Summer Meeting

Seniors Pairs

Who do you trust?

both sides non vul

you hold  AQ2  AQ1075  A932  8     you open 1 H and next hand bids 1NT(15-17) -partner 2H - next hand 2NT you pass and 1NT bidder bids 3NT  all pass

Partner leads  8 H  ( you play MUD )    dummy goes down 1074  64  KJ854  K53   You play AH declarer plays the 3H

There are a lot of points in the pack - whats going on?  What do you play now?

Click to view the SCBA spoof......

Garden Cities Regional Finals

Hand 1

Nine counties ( Teams of 8)  turn up at Richmond, a strong line up, if you have to ask who the weak team is, it’s you!!

Well hosted by Richmond, Surrey very generously pays the entry fees.

Hindsight Harriet opens the east hand with a multi 2 ♦ bid. Love them or hate them, they can be very effective against all levels of opposition. Here it’s the weak 2 bid variety, although the hand can be a balanced 19-20 point hand, or an intermediate to strong 2 bid in one of the minors (usually 7 ½ to 8 tricks, to meet the EBU requirements).

I respond 2NTrumps, a forcing to game bid. HH now bids 3 ♦ , either a good weak 2 opener, or the intermediate/good diamond hand. I bid 3 ♥ , asking which it is, ( I suspect I know, from my lovely hand)  HH bids 3 ♠ , and I just give it the fourth. Plus 3 doesn’t get you any imps at teams, and we concede 10 to our opponents. 

HH says “I have already upgraded my hand, because its so suitable, and its worth more than a standard weak weak 2 response. You just don’t get it, do you?”  Analysing it later, I concede she is right, as usual. What sort of hand opposite mine, in the range 8 to 9 points  (non vulnerable) , can’t make 6, or is a make on the position of the A of clubs?

Richmond Swiss Pairs

Hand 42

Full house at Richmond, waiting list, how do they do it?

We have struggled up and down to respectability, when this hand comes up in match 6. South opens a ♣, playing 5 card majors, and better minor. North bids one ♠, and south rebids 2 No trumps, showing 18-19, (usually sound to keep the 2No trump rebid up to this strength)  North gives it the third, and I have to lead. Fourth best of your longest suit, no problems think I. Wrong again, South now has 2 entries (rising with the 9 of ♣) to establish the spades. 3 No trumps made for a mega score.

HH gently tells me what to do. Playing better minor, South has a least as many, and probably more ♣ than ♦. Partner has at most 4 points, possibly less. If  east has 4 ♦  to the jack, may be a far, far safer lead, and not the disastrous lead made at the table.

Surrey Mixed Pairs

Hand 23

Great to see this event (well run by Shirley Pritchard, and well directed by Miranda Churchill) full and with a waiting list.

The hands were very interesting; with three slams in a row.

HH got this one right, as usual

I opened 2NT  (21-22), and HH bid 3♣, asking about 4 and 5 card majors. I replied 3NT (sorry, no 4, nor 5 card major), HH bid 4♦. This must be slam going, with minor suit interest. I signed off in four no trumps, but HH now made the great inferential bid of 6♣. She knows I must have at least 4, if not more clubs, as I have a maximum of six cards in the majors.  Six ♣ plus one was worth most of the match points ( for a change!!)

Home Counties Match (Surrey vs Surrey) 

Playing in a Home Counties match, ( 2 teams from Surrey, Middlesex, and London play each other over the winter months, teams of 8) you sit south. You are playing against your other Surrey team, everyone knows each other, and it’s very friendly, but everyone wants to win. The teams captains, Tony Richards and Richard Millard are always looking for new team mates to enhance their squads, so if you are playing 2nd division Surrey or above, and want to play (just below Tollemache level) teams of 8, please let them know.

Get on with it  - HH

Hand 15 (I mis-bid and mis-play it again)

CONTRACT 3NT by South

After 2 passes HH opens 2 ♠. This is a two way bid, either intermediate to strong in ♠, or weak, with a minimum of 5 ♠, and 5 of a lower suit. HH rebids 3 ♠, the strongish hand over my relay of 2NT  (asking her to describe her hand) and now instead of bidding 4 ♠, I bid 3 no trumps. West leads the K of ♥ , and I refrain from suggesting HH might have bid 4 ♦ , showing a strong 2 suiter. I hold up 2 rounds of ♥, and then play a ♦ to the A. Now I cant make it, losing 4 ♥ and a ♦. HH helpfully comments “ whats the point of giving you a restricted choice, if you still get it wrong?” , and tells me how to play it. Win the third round of ♥, discarding 2 ♠ from dummy, and then play the A of ♦, unblocking the 10 from dummy. Now, is east’s J a cunning play from QJ, or a singleton? Restricted choice says a singleton, in that with QJ, could have played the Q or J. In addition, both you and dummy have a singleton, so why shouldn’t east? Having unblocked the 10 of ♦, finessing the 9 on the second round means you make 5 ♦, 2 ♠, one ♥ and one ♣. East is actually squeezed on the run of the ♦, but best to keep team mates happy by making your contract.

Surrey Teams of 8 (Garden Cities Qualifier)

Well hosted by Richmond, (“charming Richmond Bridge Club”, copyright Andy Robson) well directed as usual by Neil Morley and Miranda Churchill, this event is tough, both as to the quality of the teams, and the toughness of the scoring. Your result is compared against both your other pairs, so going down usually costs a lot of imps.

Hand 8 (Session 1)

I open one ♠ , third in hand, not bad, and adding my points to the ♠ gives me extra confidence (if in doubt,  in third and especially fourth position add your high card points to the number of your cards in your ♠ holding, and if they total 15 or more , open) . HH raises me to three spades, and I give it the fourth (its teams, I have reservations about my total lack of aces, but!!). South, a good player who used to be a friend, opens a low ♠. I give her a look, but she smiles, with that ”butter wouldn’t melt in my mouth” look. I think long and hard, and then go up with the ace of trumps. With everything right, I have managed to go one off. HH doesn’t have to comment, I know what I’ve done. Richmond 3 (who?-Ed) win narrowly and go forward to the national semi-finals.

The Tollemache Cup (inter-county teams of 8) Qualifier

I catch up with our gallant lads and lasses ( Surrey has far more ladies in the team than most counties) trying to qualify. It’s tough, with only two teams out of nine qualifying for the finals. The scoring is very harsh, so you can go from mega plus to mega minus on any one hand.

Get on with it  - HH

Hand 5 (Session 2)

This hand posed interesting play and defending problems.

CONTRACT 3NT BY SOUTH

What do you lead from the west hand? HH recommends a top of nothing heart lead, giving nothing away. This is a tough hand, with the helpful computer telling you afterwards that you can make 3NT against even the best defence.

HH finds an answer. Play four rounds of hearts, west having to discard first in front of dummy and then east. HH suggests discarding a low club, relying on east to have the club suit “covered”. Declarer discards a low spade, and east an encouraging club. Next comes a low spade towards the ten, and west is endplayed for the first time. (the ten is your friend, possibly copyright Andy Robson). Eventually declarer emerges with nine tricks, as anything west returns gives a trick.

Surrey win the group with ¾ of a match to spare, and move on to the final in February.

Metropolitan Cup (inter-county teams)

Hand 4

Playing for Surrey in this event, very well run by Surrey, you arrive in 6 No- Trumps by West. (Surrey always runs teams in all the sections, including 2 teams in the C category, which is the ideal place for less experienced teams players to hone their skills, and see how they are doing against other counties).

“You always say you need 33 points in 6 no trumps”, says Hindsight Harriet. Yes I do, but I am lured in to bidding it by the 5 card club suit. North leads a top of nothing ♥, giving nothing away. After I misplay it for one down (not good, team mates are sympathetic??) HH mutters about vacant places. I confirm she is not referring to my brain thoughts, and she continues:-

After cashing two top ♦, (north discarding encouraging ♠) you find you need 5 tricks in ♣. Assume north has the ace of ♠, on the lead. North has no ♦, therefore has, after 3 cards played, 10 vacant places for ♣. South has only 7 ( you know 6 of his cards). So, north is firm favourite  to hold more ♣, and therefore more likely to hold the jack. Only chance is to play to the ten of ♣, which holds. 6 no trumps bid and made.

Palooka

Surrey Green Point weekend, Swiss Pairs

Hand 5

Our lovely opponents, playing in their first green point event, brush our bidding aside and arrive in 3NT, by East.(bidding best forgotten)  It’s great to see so many inexperienced players at the event – our initial tasks are to explain the operation and etiquette of the Bridgemates (if we can work them, so can they) and helping them complete two convention cards that are the same. We tell them ( joke) that if anyone is less than 200% nice to them, to call the director under BBB. Being a brilliantly run Surrey event, of course, when I catch up with them afterwards everyone has been very welcoming and friendly. I am looking for excuses as to why we lost 8-12; our opponents won three out of 7 matches played. Get on with it  HH

Defending is the most difficult part of the game, especially at pairs, where overtricks always cost. So, what do you lead from the South hand? North has 11-13 points on our system, so opponents have about 24 at most. Anything you lead could cost.. 4th highest from longest suit is the obvious lead, but??

HH suggests a heart lead. Partner is marked with 4 hearts on their bidding, so unlikely to cost a trick and a tempo. The computer says you can make 3NT against the best lead and switch. I found this hand fascinating, in that it poses defensive, and play problems aplenty. Making 3NT was worth 82% of the matchpoints.

Palooka

Who says Bridge is not a sport of the mind?

Who says it isn’t the greatest game ever?  What do they know? This hand sums up the highs and lows of the game, which keeps us coming back forever.

Hand 14.

Robson and Forrester arrive in 4♠  by West.  9♣  lead from USA1 (multiple world champion) Rodwell.   South, Meckstroth, errs slightly (you notice how multiple world champions never make mistakes like you or I, they just err slightly) by not going up with the A♣ , and returning a trump. He ducks the club to Robson’s King. Now AK♥  (discarding a club) , ruff a heart, over to the K♠ , ruff a heart, cash AQ♠ , cross to the A♦  and emerge with 10 tricks. Forrester mutters “well played” and you move on, mentally, perhaps, putting 12 imps in the in column. Not a bit of it, this is the Bermuda Bowl quarterfinal. Our English South has to lead against 4♥  by East.

Yes, he finds the master lead of the 9 of trumps. Flat board, move on.

Palooka