Never mind the SQA exams the real test happens every lunch-time on the bridge table. This year the team of NC and JW have been attempting to overcome the incumbent champions AP, TB and ID. At one point NC-JW were losing the series by 13 weeks to 16, before a hot streak took them to 19-16 with five weeks to go. There was talk of a dormie, whatever that is. They were pegged back to 19-18 before clinching the series last week by 20-18.
As NC says, "you've got to have something to look forward to" and I've really enjoyed the bridge this year. I've no doubt they've also benefitted from my experience and accurate use of bridge phrases, such as "Tartan Twos", "Sputnik Doubles", "Swan distribution", "Texas transfers" and "SOS redouble".
Here are some collected highlights taken from throughout the year:
Lunch Bridge - Deal of the Week #1
I've started a new job, and luckily there's a game of bridge at lunch time. It's rubber bridge, which I'm not so familiar with, and it's taking me a little time to learn the local bidding system ...
Slam Down Smackdown - Deal of the Week #3
It's only Monday, but I've already got a hand of the week.
Before this deal NC complained of not having had a good hand since 2008, but he got one here and opened 1♦ as South. There was then a bit of confusion as North-South realised they already had 60 towards a game, and they nearly stopped in 2♦. But with me egging him on and the lunch break nearly over, NC was talked into 6♦.
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AP found the best lead for the defence with a Spade, and with the trump finesse losing (and no way to set up Clubs) NC had to finish in 6♦-1. I hope he doesn't hold it against me.
The decider - Deal of the Week #4
After Monday to Thursday it was all square - this week's lunchtime bridge league all comes down to Friday. With five minutes left, TB and ID needed a game. It's a pressure cooker.
Before picking up his cards, TB sitting checked the score and declares he was going to bid whatever he has. Then he opened 1♦. But wait! It's not his deal. NC sitting West was having none of it and got in first by opening 1♥...
Deal of Last Week - Deal of the Week #6
The Joke of the Week was about a Cheese Factory, but unfortunately none of the bridge this week caught my eye enough to feature in the Blog. The closest was a hand where I coffee-housed NC into bidding an excellent 3NT. I then had to leave the room suddenly, just as his opponents were cashing the first five Club tricks for 3NT-1. I maintain it was a fine contract.
Luckily there's some unresolved business to write about from Last Week. A deal so big it has stretched over the weekend to become this week's featured deal. With NC and JW hundreds of points behind on Friday lunch-time, they needed some magic. It didn't happen the first hand, or the second, but then came this golden opportunity.
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JW immediately opened the South hand 4♠. No time for messing around. No one quite knew the score, but it looked like he needed at least a small slam. I advised North to bid "at least a small slam", and he wisely went for just 6♠.
ID sitting West considered his lead. He was tempted by the ♣A. This would have been the right lead against 7♠, where you only need one trick. But against 6♠, you need two tricks. So the best lead is a high Heart. This will probably lose to the ♥A, but then you'll be poised to get your two tricks. So ID lead the ♥K, which was won by declarer in hand. The lead has worked - declarer now looks like he is facing a loser in Hearts and Clubs. The only way to avoid this is if he can pull off some magic in the Diamond suit, and that's exactly what happened. NC drew trumps then was able to set up the Diamonds to discard his Heart loser, and make a tremendous 6♠=.
There followed some frantic calculations as to the final score. In fact, this continued on to Monday, and I'm still not sure who won the week.
Wee Sleekit Cowran Beastie - Deal of the Week #8
I should have stayed out of it. I tried to, but I couldn't help myself.
In today's lunch time bridge North-South were on their way to a Spade slam when someone asked my advice. I suggested bidding Clubs, an "Italian style cue bid" which confused everyone. NC was then coffeehoused by the opposition into passing, and after playing the hand very nicely finished on an embarrassing 3♠+3.
Criminal - Deal of the Week #10
This week TB and AP crushed the opposition to win the week and recover the lead in the series. But there were some missed opportunities - criminal misses. At least NC had some good jokes.
Two weeks in a day - Deal of the Week #11
This Friday for the culmination of the week I sat in for NC. On the first hand I forgot that we already had 40 points towards game and needlessly powered us into 5♣, when 3♣ would have been enough. Luckily, 5♣ still made, so NC and JW were still in prime position to win the week. Then I was foolish again. When TB took a wild gamble on 6♥, knowing he needed a big score to overcome his deficit I played right into his hands and doubled. My partner JW was astonished, and informed me of this. Of course TB redoubled, and it would have been hugely embarrassing if 6♥xx made. To my relief the contract went down so the week belonged to NC-JW.
Later on Friday TB suggested we play another whole week's worth of bridge. "It's only a game" said JW, and agreed to the double or nothing. To add extra spice both BM and SG made their competitive debuts on the bridge table.
Having had a drink or two I can barely remember any of the hands that evening, including the ones I attempted to write down or even photograph. The only one I remember is this one - after some bold bidding JW and NC reach 4♥ with just 19 points between them:
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The game proved unbeatable, and that was enough for JW and NC to clinch a second week in one day.
Nearly of the week - Deal of the Week #15
After some ambitious bidding NC and JW reached an unlikely 4♠ on a 4-3 fit (known as a Moysian). It was not to be and NC ultimately finished one off. This was actually not a bad result, especially seeing as he was playing today without any carrots.
At least we didn't redouble - Deal of the Week #16
Here's a bonus Deal of the Week, as requested by JW who bested me in 6♦x. I could have made it too.
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I was sitting South and finished in an excellent 6♦. JW sitting East has all those Diamonds and doubled me, which should have given me a good clue how to play the contract. But I ignored the warning sign and let JW collect two trump tricks for 6♦x-1, which he celebrated enthusiastically. To make things worse, we could have made an easy 7NT.
"That's the kind of deal that can ruin your whole weekend" said JW.
Stealing 3NT - Deal of the Week #20
This week NC and JW handsomely won the week, to draw the series back to 16-16. SG popped in too.
Twice I went two off doubled, in contracts I maybe could have made. But instead of looking at another bodge I'd rather write about one where I did well. Or rather my partner did well, because AP was in 3NT and I was dummy. 3NT is the most common contract at the bridge table, and often makes when it shouldn't. AP robbed 'em today to level the series. Everything to play for.
Friday, 2 May 2014
Stealing 3NT - Deal of the Week #20
This week NC and JW handsomely won the week, to draw the series back to 16-16. Twice I went two off doubled, in contracts I maybe could have made. But instead of looking at another bodge I'd rather write about one where I did well. Or rather my partner did well, because I was dummy. This deal from Friday features AP stealing a 3NT which never should have made:
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I dealt and passed. Then we realised I shouldn't have dealt. I didn't think anyone would mind too much but NC and JW reacted furiously, claiming any future result was invalid and moving the box of carrots away. I didn't dare ask for one now anyway. Andrew was North and opened 1♦ (ignoring the more obvious 1NT) and I replied with 1♠. I used to pass hands like this because I didn't have 6 points, but actually with a Diamond fit it's quite safe to bid. North bid 2♥ and I corrected back to 3♦. AP had a go for game with 3NT. I passed this even though we had a good Diamond fit. "It's easier to make a bad 3NT than a bad 5♦".
Against 3NT West lead the expected Club. East won his Ace and returned a Club, declarer winning the ♣K. Now it's time to count tricks. Assuming you can bring all the Diamonds in, you've got one Club already, four Diamonds, one Heart and two Spades. The best chance for a ninth trick is in Spades, so declarer played the ♠K and ♠J, both ducked. West could have bagged his ♠A and taken two more Clubs for four defensive tricks, but held off. Declarer then successfully finessed the ♦Q and took his four Diamonds, giving the defence some tough discards. This was then the position in the Heart suit, with the lead in hand, and declarer needing to get two tricks in this suit:
| ♥ x | ||
| ♥ T 9 |  | ♥ K Q 6 5 |
| ♥ A J 8 7 |
It needs to be just right, and AP rose to the challenge. He lead the ♥J from hand, which East won. He had only Hearts to return, so returned a low one. Declarer won the ♥A and played the ♥8, finally forcing a second Heart trick with the ♥7, and make a very bad 3NT.
Friday, 25 April 2014
I demand a recount - Deal of the Week #19
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NC dealt and opened the South hand 1♠, eschewing the more obvious Strong 1NT. AP sitting West jumped in with 3♦, nicely describing his hand. JW sitting North likes the Spades but holds back and bids only 3♠. I was sitting East. I thought there was a decent chance that my partner meant 3♦ as a strong hand, so I felt I ought to support him. No bid seemed right (a good indicator you should pass), but nonetheless I pulled out a bid of 4♦. South has a flat average hand with lots of defence so should pass this, but instead bid 4♠. West should then also pass, having shown his hand the first time with 3♦, but instead bid again with 5♦. North now had a think, and rather than passing (then partner doubles), he bid a reckless 5♠. That's four bids in a row, one from each player, where I think they should have passed but instead they bid. Finally, I ended the auction with a double, delighted to have avoided playing 5♦x (four off, -1100).
NC was declarer in the high pressure contract of 5♠x. West began naturally enough with a top Diamond, then switched to a Club, and I took my ♣A and returned a Diamond, ruffed in dummy. Declarer now needs the rest. You can see that with the Club and Spade finesses working he should be OK, as long as he can arrange entries to dummies to finesse in both suits. NC was already in dummy with the Diamond ruff and duly finessed in Spades, three times, finally snaring my useless ♠K. He could now cross to the ♥A and finesse in Clubs, risking going two off it loses. Instead he cashed all his Heart winners and the ♣K, finishing in hand. He got down to just one card left, and I was sitting East deciding which I should keep - the top remaining Heart or the top remaining Club? I had a think and shrewdly worked that declarer must have a Heart left, so chucked away my master Club. Except, of course, I was wrong, declarer had one more Club and duly scored the ♣T to make 5♠x. Big points to NC and JW.
Not sure how I miscounted. I was sure partner only had two Hearts, leaving declarer with four. One of them went missing somewhere!
With that big score NC and JW took an unassailable lead in the week.
Clearly we were shuffling well because this was the next hand:
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How do you get to 6♣?
Monday, 24 March 2014
Bodged - Deal of the Week #18
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I sat South as dealer. Playing a Strong NT I opened 1♦. West overcalled 2♣ and North bid 2♥. In the local system this only promises 4 Hearts, so I couldn't raise this straight away. I rebid 2NT, which seems the only sensible option. North maybe thought this showed more strength, or decided that we needed to bid a game, so went straight for 5♦.
West lead a trump. The contract actually looks pretty good. If the Heart finesse works I've got 10 top tricks, and can ruff a Club for my 11th. Or if the Heart finesse fails I need to ruff two Clubs. Having avoided a Spade lead, 5♦ is actually a better contract than 4♥, as 4♥ will only make if the Heart finesse works.
I won the first Diamond in Hand (big mistake, as we'll see), and lead a Club. West played the ♣J, and East skilfully overtook with the ♣A. This is almost certainly safe, as it's very unlikely I've got the ♣K - I wouldn't be playing the Clubs this way if I did. East then returned the ♠T, which is the switch I'd been dreading. I took the ♠A, and now I can't afford to lose the lead as I'll have two Spade losers on top of my Club loser. So I need the Heart finesse to work. I ruffed a Club first, then came back to hand with a trump. At this point the trump suit looked like this, with the lead in my hand.
| T | ||
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| 8x |
| Ax |
What I want to do know is draw the last two round of trumps, and pin everything on the Heart finesse - which given West's overcall and the cards played so far is almost certain to work. But I've bodged it. I can't draw trumps, despite being dealt all of the ♦AKQJT9. If I cross to the ♦T there's no way back to hand, and I need to be in hand to finesse the Hearts. What I should have done is one the very first trump trick in dummy, then I would have just high trumps left in hand.
I gloomily lead the ♥Q, and finessed again when West ducked. East ruffed the third Heart, and the defence cashed two more Spades.
Looking at the deal East has only three important cards, but he played them all with guile for an excellent defence. Of course I still should have made it, but he gave me a chance to fail and I grabbed it eagerly.
Friday, 28 February 2014
No Miracle - Deal of the Week #17
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JW stretched slightly to open a strong 2♥, and NC stretched a lot to bid 6♥. Amazingly, the contract actually has a chance. JW had been on the tilt all week and I don't think anyone expected he actually had such a good hand.
West lead the ♠A and another Spades, which simplifies things for declarer. You need the rest of the tricks. First of all, that means no Heart losers. If the Heart suit was the only one you cared about, it's slightly better to cross to dummy and finesse. Eight ever, nine never. But you also need to get rid of your two Clubs losers. One goes on the extra top Diamond in dummy. To get rid of the other one you need to win either a fourth Diamond or the Club finesse. To combine your chances the best line is to cash the top three Diamonds, hoping the ♦J will fall, and if not then finesse Clubs. However, to do this you need to leave the Diamonds alone while you draw trumps. So, taking the hand as a whole, the best line at Trick Three is to play the Hearts from the top, overruling eight ever, nine never.
We'll never know what line JW would have taken, as after the opening lead of ♠A West showed his Hearts, and it was clear he was due a second trick.
So a valiant effort from North-South, but in vain as ID-AP win the week.
Saturday, 15 February 2014
At least we didn't redouble - Deal of the Week #16
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I've got the tremendous South hand. It's worth a 2♣ opening, as if partner has as little as the ♦K I can make a game and maybe even a slam. However, I decided that since it was a 2-suiter and distributional I'd start with 1♠, and hope it doesn't get passed out. AP sitting North replied 2♥, which in the local system just shows Hearts and 6+ points. I then rebid 3♦, and North bid 3NT. This is his only possible bid really, there's no way to get across his strength. I wasn't done yet and bid 4♠. To me this is a slam try, as I wouldn't remove partner's 3NT unless I was going for slam. I think AP took it just as looking for a better contract though, and corrected me to 5♦. I topped myself up to 6♦. JW sitting East thought for a while then doubled it.
NC sitting West lead a Club. Looking at dummy, things look very good indeed. In fact, assuming Spades split 4-2 or better, we've 13 top tricks (6 Spades, 1 Heart, 3 Diamonds and 3 Clubs) so could easily have made 7NT. The only thing that can go wrong in 6♦ is the trump suit. I figured for his double East must have trumps, either four or five of them. I therefore won the first Club in dummy and lead a trump up towards my hand. Cool as a cucumber, East played the ♦5. I can make things easy for myself here by playing the ♦7, but instead I foolishly played the ♦Q, and West showed out.
Having blown my ♦Q it looks like East is now booked to get two trump tricks. But my hope is to endplay him. If I can win all the tricks until he just has trumps left, and then let him win a trump, he'll have to lead away from his Diamonds which will cost him a trick. I'm looking to set up a situation like this, with three cards left and the lead in dummy. Note that East only has trumps left.
| ♠- ♥- ♦KT ♣T | ||
| ♠- ♥- ♦J98 ♣- | |
| ♠9 ♥- ♦72 ♣- |
If I just draw trumps then of course East gets two tricks. But if I play my ♣T then he is forced to ruff, and then lead away from his ♦J9 into dummy's ♦KT, and I'll only lose one trick and make 6♦x.
To get this to work I have to make sure East only wins a trick when he has just Diamonds left. This means guessing what his exact distribution is. Otherwise when he ruffs he can safely exit in another suit, then wait for his second trump trick. Unfortunately, this is what happened at the table. Because of the problem with entries I only managed to remove one Heart from the East hand, so when he came to ruff he still had a Heart. Again, the lead is in dummy, and I've not lost any tricks yet:
| ♠- ♥8 ♦KT ♣T | ||
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| ♠- ♥ Q ♦J98 ♣- | |
| ♠98 ♥- ♦72 ♣- |
After I lead the ♣T from dummy JW ruffed it. He then safely exited with his ♥Q and got his ♦J later.
The defence celebrated wildly as I was left to rue another missed opportunity. "That's the kind of deal that can ruin your whole weekend" said JW.
Wednesday, 12 February 2014
Nearly of the week - Deal of the Week #15
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NC opened 1♠, not my choice but I think on 4-4-4-1 hands anything goes really. JW replied 2♦, as in the local system there's no minimum points needed to respond at the 2 level. NC then rebid 2♥, and JW gave preference with 2♠. It could have ended there, but South made a little prod towards game with 3♠, and North couldn't resist.
West found the good lead of a trump. Although it's only a 4-3 fit, 4♠ isn't bad. It's certainly better than 3NT, which is where me and Anna would be (1♥-1NT;3NT). In 4♠ the only immediate losers are one Club and One Heart, with maybe a trump to come. There's two ways to play it. You either give up on trump control, and try and make the hand on a cross-ruff, which is going to be tough after a trump lead, but with this favourable layout might just work. The alternative, which NC went for, is to set up the Diamonds.
He won the Spade lead, and cashed the ♦A. I was sitting East. Whenever declarer quickly cashes an honour then thinks about what to do it's obvious it's a singleton, so in defence I knew that his ♦A was his only Diamond. Declarer then played ♣A and ruffed a club in dummy. He then shrewdly lead the ♦T, and discarded a Club from hand. He can afford this extra loser, but can't afford to start ruffing in hand, as he'll lose trump control. West won the Diamond and played another Club, ruffed in dummy. The Diamond's in dummy are now good, and I can see that if declarer can draw the last two trumps and get back there he's home. Fortunately, for the defence, West had the ♥A, so when declarer played a Heart West could win and play a Club. Since there were now no trumps in dummy I was able to win this with my ♣K and play another Club. Declarer had to ruff this, and then try and draw trumps. Unfortunately for him, the trumps didn't split, so the defence came to a fourth trick. In total we got one trick in each suit.
4♠-1. A good effort, especially seeing as NC was playing today without any carrots.
Thursday, 23 January 2014
No good advice - Deal of the Week #14
I have a good memory for bridge hands. Even though I didn't write anything down, and wasn't even playing, I can remember all of the contracts from yesterday lunch time, and the layout of all the cards on each deal (at least the distribution of each hand and the honour cards). So remembering this one is pretty painful.
The result was 3NT-5, after declarer followed my advice. With better advice, it could have gone a lot better, and is actually a really nice hand. Here's the full deal and auction.
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South opened 1NT, showing 15-17 and a balanced hand. Textbook. West had a think, but decided to pass, even though he could have made a natural 2♣ overcall. The auction after that looks a bit strange, but bear in mind there's no conventions here like Stayman or transfers. North bid a natural 2♦, South a natural 2♠, then North a natural 3♥. NC sitting South then had a choice, 3NT or 5♦. With my encouragement he went for 3NT (I stand by that decision, the blunders come later).
Against 3NT AP sitting West lead an obvious ♣K. Declarer ducked this and won the second round, East showing out. It's now pretty clear that West has a lot of Clubs. To make his nine tricks declarer is going to need one Spade, two Hearts, five Diamonds and one Club. That means that East has to have both the ♠A and ♥K, which is quite likely seeing as West didn't overcall despite having that big Club suit. You can see that on this layout declarer is doomed to fail, as West has the ♥K, but there's failing with honour and going five off vulnerable. I directed NC to the -500.
After winning the ♣A, you have a dilemma tackling Diamonds. The safe way to play, to keep West off lead, is to finesse West. But since East is so much more likely to have the Queen (and you need five Diamond tricks), you should probably finesse East. We didn't do that though, and lost a Diamond to East. When he returned a Heart we played low, and it was game over. West won the ♥K, ran his Clubs, and the defence had a riot.
The smart way to play is to get the Diamonds right, then run the suit. West will be forced to throw away his Spades and some Clubs to keep his ♥K guarded. So in fact the defence will only get four Clubs and one Heart, for 3NT-1. A lot better. Even if you get the Diamonds wrong (like we did) you should go up with the Heart Ace and run the Diamond suit, to force West to throw away some winners.
Monday, 13 January 2014
Deal of the Week #13
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Here's this week's Deal of the Week. North-South already had 40 points below the line, so were looking for another 60 here.
NC sitting South opened 1♠ with his monster hand. West has an even better hand. My choice of bid would be a double, then bid Hearts later (showing a very strong hand). However, the modern style is to show your suit early, and that's what TB did with a simple overcall of 2♥. JW passed in the North hand and AP passed with the East hand (good Hearts, but too weak).
South then rebid his Spades with 2♠, West rebid his Hearts with 3♥, and now North showed some support with 3♠, enough for game for North-South. The spotlight was then on East. He's still got a very weak hand, but I think with that amount of support I would have risked 4♥. As it happens West bid 4♥ himself, and North looked at his two Aces and doubled.
South then had a tough decision, to leave in the double, or bid on himself and risk going down? He went for 4♠, which was an excellent decision with nothing much in defence (he's going to win one Spade trick at most in defence) but lots of offence.
4♠ was passed out, and West lead a Heart. NC ruffed, drew trumps and finessed Diamonds. Even though the finesse lost he came away with eleven tricks. If West instead leads a Club the defence get three tricks, but there's still no beating 4♠.
How would East-West have done in 4♥x? They certainly lose three Aces, and should also lose another Club too, for 4♥x-1. If the defence is too keen to take the ♣A then 4♥ could even make. So looks like NC made a profitable decision to bid on with 4♠.
Thursday, 19 December 2013
Kind of a Big Deal - Deal of the Week #12
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Here's the monster auction, all the way up to a final contract of 6♦, played by South. North opened 1♥, and South replied 2♦, ignoring the Heart fit (better to support Hearts straight away). Then the bidding took off. West saw all his Spades and came straight in with 4♠. North wasn't going to let this go, and bid over it with 5♥. East, with my encouragement, bid 5♠. South doubled it, and North went into a think. He came out with a bold 6♦ bid, which was passed out.
There's lots of big decisions there. For better or worse, here's what I would have done for those six numbered bids.
| 1 | I agree with 4♠. Even if partner has absolutely nothing, you're only three off. |
| 2 | I'd bid 5♦ here, as you know you have a Diamond fit. |
| 3 | I agree with 5♠. You've got a couple of tricks for partner (♦A and a Heart ruff). |
| 4 | Not sure! You have a defensive hand, but 6♥ can't be far off. |
| 5 | I'd pass the double. Given your previous bidding, you have a defensive hand, with ♣AK. |
| 6 | He wanted to double, I advised against it. Likely you have one trick, and partner has none. |
So after some hair raising bidding, it finished in 6♦ by South. North must have been worried about trumps, but when South has ♦KQJx it looks good. But the trumps split 4-1, and unfortunately declarer drew all four rounds. East wisely withheld his Ace, and won the fourth round of Diamonds then the defence took loads of Spades as declarer was out of trumps too. Of course once a defender is down to the bare Ace of Trumps declarer is best just to cash all his other winners (in Hearts), and at some point the defender will get his one and only trick.
With this and a series of other vulnerable penalties I think AP and TB will win the week, to get back within one of JW and NC.
Sunday, 1 December 2013
Two weeks in a day - Deal of the Week #11
Luckily, 5♣ still made, so NC and JW were still all set to win the week. Then I was foolish again. On the very last hand TB took a wild gamble on 6♥, knowing he needed a big score to overcome his deficit. I played right into his hands and doubled. My partner was astonished. Of course TB redoubled. It would have been hugely embarrassing if 6♥xx made, but TB really was pushing it, and to my relief the contract went four off.
Later on Friday TB suggested we play another whole week's worth of bridge. "It's only a game" said JW, and agreed to the double or nothing. To add extra spice both BM and SG made their competitive debuts on the bridge table.
Having had a few drinks I can barely remember any of the hands, including the ones I attempted to write down or even photograph. I do remember it came down to this deal though, with JW and NC needing a game. I've lost my bit of paper but I think it looked like this:
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NC sitting East opened 1♥, and JW sitting West replied 1♠. NC then asked me about his rebid. He only has 11 points, but it's a great hand once you have a Spade fit. "Have you heard of the Australian Ron Klinger" I asked? He had, and based on the distribution NC jumped to 3♠. JW had been accepting every invitational bid all day (down one is good bridge) and had no trouble accepting this invite too, with a good trump suit.
The defence started on Clubs, but with a singleton in dummy, and North having the ♦A, the defence could only come to two tricks. 4♠+1, based on a combined 19 count, was a great result.
That was enough to clinch it, so JW and NC won a second week on the same day.
Friday, 15 November 2013
Criminal - Deal of the Week #10
Here's one where a mix up caused a missed game:
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I had the North hand. After three passes, the bidding came round to me. With most partners I'd open that hand 1♠ in an instant, but in lunch time bridge you normally need thirteen points to open, so it's a borderline opener. After three passes you should open borderline hands only when you have good Spades, as the side with Spades can win the auction cheaply. So I opened 1♠. South, who originally passed, now has a much better hand, and is thinking straight away of playing 4♠.
But instead South bid 2♥, confident that his partner, who opened the bidding, would bid again. But his partner (me), didn't bid again. I didn't realise partner could have Spade support, and passed, thinking that was a cheap way to leave us in a low level making contract. With the ♣A and ♥KQ onside the result was an embarrassing 2♥+3. I now know that the house rules are that after you open you promise another bid - even if partner is a passed hand. This isn't a great agreement, but it's worth sacrificing a bit of bidding accuracy for simplicity so I'm happy to follow this from now on.
In the second hand below it's pretty clear what went wrong, we were in the wrong game. But I'm still not quite sure how to stop it:
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South opened 1♥ and North replied 2♣. South rebid 2♥, which almost always shows a six card suit. North then showed his good Clubs, and slam ambition, with 4♣. The only bid available for South now is 4♥, which he bid. North then passed this, following the principle of keeping the bidding low in a misfit. But there's a saying "What do you call an eight card suit? Trumps!". North only has seven Clubs but looking at it now they're so good you know you're unlikely to ever lose more than one Club, but you can imagine several losers with Hearts as trumps.
South was stuck as declarer in 4♥. It looks pretty bad. You've got the ♠A to lose, along with probably three trumps (the ♥K, ♥J and ♥T). Even if you somehow get lucky and an opponent is forced to drop the ♥K for example, it's not really lucky as it just means the Hearts have split badly. After a Diamond lead the only shot is to try and discard your losing Spades on the winning Clubs and Diamonds. By the time you are discarding the last Spade an opponent will be out of Clubs and ruffing you, but if you are lucky trumps will split 4-3 and it will be the hand with four trumps that ruffs. Then you can draw trumps only losing that one ruff and two more.
South played this way, and briefly it looked like it might work, until the defence engineered a Diamond ruff, so the result was 4♥-1. This is bad news, as there's no beating 6♣ - you just lose one Spade. Another criminal missed opportunity.
Sunday, 10 November 2013
Playing the Long Game - Deal of the Week #9
But that's not the Deal of The Week. This comes from Friday, and features NC stealing a game. Here's the full deal:
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South has a balanced 13 count. Playing a strong NT he opens one of a suit (here Hearts), then rebids 1NT over his partner's 1♠ bid. North has a 10 count, and made an invitational raise of 2NT. Should South accept the invitation? He's shown 12-14, and since he has a very flat 13 count, I'd say he's at the bottom of his range, and should pass. But he wanted to bid on, and so I advised him that better than just bidding 3NT is bidding 3♠, to show 3 card support, then North can bid 4♠ if he has five of them. North did have five, but preferred the nine trick 3NT game.
Looking at the North and South hands 3NT is pretty hopeless. In immediate tricks you've got 5 Spades, and two Aces, which only makes seven. You need two extra tricks. These could in theory come from Hearts, though Diamonds are a better shot. But surely the defence will take five tricks by then, if they get into the Clubs?
West lead a Club, which declarer ducked and East won with the Jack. East was then too eager to cash his winners, and took the ♦A then continued with the ♦Q, hoping his partner had the ♦K. Declarer was thus able to get three Diamond tricks, which along with his other seven winners was 3NT+1.
There's no rush for East to take his ♦A, and he does best to continue Clubs. Of course declarer will win this in dummy, but then East-West will get three more Club tricks. You've got to think long term in a No Trump contract.
Finally, how would North-South have done in 4♠? Even with the favourable Diamond position, you've still got to lose 2 Diamonds, along with 1 Club and 1 Heart, for 4♠-1. This is slightly better than 3NT though, which will either go one or two down.
Wednesday, 30 October 2013
Wee Sleekit Cowran Beastie - Deal of the Week #8
I should have stayed out of it. I tried to, but I couldn't help myself.
This is from today's lunch time Bridge, and it's my Deal of the Week. North-South had a chance of a slam, but chickened out, after I came in with some not very helpful advice.
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NC has the big South hand, with 20 points. You could open it 2♣, but I don't think it's quite good enough. 1♠ is the right bid, and NC found it. TB sitting West came right in with 3♥, an excellent bid with a weak hand with good Hearts. JW sitting North supported Spades. Normally, this hand would only bid 2♠, but with the preempt that's not possible so he has to bid at the 3 level. After the preempt you lose a bit of accuracy, and the 3♠ bid shows either a 2♠ or 3♠ bid, so is quite wide ranging, from 5 to about 11 points.
When it gets back to South, it's crunch time. He decided to pass. This looks mad, but remember this is rubber bridge, and actually 3♠ was enough for North-South to get their game bonus, as they already had a part score. So there was no need to bid on past 3♠. No need that is, unless you are interested in slam.
South could have bid 4♠. If it wasn't rubber bridge this would be a natural bid, but since 3♠ here is already game any bid past it is looking for slam. At this point I butted in to suggest to South that actually 4♣ is a better bid, as it shows an interest in slam and shows Club strength. Opposite a 4♠ bid North would normally pass, but opposite 4♣ North's hand is looking much better, and you might get to slam.
As it is, in all the mayhem, South was coffeehoused into passing. He'd been convinced that even bidding 4♠ might be too high. Against 3♠, West lead the Ace of Hearts.
There's an easy 10 tricks - 5 spades, 3 Diamonds, and at least 2 Clubs. In fact, you can always get an extra trick in Clubs to get you up to 11 - but how do you get 12? You need to get Clubs right. After winning the ♥A West switched to the ♣Q and it was decision time for declarer. Either you assume the Club is a singleton (like it is), in which case you win with the ♣K, then finesse East for the ♣J. Or, you assume that West has ♣QJ and if you think that's the case, you have to instead win the first one with the ♣A, and finesse West for the ♣J.
Given that he was only playing 3♠, NC wasn't that bothered about making 12 tricks, but just for style he won the ♣K in dummy, drew trumps, then correctly finessed the ♣J for 3♠+3.
I was blamed for North-South failing to bid this makeable slam, and if they lose the week's bridge it's apparently my fault.
Wednesday, 9 October 2013
Double Fit - Deal of the Week #7
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TB has the very distributional South hand and chose to open 1♦. This modest contract was enough to give North-South the rubber, but it wasn't likely to end there. JW was certain 1♦ wasn't going to end the auction, and came in straight away with 2♣. North supported with 2♦, and East introduced his Heart suit. South only has ten points, but it's a very powerful hand, and on the second round he introduced his Spade suit with 2♠. This is perfectly safe as he will be happy to play 3♦ if there's no Spade fit. But, actually, his bid has uncovered a huge double fit. North-South have Spades and Diamonds, East-West have Hearts and Clubs. That means everyone can make a lot of tricks, and you gotta bid 'em up.
Over 2♠ West supported partner with 3♥, and now the double fit is well known, and the auction took off. North bid 3♠, East came in with 4♥, then South went with 4♠. I thought this would end the auction, but JW backed in again with 5♥. This was excellent judgement, as North-South would have made 4♠. I thought maybe AP should have doubled 5♥, but he wisely resisted, as actually 5♥ might well have made. TB then showed good judgement of his own, and bid 5♠, which ended the auction.
To make 5♠ declarer needs to get Spades right. He played for the 2-2 split and played the Ace-King, which unfortunately meant he had to lose a trump trick to West. The defence then took their other two tricks, so the result was 5♠-1.
In a Heart contract with East as declarer it would have been easy for the defence to take their Aces, in Spades and Diamonds, as they would have seen the two singletons in dummy. If West is declarer there's a chance 6♥ might make, as the defence might try and take two tricks in Spades, then declarer can get in and discard his Diamond loser on the long Clubs.
Double fit.
Saturday, 21 September 2013
Deal of Last Week - Deal of the Week #6
Luckily there's some unresolved business to write about from Last Week. A deal so big it has stretched over the weekend to become this week's featured deal. With North-South hundreds of points behind on Friday lunch-time, they needed some magic. It didn't happen the first hand, or the second, but then came this deal.
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There was no time for messing around. JW got dealt the hand below, and saw his chance to mix things up. He opened an immediate 4♠. NC sitting North then had a big decision. No one quite knew the score, but it looked like he needed at least a small slam. I advised him to bid "at least 6♠", and he wisely went for just 6♠. This was passed out.
West considered his lead. He was tempted by the ♣A. This would have been the right lead against 7♠, where you only need one trick. But against 6♠, you need two tricks. So the best lead is a high Heart. This will probably lose to the ♥A, but then you'll be poised to get your two tricks. So ID lead the ♥K, which was won by declarer in hand. The lead has worked - declarer now looks like he is facing a loser in Hearts and Clubs. The only way to avoid this tricks is if he can pull off some magic in the Diamond suit. And that's exactly what happened.
First, declarer drew trumps in one round. Then he won the ♦A, ruffed a Diamond (East had to play the ♦Q), crossed to dummy in trumps, ruffed another Diamond (East had to play the ♦K), then crossed to dummy again to take the now winning ♦J and discard the losing heart from hand. With dummy's winning fifth Diamond he discarded one of his Clubs, and still had two trumps in dummy to ruff two Club. So the only trick lost was one Club, for 6♠=.
It was lucky that one defender had ♦KQx, meaning the ♦J became a winner after three rounds. If that didn't happen, declarer would start to run out of trumps in dummy, and wouldn't have enough to both use as entries, and to ruff two Clubs. So to make the contract he'd have to lead up to his ♣KJx and guess which one to play (here the Jack). If he guesses right, he only needs to ruff one Club in dummy.
The safest way to play the contract is actually to start on Diamonds before drawing trumps. This looks like it carries a risk of the defence getting a ruff if Diamonds are 6-1 or 5-2, but actually if that's the case you're not going to make the contract anyway.
After declarer made 6♠= there was some frantic calculations as to the final score. In fact, this continued on to Monday, and I'm still not sure who won the week.
Saturday, 14 September 2013
Twice 5 Spades - Deal of the Week #5
On the first occasion he hit a monster dummy, but it wasn't quite enough:
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South dealt and opened 1♣. I was sitting West and had the big Heart suit. Maybe I should only bid 1♥, but I decided to go big with an immediate 4♥. North played it cool with a pass. East has a good hand but no bid, so passed too. South wasn't done, and came back in with 4♠, showing the two-suiter. North again made a reserved pass of 4♠, and East judged very well to bid 5♥. But South still wasn't done, and came back again with 5♠. This won the auction, but at what price?
When dummy came down in 5♠ it was a bit of a shock. Six card trump support! West lead the ♥K, ruffed by declarer. He drew trumps, and tried to set up the Club suit. But when East won his ♣A he quickly switched to Diamonds, and the defence got their three tricks. 5♠-1. But it was a good sacrifice, as East-West are making 5♥, 6♥ in fact.
On Wednesday night JW was at it again, bidding 'em up.
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North dealt and passed. TB sitting East wasted no time with an immediate 3♣ opening. JW sitting South came in with 3♠. I was East and have a good hand for support in Clubs. I should maybe have bid more, but kept to a modest 4♣. But I needn't have worried. After North came in with 4♦ (we were all feeling quite bold) East bid 5♣ himself. This could have been the final contract, but JW stole it again with 5♠.
This time dummy didn't offer so many trumps, but has a good fit in Hearts. Against 5♠ I lead a club to East's ♣A, then switched to a low Heart. I won with the ♥A sitting West, and had a bit of a quandary. I have seven Diamonds in my hand and can see five in dummy, so I know that someone has a void. I was a bit afraid to cash my ♦A, as if it's declarer who's void he might ruff, then use that ♦K in dummy to discard a losing Heart (if he has one). I think this is a bit fanciful and I should just play a Diamond, but got myself a bit tangled up and decided the safest thing was to play a trump.
It looks like declarer can now make the contract, by ruffing a Club in dummy, drawing trumps, and eventually using the extra Heart in dummy to throw away his Diamond loser. But, with the trumps splitting like they do, he doesn't quite have enough entries. So the contract went one off. Another 5♠-1. However, like before, even though the contract didn't make it was an excellent sacrifice, as East-West have no trouble making 5♣ (12 tricks actually).
Next time when JW bids 5♠, I'll bid on over him.
Friday, 6 September 2013
The decider - Deal of the Week #4
Before picking up his cards, TB sitting North checks the score and declares he's going to bid whatever he has. Then he opens 1♦. But wait! It's not his deal. West exercises his right as dealer to bid first, and opens 1♥. The full auction is:
| NC | TB | JW | ID |
| W | N | E | S |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1♥ | 2♦ | - | 2♠ |
| - | 4♠ | - | - |
| - |
After the 2♦ overcall ID sitting South is able to reply 2♠, and North doesn't hesitate in bidding game. It's pretty clear they were going to bid game whatever the hands, so there is a temptation for East-West to double. In fact, they're getting egged on to double. But West makes a dignified pass, and leads the ♣7 against 4♠. This is what declarer saw:
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Well there's only seven trumps, but it's not a terrible contract. Especially when, on the first trick, declarer played low from dummy and East popped up with the King. Declarer won the ♣A, and now had three Club winners.
Next declarer anxiously drew trumps. It all looked good when they split 3-3. Now he turned to the Diamonds. If it's your lucky day they'll also split 3-3, like this.
| ♦ A 9 7 6 3 | ||
| ♦ x x x |
 | ♦ x x x |
| ♦ 4 2 |
The right play is to duck the first Diamond, then win the second round with the Ace, ruff one in hand, and finally cross to dummy with the ♣Q to get the last two Diamonds. If you win the ♦A on the first round you then don't have enough entries to set up the suit and get back to it.
Declarer lead a low Diamond from his hand and, paused, and ... found the textbook play of ducking. West won the trick, and the spotlight was now on NC. If he gets it right, the defence can take the next four tricks in Hearts. If he gets it wrong though, and leads any other suit, then declarer can make it by using dummy's Diamonds to discard two Hearts. The contract, and the whole week, depends on his next card. After the briefest of pauses, West found the killing defence and took the next four tricks, for two off. The full deal was:
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Was it possible to make 4♠? You'll need Spades 3-3 and Diamonds 3-3 to have any chance. Also, you need a bit of luck on the opening lead, and you get it when the defence produce the ♣K. It's now best to play the Diamonds before drawing trumps - not because you want to use your trumps to ruff Hearts, but because you want to keep a trump in dummy for protection. But even then, it's not quite going to work against best defence. West can win his ♥AK and lead a third Heart, forcing declarer to ruff in dummy. If he ruffs low, East can overruff. If he ruffs high, then he can't draw trumps and the defence will get a trump trick anyway.
On the actual deal, declarer was two off, which meant that East-West won the day and won the week. But had the defence slipped up, it could have been very different.
Monday, 26 August 2013
Slam Down Smackdown - Deal of the Week #3
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North opened 1♣. After complaining of not having a good hand since 2008, South has a great hand, and slam looks likely when partner opens. South considered replying 2♦, then went for 1♦. North rebid 2♣ and South made a forcing 2♠ bid. There was then a bit of confusion as North-South realised they already had sixty towards a part score (this was rubber bridge), but North was convinced to bid on with the chance of a slam, so went for 2NT. With the lunch break nearly over, South agreed to bid 6♦.
Looking at the South hand there's not many losers. What you're looking for in dummy is cards to take care of your losers. So the ♣A is great, and so is the ♥K. Those are the only useful high cards though, and unfortunately dummy has nothing in Diamonds, but has two of them at least.
West lead a Spade, won by declarer's Ace. The defence are now threatening to take a Spade trick. You have two extra winners in dummy (the ♣K and ♥Q), which you can use to throw away two of your Spades, but unfortunately not three. If you could set up one of dummy's Clubs in time to throw away another Spade that would be good, but unfortunately there's not enough entries to dummy. So you're going to have to lose a Spade. That means that to make the contract you need no trump losers.
The normal play in that Diamond suit, with eight of them missing the Queen, is to finesse (Eight ever, Nine never). It's worth starting with one high Diamond first though, just in case there's a singleton Queen. So declarer played the ♦A, crossed to dummy in Hearts, and finessed. When West won the ♦Q the contract was one off.
Sunday, 25 August 2013
On the money - Deal of the Week #2
I've remembered the cards that matter, and to make it more readable I've randomly placed the other cards too.
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Playing a Strong NT, West opened 1♣. North has the perfect hand for a takeout double. Although East would normally bid with 7 points it's hard to find a bid here, so he passed. South then replied 1♠. Except in the very rare case he wants to defend 1♣x, South has to bid in response to the double. So his 1♠ reply does not promise any strength, and in fact could be based on 0 points. With nine or more points South should jump to 2♠. This hand is close to a jump, but having so much strength in Clubs before opener means it's only worth 1♠. North should have passed this, having no interest in game opposite a 0-8 point hand. But he wasn't quite sure what partner had, so bid 2♠ to be on the safe side. I then persuaded South that partner must be showing a very good hand to be bidding 2♠ opposite a potential 0 count, so he raised to 3♠. This was passed out, at least one level too high.
3♠ was going to be a stretch then, but it's got some chances. The defence got off to the right start with a trump, which makes things tough for declarer as he's got few high cards, and could need trumps to deal with all those Club losers. The trump lead went to East's ♠K, and he shrewdly returned another trump. Declarer won in hand, and immediately went for Diamonds. In these sketchy hands you need to get your second suit going quickly. I was hoping that West would win and have no trumps left, but instead East won and played a third round of trumps. Declarer played another Diamond up, won by West, who played the ♥K. Declarer gave up a Heart, his fourth loser, but is now home.
There are three losing Clubs in hand. One gets ruffed in dummy. One goes on the top Heart in dummy, and one on the long Diamond in dummy. 3♠ bid and made.
Here's a hand from Friday. Mostly, it doesn't matter what bidding conventions you play. The best system is the one that partner plays. But, just occasionally, there's a hand where you need a little bit of science to find the best contract.
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West opens a Strong NT. East has a good 9 point hand, so has to go to game. With no Stayman or transfers the only bid I think is 3♠, giving partner the choice of 4♠ or 3NT. Here, with a small Spade doubleton, opener went for 3NT.
Unfortunately, there is a Club weakness and the defence found it. Declarer ducked the first Club, won the second, then set up the Diamonds. When Clubs split 5-5 declarer lost four Clubs and one Diamond, for 3NT-1. I suggested that it's slightly better to boldly win the first Club with the ♣A, and maybe even continue Clubs, as ducking here can never work.
Here's how the auction would go with transfers:
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After the 1NT opening, East bids 2♥ as a transfer to Spades. West completes the transfer. East now bids 3♥, natural and game forcing, showing a hand with 5 spades and 4 hearts (at least). West now has a choice of three games (3NT, 4♥ or 4♠), and bids 4♥. This is an excellent game. The only disadvantage of bidding like this is that you might give more information away to the defence, especially if you end up playing the same 3NT anyway.
Finally, here's how me and Anna would bid it (I hope):
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Playing a Weak NT, West has to open 1♦. East replies 1♠. West doesn't quite have enough to reverse into 2♥, so rebids 1NT. East now bids 2♣, Checkback Stayman, asking if opener has any extra length in the Majors. here, this is specifically asking if opener has either three card Spade support, or four Hearts. West shows his four card Heart suit, and East raises to game.