM each night, you remember that hand and that success. Of course, you also try to forget the hands where there were missteps along the way.

 At a National Tournament, you can play as much bridge as you can stand or in this case, sit. Over 12, 000 tables of bridge were played at the Hilton on Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago during this tournament in early August, 2015.

We were part of a bridge bus trip that picked up bridge players in Grand Rapids, swung down to Kalamazoo to pick up others, and motored into the Windy City on a Monday morning. On Friday evening as we prepared to leave after four nights and five days of bridge, most of us recounted that we had played over 175 hands of bridge. Some of us wisely took a day off to enjoy the sights and the sites of downtown Chicago. All in all, this was a wonderful experience to ride in a coach where someone does the driving for you, drops you off at your hotel, and five days later, returns to take you back to your car. Traveling and bridge playing! Now that sounds like a winning hand.

 

Gerald Stein

Number of words: 811

September 3, 2015

 

 

Better Bridge in Barry County August 20 2015

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

 

 

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

 

 

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

South North/South A♥

 

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

In a recent hand taken from an American Contract Bridge League tournament in Lansing, there was fierce competition for the final contract. With East/West not vulnerable, it seemed a smart move on their part to push on to 4♠. After all, East/West had 23 high card points between them and had a fit in a major suit. North/South with only 17 high card points also made a valiant attempt to reach a game in hearts. With two singletons in the South hand and one in the North hand, they were fairly assured of making the 4♥ contract. East/West did not allow the North/South pair to steal the contract and take away a 620 point gain. Instead, they were willing to go set one or two tricks as a sacrifice bid.

It did not take North/South to realize that knocking out the trump suit might be the best defensive move. According, after North took the first two heart tricks with the A♥ and the K♥, there was no reason to lead another heart and let West use one of his eight trumps and throw away a loser card. However, wisely North shifted to his singleton diamond on the third trick instead of leading a spade. South put up the 7♦, and West won the trick with the Q♦. It was obvious to South that North had led his singleton diamond after winning the first two heart tricks. North wanted a diamond return for a ruff and down at least one trick.

West was in a dilemma now with the trump suit. Should she lead out trumps or play off the minor suits. West chose to lead a small trump to the 10♠ on the board. South took her A♠ and promptly led a diamond back to North. North trumped with the 4♠ for down one. North led a club and let West work the minor suits. It did not take West long to realize that North would also win another trump suit with either the 9♠ or the Q♠ for down two doubled.

In competitive auctions in duplicate bridge, there is often the opportunity to sacrifice going down two tricks not vulnerable for a minus 300 points for East/West. They did well to compete to 4♠, even at a doubled contract as they gave up 300 points in going down, but had they allowed North/South to play their contract in 4♥, they would have been sorry to have given up 620 points to North/South when North/South brought home the contract. Of course, the singletons in the North/South hands would have given them the advantage of making the 4♥ contract.

All in all, duplicate bridge is an exciting and pleasurable way to play bridge. Because each hand is scored independently, it is easy to see that if one board does not go your way, just wait until the next board arrives shortly. You can start afresh every eight minutes, the average time it takes to play a hand of duplicate bridge.

Gerald Stein

August 2, 2015

Number of words: 748

 

Bridge Notes: Are you interested in learning about duplicate bridge and playing it either at home or in a club? Nearby clubs include clubs in Battle Creek, Grand Rapids, Lansing, and Kalamazoo. Most of the clubs offer a variety of times for players to enjoy competitive bridge, with most of the games in the daylight hours. Club games are not the only ways to play duplicate bridge: Tournaments called Sectionals, Regionals, and National Tournaments are held in cities around the United States. Many players make these tournaments as vacation destinations, playing bridge as well as site seeing or even fishing for walleye in Lake of the Woods, Ontario. If interested or if you would like more information, visit the Home Page for the American Contract Bridge League website: www.acbl.org for lots of information and free downloads.