THE GOSPORT EAR (Number 36) by LEPUS

You are RED, playing PAIRS, and in third seat looking at: - ♠ QJ8 ♥ AK53 ♦ 4 ♣ AQJ84, and are mildly considering your bidding actions (open [1♣] and rebid, with a reverse, [2♥] over a response of [1♠]) when your reverie is interrupted by partner, who for the past few months has been giving a convincing imitation of Rip Van Winkle, when he surprisingly opens the bidding [1♦]. Your response is quite straightforward so you bid [2♣], and then appreciate why the enemy are not bidding when partner reverses with [2♠], which means that the enemy are limited to a maximum of 7 HCP.

Of course you have the substance for galumphing leap to [6N] which would end the bidding phase, however a vagrant thought crosses your mind "how is partner's minimum of 16 HCP distributed?" and you begin to compose hands. Although missing only 7 HCP militates against the enemy holding two Aces, what are the chances of the hand on lead holding a cashing Ace-King, then [6N] will fail. Partner could hold, for example, 16 HCP hands like: - ♠ AKxx ♥ QJx ♦ QJTxx ♣ K, or ♠ T97x ♥ QJ ♦ AKQJx ♣ Kx, and although he looks to be worth his reverse on the first exhibit, the second surely does not qualify with such a tatty second suit and the Heart picture cards not really pulling their weight (which they would, had partner responded [1♥]). Still the 'lucky' players, are also careful, so it's time to try FSF and see what that elicits.

After [3♥](!) your hear [4♣] so you would not expect the hand opposite you to hold values in Hearts! That would seem to suggest that most of partner's values should be in the suits that he has bid, so now it's time to ask, with some sort of generic Blackwood, and you determine that opener has the two missing Aces, and the three missing Kings. As you can count 12 solid tricks (only ♣ K singleton along with Clubs 5:0 may defeat the Grand Slam) you plump for the maximum and bid [7N].

I asked two strong players to bid these hands and they managed to produce an auction that certainly passed a few milestones on the way, and yet did miss the top spot(!)

[1♦]        [2♣] /

[2♠]        [3♥](!) /

[4♣]       [4♥](a) /

[4♠](a)    [4N](b) /

[5♣](c)   [5♥](d) /

[6♣]       [7♣](e) End

(a) Qbids

(b) Roman Key-Card Blackwood. Another method would be to play exclusion Blackwood, with responder's single Qbid in Hearts, asking for Aces and Kings outside of the Heart suit, so on this hand opener can show specifically ♠A, DA, along with ♠K, DK, and ♣K {see hand in note (e)}

(c) AAA, or AA with ♣K

(d) Mysterious!

(e) It is now difficult for opener to bid [7N] as responder could well have been looking at: - ♠ QJx ♥ void ♦ QJx ♣ AQJxxxx.

For the record, opener held: - ♠ AQJ84 ♥ 62 ♦ AKT3 ♣ K75, and declarer CLAIMED after both enemy hands followed to a Club.

THE GOSPORT EAR (Number 37 by LEPUS

You are playing PAIRS, RED v GREEN. You hold: - ♠ 2 ♥ J2 ♦ Q95 ♣ AKJT842 and partner (first in hand) opens, what from your hand is fairly predictable, with [1♠]: the next hand passes so it is your first decision, and you would seem to have three plausible bids, which (in no particular order) are: - [3N], [2♣], or [3♣].

I can imagine that several of you might be scratching you head, and thinking, "What, three NoTrump? Has LEPUS lost his marbles?".

Well it is Pairs, and the NoTrump game may play quite well, on the assumption that there is at least one Club in 'dummy'(!) It might give LHO a difficult choice as to what suit to lead, after all only one has been bid. In a bidding competition you might score highly, but should this game not be the correct resting pace then partner may not be best pleased to make no contribution to the bidding. There is some argument for bidding [3♣] as the quality of the suit is so good, but it may make it difficult (now) to conveniently bid the NoTrump game, besides which the loss of bidding space may also impinge upon any putative Slam sequences. All this leads (ineluctably) to the decision to make the response that you first thought of, namely [2♣], which is passed (so you may now get a free run to your optimum contract).

Partner makes the expected response [2♥] (well it was either that, or some number of Spades!), and again you do have some choices: [2N], [3♦], [3♣], or [4♣].

[4♣] does express the power of the suit, but the down sides are that (a) you cannot now play three NoTrump, and (b) partner may read this as also showing Hearts, as well as the control of Clubs.

[2N] (11-12) and a Diamond 'stop', is close, but will partner ever allow that you hold such a rich 7-card suit: it may well be that if the Clubs run that you will want to be in [6N].

[3♦] FSF might well be correct, as partner (if he takes the NoTrump position) will have his suits guarded from any immediately damaging lead, and should be in control of the early play.

[3♣] certainly shows the power of the suit, while the evident misfit may militate against NoTrump.

Clearly [3♦] and [3♣] are the better options.

At the table, the latter bid was chosen, and after the rebid of [3♥] (showing 5:5, or 6:5) the NoTrump option was fast diminishing (the enemy may well not forget to attack the unbid suit: this line of play coming directly from "The Irish Book of Leads"!). Now the only plausible bids are [4♥] and [4♣]. But against the Heart game, a Trump lead may indeed pick up the enemy trumps, but then the Spade suit may be difficult (if not impossible to establish), so on that basis [4♣]. Partner makes the 'bright' bid of [4♦] (which, on the Cannardli principle, must be a control bid...which may make you mentally congratulate yourself as [3N] was indeed a failing option) over which you manfully toil on to [5♣].

The opening lead ♦7, RHO winning, and a trump appears. Later, the ♣Q does not fall, so 11 tricks.

Dummy: - ♠ AK975 ♥ AK763 ♦ J ♣ 97.

The bidding 'needle' stuck in Clubs, and the full 'glory' of the auction: -

[1♠]     [2♣] /

[2♥]     [3♣] /

[3♥]     [4♣] /

[4♦](!)  [5♣](!)   End

Sometimes it just goes like that!

THE GOSPORT EAR (Number 38 by LEPUS

You are RED v GREEN, PAIRS, with bidding: - [2♥](a) [2N](b) [P] [6N](c) End.

(a) 6-card Heart suit in the range 6-10 HCP.
(b) 16-18 NoTrump
(c) I told you! It's PAIRS!!

Opening Lead: ♣ J.

♠ AQT763  ♥ 6           ♦ KT52   ♣ A8

♠ K54         ♥ AK532  ♦ AQ7    ♣ Q3

Plan your play, then read on.

First of all you noted the missing honour cards: ♠J, ♥ QJ, ♦J, and ♣K (you've just seen ♣J). The lead marks RHO with ♥ QJ plus ♣K.

In good standard Bridge, RHO should not be opening in the first seat when 4:6 in the Majors though in third seat it would be de rigueur. LHO cannot hold more than a singleton Heart for he would surely have led that suit rather than a JT-high Club suit.

Count your tricks! 6 Spades, 2 Hearts, 3 Diamonds, and one Club comes to 12 tricks, however in Spades you have to be a tad careful though you can pick up ♠ J982 with LHO by either leading to ♠ Q, or (on these cards) by leading ♠ K (taking the appropriate line whenever RHO fails on the first round!).

You play ♣ A at trick 1, and now you can simply cash all your winners, playing the Diamond suit at the end and make 13 tricks whenever the Diamonds are 3:3. Satisfied? So, what's so 'special' about this hand? Well at PAIRS you would like to make all 13 tricks (and if you do, you will score 71% on the board, and almost the whole planet would accept any score way above average!).

There is no need to rush at the hand and the first move might well be a spade to hand (RHO follows with ♠9) that proves the suit is 'good to go'. If you cash the spades then you will have to discard three times from hand and you can certainly pitch two small hearts, then decide what to throw after RHO has played. RHO will have pitched ♥7, ♥4, ♥8 and on the 5th Spade ♦6. When you play the last Spade from dummy RH0 will pitch ♦3. You cash ♥ AK (LHO pitches another Club...he has already pitched three Clubs) followed by the ♦A, then ♦Q, noting ♦J falls from RHO, and you claim your 13 tricks.

What has been happening?

Well RHO held: - ♠ 9 ♥ QJ9874 ♦ J863 ♣ K9 and has just been put through the grinder of a squeeze-play because he held all the remaining cards that matter: he could not afford a fourth Heart discard (your ♥ AK5 in hand would then make 3 tricks) as he knows that you hold both high honours (his partner did not lead his bid suit: he would certainly have led, say, the singleton King...and, indeed, might have elected to lead his singleton ten). So his only realistic try was that declarer held ♦ A7 alone, with a 3-card Club suit Queen-high, then his partner's ♦ Q94 would generate a trick for the defence. Notice that RHO discards without angst, huffs, puffs, or gratuitous "dear me!".

There was an alternative line of play.

At trick three cash the top Hearts (discarding ♣8) then play all the Spades, watching for ♣K. When that does not appear on the last Spade you pitch ♣Q, then play all the Diamonds. This line will be superior when LHO holds 3:1 in the Majors (show-up), and length in both Minors (LHO will have been pitching Clubs!). This might qualify as a triple "Vienna Coup" (cashing top tricks to set up the enemy honours as winners, then by the 'sadistic' squeeze, force them to jettison those cards!)

THE GOSPORT EAR (Number 39) by LEPUS

THE GOSPORT EAR (Number 40) by LEPUS

You are playing TEAMS, All Green. The bidding (playing Benjamin) goes: -

[P]   [2C]    [4♥] [X] /
[P]   [5♥](!) [P]   [5♠] /
[P]   [6♠]    [X]   End

The Opening Lead: ♥7.

♠ AKT   ♥ 3      ♦ AKJ2  ♣ AKQ95
♠ QJ743 ♥ AJ8  ♦ 954     ♣ 64

A tricky little hand!?

After you take ♥Q, and say, ruff a Heart, then you may struggle if the trumps are 4:1, as you would have a certain trump loser, and will be obliged to take the Diamond finesse with the hope that it will stand up.

So, a tad fatalistically, you decide to draw trumps, and are somewhat surprised to find that they are 3:2 (Drat that means you could have ruffed a Heart). Well it certainly looks rosy now! However when you play a Club you come down with a bump when RHO pitches a Heart. Now you understand what his double meant.

In a replay of this hand, where North had bid Clubs as his first genuine suit, RHO again doubled, but sadly although the CJ was covered and ruffed, ♥K beaten, Heart ruff, declarer could draw trumps and take the 'marked' Club finesse (Note: perhaps just any random Club as the opening lead may have been a better shot!) for +1210.

Another player simply won the Heart attack, ruffed a Heart, "drew" trumps, pitched his ♥J on a top club, and had the Diamond finesse for 13 tricks, but only scored +1210 (which on the day was a fairly 'normal' result), for a series of flat boards.

So you cash the Clubs, pitching ♥8, and ruff a Club, go back to dummy with a top Diamond, and ruff the last Club, coming down to the 3-card end-position: -

♠ void ♥ void ♦ KJ2 ♣ void
♠ void ♥ J      ♦ 95    ♣ void

when you happen to notice that RHO has just pitched the ♥T, so you exit ♥J, and RHO concedes for yet another +1210, and yet another "boring" flat board!

For the record RHO held ♠ 95 ♥ KQT9642 ♦ Q876 ♣ void - and found himself squeezed in the red suits.

Thought for the day: might RHO have played to come down to ♥ QT and ♦ Q alone?