Undeserved Reward

28^th March – Board 22: East/West Vul. Dealer East.

It’s strange how bridge hands seem so much easier to deal with after the event, which was certainly the case on the featured hand although the right play – not found at the table – would have led to an inferior result.

	North: S none H A 8 5 D Q 9 7 5 4 C K Q J 6 4
West: S K Q 6 2 H 10 6 3 D A J 8 6 C 9 2		East: S 10 9 7 4 H Q J 4 D K 3 2 C 10 8 3
	South: S A J 8 5 3 H K 9 7 2 D 10 C A 7 5

West	North	East	South
		No	1S
No	2D	No	2H
No	3C	No	3NT
End

The bidding was straightforward to the no-trump game and West led the six of diamonds which I ducked to East who returned a low spade. Now I should have seen that with the diamond suit frozen my only real chance was to hope that hearts divided 3-3 when I could make one spade, three hearts and five clubs. All this was predicated on the fact that I would not lose two spades quickly, which really needed East to hold both the king and the queen in which case I should have played the knave. Indeed if that had held I would have had nine tricks irrespective of the heart division. Instead I played the eight which turned out to be the winning line. West won and played a heart, which I ducked, but I now had nine tricks. If East had returned the ten of spades then West could have won over the knave and returned the suit and now I would have been a trick short. Curiously I see that 4H cannot be beaten.

Cui Culpa?

10th Jan – Board 17: Love All. Dealer North. 

I find it really hard to determine who is to blame for the E/W pair reaching totally the wrong contract on the featured hand. But I’m quite sure I would have done too.

What would you respond to 1♦ on that West hand? There are a number of possibilities I suppose, with 2♣, 3♦ or even a splinter of 3♠ all having their good points. I imagine whichever of those was taken East would end up – sooner or later – in 3NT which stands no chance on a spade lead but is laydown on any other. Yet at one table West responded 5♦, paying due homage to the Losing Trick Count, and thereby hitting the correct contract in one go. The trouble of course with the LTC is that at high levels it tends to become wobbly, treating aces and kings as the same, and for that reason it is often eschewed on hands such as West. In 5♦ declarer should aim to set up the clubs and make five club tricks, five diamond tricks and ultimately a ruff in the closed hand.

Eavesdropping

3rd Jan – Board 2: N/S Vul. Dealer East.

Listening to the bidding made by the other side should be an absolute essential to ensure the best defence but quite often autopilot takes over. Sitting West on the hand shown below what would you lead to 3NT after the bidding shown. And why?

Sitting West you should try and build up a picture of declarer’s hand, so what do you know? Well South has at least eight cards in spades and diamonds and unless he is precisely 4-1-4-4 he will have five diamonds and probably two or three clubs, but he must have the king because of that 3NT bid. So it would not be unreasonable to kick off with the ace of clubs, which would be greeted with enthusiasm by partner and would certainly lead to the failure of the contract assuming you follow up with the queen. I would like to say I would have found that lead but I wouldn’t. I would have led a heart, knowing declarer is short there, and in truth that might work out well if declarer plays low from dummy and East switches to a club. But if declarer rises with the ace and clears diamonds then the defence is impotent because East will never gain the lead and declarer will come home with four spades, two hearts and four diamonds. The one suit I would never lead is spades because that can only ever be helping declarer, although many defenders would look no further than their longest suit.

Boundless Optimism

3rd Jan – Board 14: Love All. Dealer East.

It can be really exciting at times when you hold a big distributional hand and your partner opens because it might seem that the sky’s the limit. However two big hands usually only ever make one big contract if there is a fit to be found somewhere, a fact sadly lacking on the featured hand where many people sitting North showed boundless optimism until the wheels came off.

Although North’s initial heart bid was fourth suit a subsequent repeat showed values there, but by this time he knew that his partner held at least ten cards in the pointed suits. When South signs off in 3NT I think North should respect his judgement for chasing slams can be a disappointing occupation. In fact years ago I remember an analysis of the British team’s performance in the European Championships showed that they would have fared better if they had bid no slams at all.

Clever Clogs

6^th Dec – Board 14: Love All. Dealer East.

It is important I think to make a 2NT rebid after partner has responded in a new suit at the two-level as game forcing. The reason behind this being that responder can now show three-card support for opener’s first suit if he so wishes and still be in a forcing situation.

With his completely balanced hand North should eschew any possible 5-3 heart fit and go for the no-trump game instead which has the merit of having nine tricks on top. However some pairs arrived in 4♥ and that needs a certain amount of luck to make. With no chance of making an extra trick in either diamonds or spades declarer should aim to make a second club trick and the correct way to do this would be to lead a club to the nine, hoping to draw either the king or queen from East. Then a subsequent finesse of the jack will provide the extra trick assuming West holds the other big honour. I think the chances of this line working are about 37.5% making the heart game very inferior to 3NT. But can you see that a clever clogs sitting West has a chance to shine? When a low club is led from the South hand supposing West plays the queen! Might not declarer now think that West holds both the queen and the king and later play small to the jack?

Second Sight

4th October – Board 10: Game All. Dealer East.

It seems to me that without the gift of second sight 3NT should fail on the hand shown below with two many high cards being in the wrong place.

South might rebid 2♣ I suppose but with a stop in both doubletons I would rather go for the no-trump option. But on a diamond lead what are you going to do? The text book way of going about a hand like this is to duck the opening lead completely, win the next round perforce and then attack one of the two suits that need to be established. However whichever line you chose should end in failure with West holding both aces and five diamonds which can now be easily established. If you (mistakenly) win the first diamond, knock out either missing ace and (mistakenly) win the second diamond you will prevail however, with the diamond suit being blocked.

Not Happy

27th September – Board 10: Game All. Dealer East.

I’m really not happy about North’s choice of bid after his partner has opened 1♦. 3♦ seems the standout candidate but to my mind it is a little on the strong side with 5♦ perhaps making with 3NT standing no chance at all. (I would like to experiment with 1♥ and see what happens but as that is usually the worse I guess I would go with the majority vote.) Anyway partner will bid 3NT over 3♦ – as they always do – and you have to let him get on with it.

A club lead would leave declarer with an impossible task, but that is not going to happen. Suppose instead West leads a low spade to East’s jack and your king. What next? Obviously the diamonds have to provide a bucket-load of tricks but you have to be careful. As you do not want East to gain the lead it might look safe to lead a low diamond to the king but when East shows out the game is over. With two diamond losers now the defence can defeat the contract in any number of ways. No, at trick two you have to lead the queen of diamonds! You still need West to hold the ace but your foresight gains when the bad split comes to light. Whatever West does next you can win, take a marked diamond finesse and come to nine easy tricks.

All The Difference

20th September – Board 7: Game All. Dealer South.

Normally you need about 33 points between the two combined hands for 6NT to stand a sporting chance but that assumes that both hands are flat. As a corollary to that any decent five card suit makes all the difference in the world, as can be seen demonstrated in the hand below.

South shows a balanced hand of about 15/16 points and in the first instance North bids 3♥ to check whether the opener has a five-card suit there. However after the 3NT response North is worth one more go because of that good five-card suit. 4NT is not Blackwood of course because no suit has been agreed but merely quantitative and South should take up the slack with his fine array of controls. Notice that if North had a diamond less and a club more (say) then 6NT would be an awful contract needing both diamonds to break 3-3 and the spade finesse to be right, odds of just 18%. However with the hand as it stands declarer just needs to make five diamond tricks after a club lead to fulfil his contract, the odds this time being around 70%. For those playing a strong no-trump North would bid 4NT after the opening with the same happy result.

Up For Debate

20th September – Board 14: Love All. Dealer East.

One of the most difficult areas of the game is to have a comprehensive system after 1NT has been doubled, both from the point of view of the responder to the opening bid and the responder to the doubler.

I think East is right to open 1NT here although it should work out badly. (The other option of opening 1♥ is fine if partner responds 1♠ because 2♣ becomes an obvious rebid, but if partner inconveniently bids 2♦ then you are stuck with having to rebid that anaemic suit.) When South doubles 1NT East/West have to know what a 2♦ bid now means by West. Some play it as a transfer and some play it as natural – a weakness take-out in fact. Put me down in the latter camp and I would have no hesitation in attempting to improve matters with a rescue act. But if West does bid 2♦ what is North supposed to do? Fine if you play that double is now for penalties but not so good if it is for take-out. The point I am trying to make is that for a really good partnership to function well these matters should have been discussed at length to avoid any ambiguities in the heat of battle. As I play that a double of 2♦ is for take-out I would have to pass and look sly – something I do to perfection – but I would then expect my partner to re-open with a double, which I would then pass. Two down and 300 to the good guys but only after a lot of system.

Dog In The Night

13th September – Board 8: Love All. Dealer West.

For those who think that bidding is an exact science please think again. Sometimes – often – we are left with a choice of bids with no real reason to go for one rather than the other, with the success or failure of the ultimate choice being little more than luck. Take a look at the hand shown below:

The bidding is straightforward enough up to the point when North gives jump preference to his partner’s first suit, but what is South supposed to do then? With sixteen high card points it seems tame to pass while 5♦ and 3NT might have too many top losers. 4♦ is just passing the buck of course and shouldn’t be seriously contemplated so how is it possible to make any sensible decision? Well I think you have to think of what hasn’t happened. Rather like the dog in the night that didn’t bark, West has failed at love-all to overcall 1♦ with 1♥ thus precluding the possibility of him holding a decent five-card suit, and for that rather tenuous reason I would try for the no-trump game. In any event West might not lead a heart, or the suit might be blocked or perhaps partner has a stop. Whatever the case it is little more than a gamble but certainly as the cards lay 3NT is the winner. However make partner’s two of hearts a low club and now you would want to be in 5♦…..

The Science of Audacity?

6th September – Board 10: Game All. Dealer East.

Author: Steve Preston

When I was asked to write this blog I naively hoped to provide an erudite exposition on the bidding and play of one of this Thursday’s hands. Board 10 was quite interesting, I was told. Perhaps I could explain how it should be scientifically bid to whatever might be the optimum contract.

Establishing the best contract was relatively easy – 7C is excellent and indeed likely the best contract at teams. The second best, though more risky contract of 7N is also a reasonable shot. However constructing an auction that reaches either contract with any degree of conviction is much harder. Most tables started with an opening bid by East that showed a balanced hand of around 19-20 points and West, with 15 points and a powerful suit, therefore knew that bidding a small slam was de rigueur and bidding a grand slam a distinct possibility.

With David our methods would allow us to set clubs as trumps, ask for aces and the trump king and then further go on with 5N to ask for specific other (non trump) kings. Unfortunately we (David and I) play an ‘expert’ gadget whereby, with two kings, a response shows either the king held or the one not held. i.e. 6S over 5N either denies or shows the king of spades. The method seemed a good idea at the time! With the actual information gathered, personally I would have counted the 12 known tricks and although perceived wisdom is to only bid a grand slam if the odds are 70% + I would have bid 7C. So much for erudition and science.

Congratulations to anyone who did bid the grand slam – either by science or just audacity. I suppose it comes down to your basic bridge philosophy – two contrasting auctions : 2N-4N (for aces)-5D (one) - 7N (that’ll do) and 2N-6N (safe) Of course the latter sequence avoids the disaster of playing in Blackwood and the subsequent interesting partnership discussion! On the day the brave were rewarded – both 7C and 7N were virtually laydown. Leaving aside the extra chances available in clubs, everybody’s favourite line of cashing lots of winners in the long suit (called an automatic squeeze if you wish to impress your friends) would have left poor North unable to guard the three suits in which he held his honour cards.

No Shame

23rd August – Board 14: Love All. Dealer East.
There is no shame in bidding to 3NT with a combined 25 count and two balanced hands, even though the contract may not be a good one. Having said that, even bad contracts can sometimes be unbeatable.

East has a difficult choice over the 1♥ intervention but the one bid that should not be made is 1NT! It is true that 1NT should show about 6-9 points but it should also show a stop in the overcalled suit. (The reason of course is that you would expect that suit to be led and you can only imagine partner’s dismay if he raised to game and the opposition took the first five or six tricks.) Of course you would want to make some noise on that East hand but you can’t double – because that would show spades – and you are not really strong enough to bid a forcing 2♦, so the only possibility is to raise in clubs. Ideally you would have four-card support but to my mind it is the safest of all options. Never mind, opener would bid 2NT showing 17/18 points – because you might only have 6 – and you could then happily raise to game. Clearly you can only make this contract by bringing in the diamonds and after a heart lead you should play on that suit. North will win and switch to spades maybe, but you duck the king, win the next spade perforce and play another diamond. North has to win but has no more spades to play. Lucky? Yes of course, but lucky bridge players are winners – and vice-versa.

Impossible Switch

5th July – Board 16: East/West Vul. Dealer West.

The bridge world was sad to hear of the death of Eric Crowhurst recently, a fine player and a great theoretician. His book ‘Precision Bidding in Acol’ remains the ultimate textbook for good bidding and analyses just about every bidding sequence you are ever likely to come across. He was of course the originator of the Crowhurst convention and would have loved the hand shown below.

The idea that Crowhurst promulgated was that a rebid of 1NT showed 12-16 points, not just 15-16, and the responder to such a bid could ask for more clarification by bidding 2C, the bid that bears Eric’s name. So in the sequence shown above 1NT showed 12-16 points and 2C asked. The 2H bid showed a minimum hand with five hearts and two spades leaving East with a simple raise to game. In the play North led a diamond and needing a quick ninth trick declarer played a spade to the king and claimed nine tricks when that card held. Almost impossible, one would think, for North to rush in with the ace and switch to the ace of hearts. Some hands are just too hard.

Brushed Aside

21st June – Board 6: East/West Vul. Dealer East.

When an opponent overcalls your partner’s opening bid with a two-suited showing convention you have a much larger number of bids at your disposal because as well as any natural response you might make you also have the ability to cue-bid in either of the suits being shown on your right. And you can make them mean whatever you and your partner have agreed! On the hand shown West will undoubtedly wade in with a Michael’s 2♦ after a 1♦ opening by partner, showing 5-5 in the majors and a reasonable hand because of the vulnerability. Without going into detail can you see that as North you now have the option of bidding 2♥ or 2♠ as responder, not wishing to play there of course because that would be madness, but merely to show whatever you have agreed upon? (I am being deliberately vague here because it is a complex situation, but it is useful to be aware of all the options that are open to you.) In any event North should do little more than double to show values and then when opener bids 3♣ bid 3♥ to show a useful holding there. (Called a ‘fragment’ by those who know these things.) And with a spade stop South is bound to try 3NT.

There is not a great deal to the play but upon receiving the lead of the king of spades declarer would do best to win and play a couple of rounds of clubs first. When West follows he is known to have one diamond at most and the situation in that suit becomes apparent when a low diamond is led to dummy. After the smoke has cleared I would expect declarer to emerge with ten tricks.

Changing Fortunes

3rd May – Board 10: Game All.  Dealer East.

South was doubtless delighted when he picked up his hand on the deal shown below but sometimes things do not work out quite as planned. There are a myriad of permutations that the bidding might take and I unashamedly produce an auction that results in a makeable game, hindsight of course being the main factor. Nevertheless there are several points of interest.

The standard way of dealing with a very strong hand after an opponent has bid in front of you is to double first even though its make-up might not be composed of the ideal requirements such a double promises. The theory of course is that partner will make a minimum response if he is forced to bid at all and then you can introduce your main suit, assuming it is not the same as partner’s. And with a balanced hand in excess of 18 points you would rebid in no-trumps to get this message across. So South will no doubt be surprised to hear his partner make a jump bid in reply to his double and for the opener to bid again! After all how many points can a pack of cards contain? If North stands the double of 3♦ I think declarer can come to seven tricks so that +500 represents scant reward, but in reality North will probably give his heart suit another airing. If South bids 3NT now he will hit the jackpot but he might be tempted to bid game in hearts and then his fortunes will take a turn for the worse. At least they should, for careful defence will set this contract by one trick.

View the play of the deal:

Or to view the play of this deal in a new window, click   >> Changing Fortunes <<

No Messing

29th March – Board 13: Game All. Dealer North.

Having a good imagination is an essential attribute of the successful bridge player, which often means bypassing the prosaic in order to do something rather more spectacular. Such was the case with the featured hand where West seemed to have a problem after his partner had made a take-out double of the opening bid and his right-hand opponent had passed. Clearly the hand is too good for 2D and 4D takes you past the most likely winning spot, so I think the solution is to ignore diamonds altogether and – no messing – just jump to the no-trump game. After all, those diamonds are going to provide a bushel load of tricks.

West	North	East	South
	1H	Dbl	No
3NT	End

Of course the no-trump game can be defeated on the lead of a small spade, ducked by declarer, and a heart return from South, but that is never going to happen and if it does you just reach for the next board. In reality you are going to get a small heart lead and while the a priori odds favour taking two finesses in diamonds that would be foolish given that North has opened the bidding and South has remained silent. So play diamonds from the top and enter +630 in your scorecard.

Minor Suit Slams

22nd March – Board 1: Love All. Dealer North.

Bidding minor suit slams after a 2NT opening is notoriously difficult, but the following scheme seems to fit the bill well enough:
a) 3S shows at least 4-4 in the minors and with no interest opener rebids 4NT.
b) 4D shows a six-carder or more and is a single-suited slam try. Again with no interest opener signs off with 4NT.
c) 4C shows a six-carder or more and is a single-suited slam try. Again with no interest opener signs off with 4NT.

West	North	East	South
	No	No	2NT
No	4D	No	4H
No	5D	No	5S
No	6C	No	6D
End

When North jumps to 4D opener is charmed and shows support by cue-bidding in hearts. With a minimum hand for his jump I dare say North would retreat to 5D but South is clearly determined to bid a small slam at least and paints a further picture by now cue-bidding in spades. This would give North the chance to show second round club control but by now opener has probably done enough and would leave the final decision to partner. The play is trivial and with the king of trumps well-placed thirteen tricks will come rolling in. Again 6NT is the big winner but as South I would be scared that North holds a singleton club.

I’m afraid that with this clever addition to your armoury Gerber must be dispensed with, but no loss there. If, as responder, you want to know immediately how many aces your partner holds bid 4NT. If you have a quantitative raise to 4NT just bid 4S, which is a redundant bid you will have noticed. (You can play these two bids the other way round of course. I just find it easier that 4NT is RKCB.)