Bray Bridge Club, Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland

Bray Bridge Club Diamond

Release 2.19m

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Hand of the Week

Hand of the Week

Interesting hand from the Regent Premier League Teams: "Teams Tactics" - courtesy of MN Peter Stewart

After West opened with their shapely 5-5 hand, N/S bid to game with the sequence shown above (*INT = 15 -18 maybe no spade stop / **2D = transfer / ***2NT positive / ****3C feature only 3 points but 8 1/2 loser hand)

Partner leads S2 and dummy goes down....

So you win with SK and think ok if I get a diamond ruff I get this down.

Do I cash the spade first recognizing dummy has 3 and therefore declarer has only 2? No - because that makes it too easy for declarer to get a ruff in hand. Lets play D switch and hope partner has H or D entry. So D switch and declarer let the Diamond return run to the jack in dummy, with partner indicating no interest in diamonds. Declarer declines to take out trumps (looks like he might have only 3 and missing 1 of A or K) and rather ruffs a club in dummy and leads a spade.....

So what now?? If you woodenly go up the spade ace and switch to a heart hoping for partner to have the A or for declarer to leave it round to the Q, declarer can go up the A, ruff a club, ruff a spade, and game over!!!

You know declarer is a capable player, and he needs a spade ruff in hand before he plays trumps.

But to get the contract down we will need another spade a trump trick from dummy and a ruff by me so you must think about how to get partner in?

Does partner have the spade Q (in which case you DUCK the 2nd spade hoping your partner has the Queen) OR do they have the Ace of Hearts?

The answer is what card their play in Diamonds defines which card they have!

On the diamond return from you - clearly a singleton - and declarer playing low from hand to finish in dummy, the card played by partner is a SP card and defines where lies his entry.

With you playing the King at trick one partner knows that you hold the Ace, therefore the Queen of spades is an entry for the diamond ruff.

The ten of diamonds at trick two clears up the problem - with the Jack of spades and the Ace of hearts East would play a low diamond - again SP.

So you can safely DUCK the 2nd spade letting it run to your partners Queen and down one!! Any other play and declarer makes his contract!

Tip: Teams Tactics - When defending, be sure to agree with partner as to what kind of signals you're using - the situation sometimes defines the card you play, and this is your way to communicate

Hand of the Week

Hand of the Week

Board # 17, 29th October 2019: "Splinter on the way to Game"

How often do you hear the question asked: “How many points had you”? (9 and 16 – we should have enough for game.)

Good distribution is frequently more valuable than high card points. East is well worth a splinter bid of 4C, showing a club singleton or void, four card trump support, and control of three suits.

West with wasted values in clubs and minimum values will simply sign off in 4H.

In the play a club lead makes life difficult for declarer. They will need to play a spade towards the queen early as if declarer draws trumps they will run out of steam. A cross ruff after establishing a spade trick is the best way to 10 tricks.

Tip: Splinter when you at least have values for game - it allows your partner to evaluate their hand

Hand of the Week

HAND OF THE WEEK

Board # 4, 15th October 2019: "Don't leave the Gate Open"

The Bidding

W N E S

P 1S 3H P

4H ?

West with good trump support should should raise his partner’s 3H bid to 4H. North has a difficult decision after the initial pass fom partner. In practice he will be tempted to bid 4S. It is not easy to introduce the four card diamond suit at the five level. If West had passed and left the gate open it is much easier for North to introduce his diamond suit at a lower level.

In a 4S contract North can ruff the opening heart lead and enter dummy via the club Ace to enable him to take the successful spade finesse. In the later play he will be forced to play the diamonds from hand, drop the singleton kingand so a losing club will disappear on the long diamond.

Tip: Support your partner early on – dont leave the gate open for the bull to break in.

BRAY SWISS CONGRESS 2019

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Many, many thanks to everyone who helped out with the organisation and running of the Congress last weekend!!

Anne Daly did a phenomenal job, and we were inundated with offers of help from our members, and it was this combined effort which ensured such a successful weekend!!!

And very well done also to all our members who played in and did well at the Congress!!!

Mixed Pairs

2^nd Michael McAuliffe & Sandra Newell

3^rd Brendan Martin & Mamie MacCormac

Best Local John Noonan & Eileen Vickers

Gala Pairs

3^rd Rory Egan & partner

Congress Swiss Pairs

1^st BJ O'Brien & Alan O'Sullivan

2^nd Norbert van Woerkom & partner

4^th Sandra Newell & Richard Elvin

1^st Session Dolores Gilliland & partner

Congress Swiss Teams

1^st Michael McAuliffe, Sandra Newell, John Noonan, Carol-Ann Cummins

3^rd Norbert van Woerkom, Justin Corfield and partners

2^nd Session Richard Elvin & John Comyn, and Kathleen Vaughan & partner

Best Area Master Mary O'Toole & Alan Hardie and teammates

Bray Congress 2019

BRAY SWISS CONGRESS 2019

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It's fast approching that time of year again!!!!!!

Friday 30th August - 1st September in the Royal Hotel Bray!!!

Last year was a sell-out (limited to 68 tables) so entries through the CBAI online booking tool or to Anne Daly 086 2596889 or braybridgeclub@gmail.com!!!