| Deal of The Week |
Deschapelles Coup
This is a Coup we don’t often get the chance to either see or perform. When it pops up it’s easy to miss, as we have such an aversion against throwing away winners.
Borad: 7
Dealer: South
Vul: All
North
♠ AQ42
♥ AQ2
♦ 10975
♣ Q10
West East
♠ 873 ♠ J65
♥ K1095 ♥ 864
♦ KQ2 ♦ J84
♣ AJ4 ♣ 9852
South
♠ K109
♥ J73
♦ A63
♣ K763
South West North East
Pass 1♣ pass pass
1NT pass 3NT
This hand is from Monday’s event. At 6 tables West opened with a 12-14 NT and it was passed out. West went from 2 - 4 down, but still a great win against the vulnerable game North/South.
As such it is a good illustration of why the English loves the weak 1 NT opening. At the two tables where West had to open with 1 club, North/South found their way to 3 NT. Stephen Hunter managing to get 10 tricks.
West lead a heart and Stephen won with the Jack in hand. No-one can criticise him for the continuation of a club to the Queen. He continued with a small spade to the King and a spade to the Queen. Both opponents were obedient and followed when the Ace was cashed, making dummy ♠ 4 high. When it was cashed both opponents discard a ♥ and Stephen a ♦ . He now led ♦ 5 in this position:
North
♠ -
♥ AQ
♦ 10975
♣ 10
West East
♠ - ♠ -
♥ K10 ♥ 4
♦ KQ2 ♦ J84
♣ AJ ♣ 982
South
♠ -
♥ 73
♦ A6
♣ K76
East followed with the 4 and South won with the Ace. What do you discard from West?
If you have heard of the Deschapelles Coup you might sacrifice one of your ♦ honours, but as it was, West followed with the ♦3.
South could now take the heart finesse and cash the ♥ Ace before a ♦ was played and West, after cashing his diamond winners had to lead away from ♣ AJ to declarers ♣ K7 conceding the 10th trick.
If West discards a ♦ honour under the ace, South cannot perform the endplay, as East can win the ♦ and play a ♣ through Souths King, holding him to 9 tricks.
Espen Gisvold
PS
If you see a hand you think is worth mentioning please leave me a note at: Espen
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| Deal of The Week |
Another Day At The Office
For the fourth time we have had a world class player up for auction in our Charity Event. For the fourth time they have not managed to get their sponsor a win! Going through the record of these 80 or so hands, it is stunning to see the lack of squeezes, and high level technique we can read about in the thousands of books on the market. What you will see time and time again is solid sound bidding, defence and declarer play. Day In, Day Out.
Board 17
Dealer: North
Vul: None
North
♠ 98763
♥ 72
♦ K4
♣ 10963
West East
♠ AK105 ♠ QJ
♥ A3 ♥ KQJ1065
♦ AJ1086 ♦ Q753
♣ K4 ♣ Q
South
♠ 42
♥ 984
♦ 92
♣ AJ8752
South West North East
pass 1♥
Pass 2♦ pass 2♥
Pass 2♠ pass 3♥
Pass 4nt pass 5♣
Pass 5♦ pass 6♥
Sally opened her nicely shaped Quacky hand and over Irvings 2 ♦ she repeated her suit rather than bidding 3♦. Irving pressed on with 2♠ and Sally still wanted to talk just about hearts. Irving had had enough and user Roman Key Card Blackwood and Sally admitted to one of the 5 Key Cards and when asked also admitted to the ♥ Queen whilst denying anything else useful.
South served the ♣ A and switched to a ♦. A lesser mortal might not have learned to count, but not Sally. Up with the Ace, pull the trump and play a few extra whilst discarding ♦ from Dummy. Take one high spade in hand and enter Dummy and she claimed her 12 tricks.
Nothing spectacular, maybe but look at the ease by which it was bid. Sally opened a hand because of the ♥ suit. And Sally continued telling that that was the reason she had opened and that her hand was otherwise weak. So as the Dark Destroyer would say: “Just Another Day At The Office” as she and Irving could note another 82% score.
Espen Gisvold
PS
If you see a hand you think is worth mentioning please leave me a note at: Espen
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| Deal of The Week |
Counting
(One of ) the most important skill(s) to develop to become a good player, is the ability to count. Most of us, I’m sure, have the ability to count to 13 by the time we are 5 or so, but never the less, a lot of us can’t be bothered utilising this skill when playing.
Board: 11
Dealer South
Vul: None
North
♠ 96
♥ 1073
♦ Q4
♣ 986532
West East
♠ KQJ5 ♠ 8432
♥ 96 ♥ KJ85
♦ K9632 ♦ A7
♣ A4 ♣ KQ7
South
♠ A107
♥ AQ42
♦ J1085
♣ J10
South West North East
1NT 2♦ pass 2NT
Pass 3NT
Strangely enough only two out of 12 pairs managed to bid game East/West. At 6 tables North/South were allowed to play the board undoubled in part score contracts!
South started by leading the ♥ 2. You count your and dummy's points and get to 26. As South has said he has 12-14, North can have no more than a Queen. First counting exercise.
As most players lead the 4th highest from the “longest and strongest” East knows South has 4 hearts. As this is likely to be his longest suit and the No Trump Opening sugests a balanced hand, East can conclude that South is either 4432 or 4333. Second exercise.
North put in the ten and your Jack wins the first trick. Three rounds of Spades and East knows South has 3 Spades. South wins the third round of Spades with the Ace and switches to the ♣ 10. East should win this in dummy. Now the situation around the table is:
North
♠ -
♥ 107
♦ Q4
♣ 9865
West East
♠ J ♠ 8
♥ 9 ♥ K85
♦ K9632 ♦ A7
♣ 4 ♣ KQ
South
♠
♥ AQ4
♦ J1085
♣ J
East expects South has 3 hearts left and 5 cards in the minors. Now comes the ♠ J and South can discard a ♦. East plays a ♣ to the Queen and a new ♣ on which South discards another ♦ showing that he started with 3442 distribution and you know South has 2 ♥ & 2 ♦ left:
North
♠ -
♥ 107
♦ Q4
♣
West East
♠ ♠
♥ 9 ♥ K85
♦ K96 ♦ 7
♣ ♣
South
♠
♥ AQ
♦ J10
♣
You play a ♦ to the King and another ♦ endplaying South to play away from his ♥ AQ. As this hand popped up in an IMP event, 400 or 430 doesn’t make much differens, but as the Norwegian proverb goes: “Every little help, said the mouse, it took a wee in the sea”. At Match Points it would be vital to get the 10 tricks to beat all those who get to 4 ♠ .
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| Deal of The Week |
Those Elusive Tricks
This was the title of one of Terence Reese's many books, and for sure far too often the tricks we need are too elusive.
Board 2:
Dealer: East
Vul: N/S
North
♠ 7
♥ QJ954
♦ 952
♣ J1084
West East
♠ AQJ3 ♠ 52
♥ 106 ♥ K82
♦ 10876 ♦ AKQJ4
♣ K93 ♣ AQ5
South
♠ K109864
♥ A73
♦ 3
♣ 762
West North East South
1♦ 2♠
3♦ pass 5♦ pass
?
Only one table ended in 5 ♦ in Fridays IMP event, the rest settled for 3 NT. At the table ending in 5♦ West passed in this position, and that might or might not be right. Playing in Match Points, knowing that 3 NT must be a better scoring contract, bidding 6 ♦ would be a reasonable bet.
South led a ♣ and declarer won in hand. East now pulled the trumps in 3 rounds, South discarding two spades. Now came a spade to the Jack and a club to the Ace. So far East has played perfectly, and the position around the table was:
North
♠ -
♥ QJ954
♦ -
♣ J4
West East
♠ AQ3 ♠ 5
♥ 106 ♥ K82
♦ 10 ♦ J4
♣ K ♣ 5
South
♠ K109
♥ A73
♦ -
♣ 2
East, in 5 ♦ now took the spade finesse and made 11 tricks.
You know that South has the ♠ King, but do you know where the ♥ Ace is?
Not really, but South did bid 2 ♠ on a moth eaten spade suit vulnerable, so you could not be criticised for assuming South had the Ace.
The route to 12 tricks then is to play a club to the King and the ♦ 10 overtaken by the Jack leaving:
North
♠ -
♥ QJ95
♦ -
♣ J
West East
♠ AQ3 ♠ 5
♥ 106 ♥ K82
♦ - ♦ 4
♣ - ♣ -
South
♠ K109
♥ A7
♦ -
♣ -
What is South do to when you play the last Diamond? If South lets go of a ♠ you discard a ♥ from Dummy and make 3 tricks in ♠. If he discards a ♥ then you discard a ♠ and put South in with a ♥ and make 2 ♠'s and a ♥ .
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| Deal of The Week |
Robots At Work
Lockdown have forced us to go online to pursue our hobby, livelihood (I'm glad I don't try to make a living from it, would soon be homeless!) and passion. It has brought us in contact with the delight or menace of the "Robots". Lets just say they are a bit like marmite! This week we will see how two robots were the only "pair" managing to bid a lay-down 6 ♣.
Board: 5
Dealer: North
Vul: N/S
North
♠ Q2
♥ 76432
♦ J984
♣ J10
West East
♠ AK1064 ♠ 7
♥ 108 ♥ KQJ
♦ Q102 ♦ AK75
♣ AQ6 ♣ K9432
South
♠ J9853
♥ A95
♦ 63
♣ 875
West North East South
pass 1 ♣ pass
1 ♠ pass 2 ♦ pass
3 ♣ pass 3 ♥ pass
4 NT pass 5 ♥ pass
6 ♣ all pass
1♣ promised only 3 cards and Robot West only 4 cards in ♠ and 6+ hcp. Now the identical robot twin in West reversed and thereby showing 16-21 hcp (18-22 total points).
3♣ was forcing to game and showed secondary support. 3♥ was natural and showing 3+ cards in the suit. This was enough for the Robot in West to use RKCB and with one keycard missing it came to rest in 6♣.
South led the ♣ 8 and all sensible roads leads to Rome. Pull trumps, followed by discarding a ♦ on the second high ♠ . Enter your hand by ruffing a ♠ before you force out the ♥ Ace and claim. Irene Davis and Karen Reissmann were the unlucky humans, as all the human pairs East/West settled for 3 NT. Maybe we have one thing or two to learn from our robot "friends"?
Espen Gisvold
PS
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| Deal of The Week |
Six or Seven?
This was the penultimate board of the online league match between Je Vamp and Tempo 1 in 2nd Division:
As South I was holding:
♠ KJ10
♥ AK975
♦ 8
♣ 8652
East South West North
pass pass pass 2 NT
pass 3♦ pass 3 ♥
pass 4 ♣ pass 4 ♦
pass 4 ♥ pass 5 ♥
pass ?
My partner opened with a promising 20-22 No Trump, and with a nicely shaped 11 count I knew there was a possibility of a slam. I started by transferring to hearts. Now you could of course, go on with a sledge hammaer and bid RKCB but what if your partner has something like
♠ AQxx
♥ Qx
♦ KQJx
♦ KQJ
Now 3 NT is the best contract, but that would be too dim a view to take; you do have to look for greener pastures.
I decided to break one of Terence Reese’s pieces of advice and bid a bad suit on a good hand to find out a bit more. Over 4 ♣ Janet made a cue bid and I let her know that I had told what I could tell her by my 4 ♥ bid: "A slam invitational hand with at least 5 hearts and 4 clubs".
She now made the expert bid of 5 ♥ : “Partner, if you have what you have promised so far AND your heart suit is headed by two of the three top honours bid 7”
Looking down on my less than solid club suit, I decided I did not have what I had promised so far, so even though I had the two top heart honours I only bid 6 ♥ .
Janet
♠ AQ3
♥ Q32
♦ AJ102
♣ AKQ
Espen
♠ KJ10
♥ AK975
♦ 8
♣ 8652
A fascinating hand. If North swaps ♦ J for the ♥ J and South the♠ J for the ♣ J, 7 ♥ would need a 5-0 break to be in danger. Even with the two Jacks wasted there is a play for 7♥.
Lets say you are playing in 7♥ (or Match Points in 6♥ ) and East leads the ♠ 7. You win with the Ace. A ♥ to the King and a ♥ to the Queen.
Now you leave the last heart out and cash your clubs. You make 13 tricks whenever the club suit breaks 3-3 as well as when the suit is unevenly split with the long club suit in the hand with the last outstanding heart.
The full hand:
Board 13
Dealer: East
Vul: E/W
Janet
♠ AQ3
♥ Q32
♦ AJ102
♣ AKQ
♠ 954 ♠ 8762
♥ J84 ♥ 106
♦ Q643 ♦ K975
♣ 1043 ♣ J97
Espen
♠ KJ10
♥ AK975
♦ 8
♣ 8652
It's a good thing I have a forgiving partner.
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| Deal of the Week |
Use Your Opponents Mistakes
For the 3rd time we had an ‘Auctioned’ star in our monthly charity event. For the 3rd time they failed to win. Todays hand shows why good players get good results - They make it easy for their opponents to go wrong, and when they do, they know how to profit from the mistakes.
Board: 8
Dealer: West
Vul: None
North
♠ J9764
♥ 9
♦ K73
♣ Q852
West East
♠ AQ5 ♠ K83
♥ KJ107 ♥ Q654
♦ A109642 ♦ 85
♣ - ♣ K943
South
♠ 102
♥ A832
♦ QJ
♣ AJ1076
West North East South
1 ♦ pass 1 ♥ 2 ♣
4 ♥
One can discuss what is West's best bid over 2 ♣, but to end up in 4 ♥ is not unreasonable. Double Dummy it is only 9 tricks, so lets see how Michael Byrne managed to get 11!
South started with the ♠ 10 and Michael won with the Ace, making it possible for South to think North had the King. Next came the ♦ Ace and a small diamond won by the Queen in South. This is what South can see:
Dummy
♠ Q5
♥ KJ107
♦ 10964
♣ -
South
♠ 2
♥ A832
♦ -
♣ AJ1076
The only way to set the contract is to under-lead the ♣ Ace! South did not have Double Dummy vision so she continued with the ♠ 2 won by the King. Now came the ♥ 4 to the 8, 10 and 9. Now in dummy a small diamond was ruffed with the Aueen and South discarded a Club. A small Heart to the 7 followed by the ♥ King and South ducked! Michael was not to be asked twice, so he reverted to the now established Diamond suit and all South could get was the trump Ace. 11 tricks and a 100% score.
Espen Gisvold
PS
If you see a hand you think is worth mentioning please leave me a note at:hands@manchesterbridge.org.uk
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| Deal of the Week |
Points Schmoints
This is the title of Marty Bergen’s most famous book, and it is well worth the read. This weeks Deal of The Week illustrates the point - value your tricks, not your points.
Board 13
Dealer: North
Vul: All
North
♠ J964
♥ A1098
♦ 1082
♣ A7
West East
♠ AKQ ♠ 108532
♥ 32 ♥ J6
♦ QJ763 ♦ K954
♥ 864 ♣ J2
South
♠ 7
♥ KQ754
♦ A
♣ KQ10953
North East South West
pass pass 1♣ 1♦
Dbl 3♦ 4♦ pass
4♥ pass 4nt pass
5♥ pass 6♥
Gerry Cohen and David Tobias ('Toby') were the only pair managing to get to this brilliant slam. If you are a bean counter, North only has 9 hcp and South only 14 so slam should not be on the cards. Gerry and Toby must have thought “Points Schmoints!”.
South opened 1♣ and West overcalled 1♦ At many tables North now bid Hearts, but Gerry’s negative double is much more descriptive. East jumped to 3♦ to take away as much bidding space as possible. At most tables South now simply bid 4♥ and that was it. Toby, thought the hand was worth more. His 4♦ asked for ‘More Inf’. Exactly what ‘Inf’ he received when Gerry bid 4♥ is unclear, but look at South's hand. There are 3 controls missing, and partner must be candidate to have at least one of them, making a RKCB 4 NT bid safe. When North could show two of them nothing could stop Toby bidding the slam.
East led partners suit and South won. Trumps were pulled in two rounds. As soon as the clubs split 3-2 South could have claimed, but he played all the clubs pitching all of dummies spades before doing so. The overtrick didn’t cost East/West much as its not possible to get less than 0.
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BID OF THE WEEK
This week the first season of the on-line league is coming to an end with its winners and losers. This board almost had us taking the trip down to third division:
North
♠ Q1097
♥ Q982
♦ J
♣ 9875
West East
♠ - ♠ A65
♥ AJ1063 ♥ K5
♦ 10973 ♦ AKQ
♣ Q643 ♣ AKJ102
♠ KJ8432
♥ 74
♦ 86542
♣ -
South West North East
2 ♠ pass 4 ♠ 6 ♣
Pass pass(?) pass pass
I am afraid I would only have bid 5 ♣ , yellow as I am, but East showed true understanding of hand evaluation with his jump to 6 ♣ .
Look at the spade suit. Partner cannot have more than one spade, so there should be no losers in that suit.
South has opened a weak 2 ♠ so the ♥ Ace is likely to be in partners or Norths Hand. This means that East is likely to have 1 or 0 losers in that suit, lets call that 1/2 loser.
In ♣ he also have 1/2 loser, all in all a pretty good chance of making 12 tricks.
Now over to West. Luckily for us she passed. Had she grasped the strength of her side suit Ace, void and trump Queen, she might have taken it all the way to 7 ♣ . We would still have survived, but by the skin of our teeth!
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Fortune Favours The Brave
As Rhona Goldenfield is our highest Master Points earner over the first four months of on-line lockdown bridge, it feels right to look at one of the hands she played, and I came across this little beauty.
Dealer: East
Vul: All
North
♠ J
♥ A K J 6 5
♦ A K J 9 5 4
♣ A
West East
♠ K 10 6 5 4 3 ♠ A 9 7
♥ Q 10 7 ♥ 9 4 3 2
♦ 7 3 ♦ 10 8 2
♣ 10 9 ♣ Q J 2
South
♠ Q 8 2
♥ 8
♦ Q 6
♣ K 8 7 6 5 4 3
East South West North
Pass 3 ♣ pass 3 ♥
Pass 3 ♠ pass 4 ♦
Pass 4 ♥ pass 6 ♣
3 ♣ we all know. Norths 3 ♥ was not alerted, but looking at the hand, it has to be forcing. I assume some sort of ‘Raise Only Non-Forcing’.
3 ♠ shows a fragment and 4 ♦ was alerted as Diamonds and 4 ♥ as ‘back to suit’. North now took took the leap.
They did miss the laydown 6 ♦ but that’s beside the point.
What do you lead from West? Most of us hate leading from Kings, but as Alan Mould often says : Be active against slams.
West decided against this advice and led the ♦ 7, giving Rhona the helping hand she needed.
Rhona won the lead in Dummy and cashed the ♣ A before two rounds of Hearts with a spade discard. Now she ruffed a Heart. (It would have been safer ruffing the second hart, reducing the risk of an over ruff by West).
In hand she cashed the CK and the situation around the table was:
North
♠ J
♥ J 6
♦ K J 9 5
♣ -
West East
♠ K 10 6 5 4 3 ♠ A 9 7
♥ - ♥ 4
♦ 3 ♦ 10 2
♣ - ♣ Q
South
♠ Q 8
♥ -
♦ Q
♣ 8 7 6 5
The ♦ Q was played and overtaken in dummy. On the ♦ J the first spade loser was parked. At the same time the diamond suit in dummy became established.
Rhona now had two options, play the ♥ J and discard the last spade loser or a good ♦ doing the same. She did the former.
She now entered her hand with a ♠ ruff, and the hand was over. Over it was, but the good and the brave could enter 13.08 IMP in their pluss column.
Espen Gisvold
PS
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| Deal of The Week |
Bad Splits
This is the last board from Mondays MP Pairs. All but 1 pair bid the heart game, but only 4 declarers managed to handle the bad split in the trump suit. Luckily for me, it was my partner Janet Tolan that was at the helm and she knew how to handle it
Board 22:
Dealer: East
Vul: East/West
North
♠ J 10 5
♥ A Q 8 6
♦ Q 9 8
♣ Q 10 7
West East
♠ A 3 2 ♠ K Q 9 6
♥ J 7 5 4 2 ♥ -
♦ K 2 ♦ J 10 7 6 5 4 3
♣ J 8 5 ♣ 9 4
South
♠ 8 7 4
♥ K 10 9 3
♦ A
♣ A K 6 3 2
East South West North
2 ♦ pass pass dbl
Pass 3 ♦ pass 3 ♥
Pass 4 ♥
Some might have doubled with my hand, but I chose not to with some decent defence agains a diamond contract and poor major suit holdings. My partner had no such qualms in 4th seat. I asked her to pick her suit and I lifted to game. East started with the ♦ J and it was won by force in dummy. The ♥ 3 was played to the Ace and Janet received the bad news. Now she took her time. Timing is always important, but never more so when dealing with bad breaks. She now played a low ♣ to the Ace and let the ♥ 10 run. Now came a ♣ to the Queen and a ♣ to dummy King.
At this point this is the situation around the table:
North
♠ J 10 5
♥ Q 8
♦ Q 9
♣ -
West East
♠ A 3 2 ♠ K Q 9 6
♥ J 7 5 ♥ -
♦ K ♦ 10 6 5
♣ - ♣ -
South
♠ 8 7 4
♥ K 9
♦ -
♣ 6 3
She now played the ♣ 6 and West ruffed with the Jack. Janet could over ruff and cross ruff her way to 10 tricks alowing West to ruff two ofe Easts spade winners, but found the prettier ending by discarding a spade. West casked the♠ A and played a ♠ to partners Queen. The ♠ King was ruffed and a ♦ was ruffed in dummy before she could Finnish of the cross ruff and see West having to under ruff twice.
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| Deal of The Week |
When The Wrong Slam Is The Right Slam
This hand is from last Fridays IMP Pairs and 3 tables managed to bid a slam on this hand, two the wrong one - making - and one pair the right one failing!
Bord: 10
Vulnerable: All
Dealer: East
North
♠ J
♥ A K J 6 5
♦ A K J 9 5 4
♣ A
West East
♠ K 10 6 5 4 3 ♠ A 9 7
♥ Q 10 7 ♥ 9 4 3 2
♦ 7 3 ♦ 10 8 2
♣ 10 9 ♣ Q J 2
South
♠ Q 8 2
♥ 8
♦ Q 6
♣ K 8 7 6 5 4 3
At one table South opened 3 ♣ and North jumped to 6 making it hard for West to find the killing spade lead, unless he or she had read one of Alan Mould columns about leads about which he says: "I am always banging on about this in my leading column - you must lead aggressively against suit slams.".
At another table North bid 3 ♥ (forcing) over the 3 ♣ opening and South bid 3 ♠. North continued with 4 ♦ and when South put him back in 4 ♥ he jumped to 6 ♣ and it was yet again hard for West to find the spade lead. Both declarers showed good technique and landed the 12 tricks they now had been handed. On a ♠ lead, East can win and by playing another ♠ promoting his and partners ♣ to two winning tricks.
The table that landed in the right slam bid as follows:
East South West North
pass 3 ♣ pass 4 ♦
pass. 5 ♦ pass 6 ♦
East started with the ♠ Ace and continued with the ♠ 9 ruffed by North. There is no way you can utilise the ♣'s in dummy, so you need to establish the Hearts. If the ♥ Q is in the hand with 4 Hearts you need two ruffs, so at trick 3 you cash the ♥ Ace followed by the ♥ King and ruff a Heart and see the Queen fall from West. Now the Hearts are established.
You cash the ♦ Queen and when both players follow suit you can cross to the ♣ Ace to pull the trumps and claim.
Unfortunately bridge can be a cruel game!
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| Look After the Pips |
This is board 6 from Mondays Pairs at 1:45pm. Many of the players in East seats got a heart lead which she could duck, win the second and play a ♦ towards the Queen and as long as the ♠ split 3-3 Bob's your uncle. Others got a diamond lead which also should be helpfull. Even so, most declarers went off. From Wests seat the contract is hopeless on a heart lead. Only one East player had to struggle with the difficult ♣ lead:
Board: 6
Dealer: East
Vul: East/West
North
♠ 10 9 7
♥ 9 5
♦ J 8 6 2
♣ K J 10 9
West East
♠ A 6 ♠ K Q 5 3 2
♥ 6 3 ♥ K Q 7 5
♦ Q 9 3 ♦ A 10 7
♣ A Q 8 7 5 4 ♣ 2
South
♠ J 8 4
♥ A J 10 8 2
♦ K 5 4
♣ 6 3
South West North East
1 ♠
pass 2 ♣ pass 2 ♥
dbl 3 ♦ pass 3 NT
All Pass
Souths double was penalty and West 3♦ was 4th Suit forcing and East showed her stopper in the suit and bid the game. South now found the lead of a ♣ and the queen was tried and lost to the King. North switched to his partners suit and South killed the Queen with the Ace and played the Jack ducked. The ten was played and East won. Now a ♠ was played to dummy and as this was the last entry the ♣ A was cashed and declarer pitched the valuable ♥ 7 and could no longer make. This is the position when the ♣ A is cashed
North
♠ 10
♥ -
♦ J 8 6 2
♣ J 10 9
West East
♠ 6 ♠ K Q 5 3
♥ - ♥ 7
♦ Q 9 3 ♦ A 10 7
♣ A 8 7 5 ♣ -
South
♠ J 4
♥ 8 2
♦ K 5 4
♣ 6
On the ♣ A East must hold onto the ♥ 7 and discard a ♦. Now a ♠ to hand and the suit run. When the last ♠ is played the situation is:
♠ -
♥ -
♦ J 8
♣ J 10
West East
♠ - ♠ 3
♥ - ♥ 7
♦ Q 9 ♦ A 10
♣ 7 5 ♣ -
South
♠
♥ 8 2
♦ K 5
♣
South cannot discard a ♦ so the ♥ 2 is discarded and a ♣ goes from Dummy. Now the well preserved ♥ 7 is played and South has to win and play away from ♦ K 5 to declarers combined ♦ AQ for 9 pretty tricks.
Espen Gisvold
PS
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| Six-Five, Come Alive |
Most of us have heard this mantra urging us to bid on, either to a contract making on the strength of the distribution or a good sacrifice. This weeks deal if board 11 from Mondays event. Only one out of 14 tables did its outmost in the bidding ending up in the ultimate contract of 5♠ , the most popular contract being 4 or 5♦ North/South. This is how it went with Bob James/Stuart Hunter NS and Irving & Joy Blakey EW
Board: 11
Dealer: South
Vul: None
North
♠ Q 5 4
♥ A K Q J 3
♦ Q 8 3 2
♣ 9
West East
♠ K J 7 ♠ A 10 9 8 6 2
♥ 4 ♥ 10 9 8 6 5
♦ K 7 6 ♦ -
♣ A Q J 4 3 2 ♣ 8 5
South
♠ 3
♥ 7 2
♦ A J 10 9 5 4
♣ K 10 7 6
South West North East
Pass 1 ♣ 1 ♥ 1 ♠
2 ♦ 3 ♠ 4 ♦ 4 ♠
Pass pass 5 ♦ 5 ♠
All Pass
Irving was not too keen on allowing South to play in 5 ♦ on his 6-5 four counter so he bid 5 ♠ and no-one had more to offer. South selected ♦A as his lead ruffed by East. Irving now played the ♥10 won by North. North don’t have many attractive cards to play and played the ♥J ruffed in Dummy. ♣ Ace followed by the ♦K on which declarers last club was parked. Now came a club and it doesn’t help North to ruff so a Diamond was discarded and Irving ruffed. Another hart ruffed in Dummy and another club in hand, on which North discards his last Diamond. Now the situation around the table was:
♠ Q 5 4
♥ A K
♦ -
♣ -
♠ K ♠ A 10 9
♥ - ♥ 10 9
♦ 7 ♦ -
♣ Q J 4 ♣ -
♠ 3
♥ -
♦ J 10 9
♣ K
Irving ruffed a ♥ and ruffed a ♣ on which North discard his last ♥. When Irving now played his last ♥ North won with the ♠ 4 and had to play away from ♠ Q5. He chose the ♠ 5, Irving inserted the ♠ 10 and could claim 11 tricks after a well timed play displaying great craftsmanship.
Espen Gisvold
PS
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| Deal of The Week |
Combine Your Chances
North
♠ K
♥ A K J 2
♦ A K 8 5 2
♣ A J 6
South
♠ A 8 5 4
♥ Q 9 3
♦ Q 6
♣ K 10 5 4
West. North. East. South
pass. 1 ♣
pass 1 ♦ pass 1 nt
pass 5 nt pass. 6 nt
This was board two from Wednesday Expert Pairs, and only one expert managed to get 13 tricks. Victor Ridding has analysed this hand, and here is his analysis:
A Heart is led and a quick tally shows you have 11 top tricks and a club suit which will always provide the 12th. As you are playing pairs you need to give yourself the best chance of making all 13 tricks without endangering your contract.
Clubs will provide 4 tricks if the Q is singleton or you can guess who has the Q and it drops in 3 rounds. Diamonds will provide 5 tricks if they break 3-3. Which suit should we tackle first?
Starting with clubs means taking the finesse one way or the other. If it wins there are several chances for 13 tricks but if it loses you have only 12. The overall chance of success is clearly less than 50%.
Starting with Diamonds give you 13 tricks when they break 3-3 (about 36%). If they don’t break you can still take the Club finesse safely through the hand with the long Diamonds and make 13 tricks if the finesse wins and the suit plays for 4 tricks, or possibly a Club/Diamond squeeze. Without getting out your calculator at the table this has to be more than 50%.
You win the opening lead in dummy (you might need the ♥Q as an entry later) and cash 3 rounds of Diamonds discarding a Spade. Unfortunately West also discards a Spade.
Now you cash the ♠K to unblock that suit and play the ♣A, but the Q is not singleton. You are about to play a low Club to the Ten to try to pick up the suit for 4 tricks if East has doubleton Q when you realise the danger. If West has ♣Qxxx they will win the Q and return a second round of hearts. Now, not only have you lost a trick but you have managed to block the Club suit.
You really don’t want to have to explain to your partner why you went off in 6N with 12 tricks available, so you forego the possibility of picking up Qx in the East hand and play the ♣J instead. West covers with the Q and you play the K leaving this position:
North
♠ -
♥ K J 2
♦ 8 5
♣ 6
South
♠ A 8
♥ Q 9
♦ -
♣ T 5
If the Clubs were 3-3 we have 13 tricks but it would be wrong to try for that at this stage. First we cash the ♠A throwing a Diamond and then cash our 3 heart winners throwing our last Spade.
This is the position as we cash the last Heart:
North
♠ -
♥ J
♦ 8
♣ 6
East
♠ -
♥ -
♦ 10
♣ 9 3
South
♠ 8
♥ -
♦ -
♣ T 5
East has to either throw their winning Diamond or unguard their ♣9.
The full hand was:
North
♠ K
♥ A K J 2
♦ A K 8 5 2
♣ A J 6
West East
♠ Q 10 6 2 ♠ J 9 7 3
♥ 10 7 6 5 4 ♥ 8
♦ J 7. ♦ 10 9 4 3
♣ 8 7 ♣ Q 9 3 2
South
♠ A 8 5 4
♥ Q 9 3
♦ Q 6
♣ K 10 5 4
Espen Gisvold
PS
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To Ruff or Not To Ruff
Board 4 from Wednesday's Charity Event created some discussion. When it was played North had 4 ♠ 's and the ♥ Q. On that layout the only way to make was to ruff the ♣ lead as Adam Wiseberg did. He later went wrong and went one down. It was suggested that discarding a ♥ would have been the right play. I have turned and twisted the hand as many ways as I can, and I have not seen any way to distribute the oponents cards where not ruffing produces more tricks. Those who advocate a discard must be having a distribution like this in mind, where you do guarantee 12 tricks by discarding insted of ruffing. Why settle for 12 tricks when you can get 13?
Dear: West
Vulnerable: All
Board: 4
North
♠ J 9 6
♥ 4 3
♦ 7 5 4 3
♣ 10 6 4 2
West East
♠ A K Q 8 2. ♠ 10 7 4 3
♥ 7 ♥ A K J 9 6 52
♦ A K 2 ♦ 9 8
♣ K Q 8 7 ♣ -
South
♠ 2
♥ Q 10 8
♦ Q J 10 6
♣ A J 9 5 3
West North East South
1 ♠ pass 2 ♥ pass
3 ♣ pass 3 ♠ pass
4 nt. pass. 5 ♣ dbl
6 ♠
North leads the ♣ 2 and it is ruffed in dummy. Now a ♠ to hand and a new ♣ ruff. The hand is entered with a ♦ and a third ♣ is ruffed. Now you reenter your hand in ♦ and play the trumps from the top. Before the penultimate trump is played the situation around the table is:
North
♠ -
♥ 4 3
♦ 7 5
♣ 10
West East
♠ 8 2. ♠
♥ 7 ♥ A K J 9 6
♦ 2 ♦ -
♣ K ♣ -
South
♠
♥ Q 10 8
♦ Q
♣ A
On the penultimate trump North must keep a ♦ and South can discard his last ♦ transfering the guard of the suit to North. Now comes the last trump and South cannot discard the ♣ A so must get rid of a ♥. Playing the ♥ from the top drops the Queen and gives you 13 tricks. If North had the ♥ Q and South guards the ♦ and ♣ You still get 12 tricks.
Espen Gisvold
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To Slam Or Not To Slam
25 years ago, before software to register results was available I used some nights and weekends to implement such a system on Saga Petroleums computer. It gave me 2 years of data to analyse and I found that bidding slams gave you a below average score whilst bidding game on slam hands ang getting 12 tricks gave you a good score. I won’t tell you not to bid slams, but be weary of being a greek bearing fals gifts
Dear: West
Vulnerable: None
Board: 8
North
♠ Q 6 2
♥ K J 9 3
♦ 10 4
♣ Q J 4 2
West East
♠ K J 10 9 5 4 ♠ A 8 3
♥ - ♥ Q 8 6 4
♦ K Q J ♦ A 9 8 3
♣ A 10 8 5 ♣ 7 6
South
♠ 7
♥ A 10 7 5 2
♦ 7 6 5 2
♣ K 9 3
West North East South
1 ♠ pass 3 ♠ pass
4 ♣ pass 4 ♦ pass
6 ♠
This hand was from Fridays IMP Pairs and all 20 tables ended in a ♠ contract. Four were in slam, but only one of them got 12 tricks. Of the 16 in 4 ♠ only 1 got 12 tricks and a some nice imps in.
Stephen Ward and Andy Green easily bid their way to the slam with the help of 2 cue bids and Stephen now had to show how to play this hand.
North started with a small ♥ to Souts Ace and ruffed by Stephen. At trick two a ♣ was ducked and won by the Jack in North. North continued with a ♣ to Stephens Ace. Now Stephen played the ♠ J and North made thing a little easy by covering with the ♠ Q. Stephen won with the Ace and ruffed a hart.
♠ 6 2
♥ K J
♦ 10 4
♣ Q 4
♠ K 10 9 ♠ 8 3
♥ - ♥ Q 6
♦ K Q J ♦ A 9 8 3
♣ 10 8 ♣ -
♠ -
♥ 10 7 2
♦ 7 6 5 2
♣ 3
Now a ♣ was ruffed and the hand was re-entered with a ♦ before the last ♣ was ruffed. Instead of taking the risk of North being able to ruff a ♦ (a 5-1 split is far from impossible) Stephen entered his hand with a ♥ ruff. He could now pull the tumps and claim the rest. If North dosen’t cover the Queen, it becomes harder, but I’m sure Stephen would still have managed to get his 12 tricks
Espen Gisvold
PS
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Trump Reduction
More often then not we like having as many trumps as we can lay our paws on, but sometimes you have to get some of them out of the way to get as many tricks as you need. Look at how John Holland manages to reduce his number of trumps to the same length as South before he ends the hand by a Trump Coup.
Board: 14
Dealer: East
Vulnerable: None
North
♠ Q 10 9 5 2
♥ J 4
♦ A K 8 5
♣ 9 5
West East
♠ J ♠ A K 6 3
♥ A K Q 9 5 3 ♥ 6
♦ 9 7 4 ♦ 10 3 2
♣ Q J 6 ♣ A K 8 7 2
South
♠ 8 7 4
♥ 10 8 7 2
♦ Q J 6
♣ 10 4 3
East South West North
1 ♣ pass 1 ♥ 1 ♠
pass pass 2 ♠ pass
2 NT pass 4 ♥
I don’t know all the ins and outs of John and Jackie’s System, but 2 ♠ is for sure forcing and 2 nt by Jackie shows a spade stop and John ends the proceedings by bidding game in his solid hart suit.
North started with the Ace, King and a new ♦ to Souths Queen. South now played a ♥ and John won with the Ace and cashed the King and noted the Jack dropping from North.
I can’t tell exactly what John thought, but I’m sure he placed North with the last diamond and he trusted North to be out of harts. This means he has to take a ‘finesse’ against South’s ♥ 10 8 without having any ♥'s in dummy!
John played the ♠J covered by ♠Q and won with the Ace. On the ♠K he discarded a ♣. Now he ruffed a spade and reduced his trump length to 3. He also got a complete count of the hand:
North
♠ 10 9
♥ -
♦ 8
♣ 9 5
West East
♠ - ♠ 6
♥ Q 9 5 ♥ -
♦ - ♦ -
♣ Q J ♣ A K 8 7
South
♠ -
♥ 10 8
♦ -
♣ 10 4 3
A ♣ to the King and dummies last ♠ was played. It would not help South to ruff, so he discarded a ♣ and John ruffed and had now reduced his trumps to the same length as South. He entered dummy with his last ♣.
Now he played Dummies last ♣ and South’s ♥ 10 8 was caught under Johns ♥ Q 9 in a perfect Trump Coup. I wish it had been me playing like that!
Espen Gisvold
PS
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| The Moysian Fit |
Because more and more players are converting to 5 Card Major systems, fewer and fewer of us get to experience the infamous Moysian Fit, having a 4-3 card trump fit. This is one of the reasons many of us no longer knows how to deal with it. This hand is from MCBA Fridays Imp Pair 5th June.
Board: 1
Dealer: North
Vulnerable: None
North
♠ K Q
♥ J 10 9 7 6 2
♦ 9 8 5
♣ J 2
West East
♠ J 10 7 6 ♠ A 3 2
♥ 3 ♥ A 4
♦ A K J 7 6 ♦ Q 10 2
♣ 9 8 3 ♣ A Q 7 6 5
South
♠ 9 8 5 4
♥ K Q 8 5
♦ 4 3
♣ K 10 4
North East South West
2 ♥ dbl 3 ♥ 4 ♠
The bidding lifted off nicely with a weak 2 in North. East decided to double rather than bidding 2 NT.
South raised the ante and West made a perfect Telemark Landing unlike any Eddie the Eagle ever managed in 4 ♠ .
Only 4 out of 20 East/West pairs reached this contract and only one managed to handle the Moysian Fit. Lets see how:
North started of with the ♥ J won with the Ace in Dummy and South encouraged. Declarer played the Ace of trumps and North tried to obscure matters by dropping the King. The ♠ 2 and a small from hand caught the Queen in North. Now North played the ♥ 10 and declarer discarded a ♣! If declarer ruffs he loses control when the trump breaks 4-2, so it is just as well to discard a loser.
North
♠
♥ 9 7 6 2
♦ 9 8 5
♣ J 2
West East
♠ J 10 ♠ 3
♥ ♥
♦ A K J 7 6 ♦ Q 10 2
♣ 9 8 ♣ A Q 7 6 5
South
♠ 9 8
♥ Q 5
♦ 4 3
♣ K 10 4
Hearts are protected in dummy so North tried a Diamond. Declarer won this in Hand. Drew the trumps and ran the Diamonds. When he played a club towards dummy and no King showed up, he won with the Ace and the defence got the last trick.
10 tricks was a ‘top’ and gave 7.5 well deserved Imps. It's handling hands like these that brings in the bacon!
Espen Gisvold
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| The King is dead, long live the Queen! |
Squeezes all have names. Hedgehog, Automatic & Positional just to mention a few. Many regard the ability to spot the squeeze and to execute it at the table, as the ultimate proof of a players ability. What is for sure is that when you knowingly have executed one, you will be truly hooked. Watch how Jeff Smith in East handles this hand.
Board: 14
Dealer: East
Vulnerable: None
North
♠ 8 5 3
♥ Q 10 7 6
♦ J 8 7 6
♣ 10 6
West East
♠ A J 4 2 ♠ K Q 10 9 6
♥ K ♥ A J 9 8 3
♦ A 9 4 3 ♦ Q 2
♣ J 9 8 3 ♣ 5
South
♠ 7
♥ 5 4 2
♦ K 10 5
♣ A K Q 7 4 2
East South West North
1 ♠ 2 ♣ 3 ♣ pass
3 ♥ pass 4 ♦ pass
4 ♠
3 Clubs was a good raise and I assume 3 Hearts was a long suit trial bid and 4 Diamonds a cue-bid. One could discuss whether or not West has enough gunpowder to make yet another slam try, but it all stopped in 4 Spades.
South started with the Ace and King of clubs, ruffed by East. A heart was played to the King. East re-entered his hand with a trump to the King. Ace of hearts was cashed with a discard of a Diamond in dummy (discarding a club would ruin the squeeze to come). A small Heart was ruffed and a small club ruffed. Another Heart was ruffed with the Ace and Declarer entered his hand by overtaking the Jack of Spades with the Queen. Now the situation around the table was:
North
♠ 8
♥ -
♦ J 8 7
♣ -
West East
♠ - ♠ 10
♥ - ♥ J
♦ A 9 4 ♦ Q 2
♣ J ♣ -
South
♠ -
♥ -
♦ K 10 5
♣ Q
East played the 10 of Spades and both South and Dummy could discard a Diamond. Now came the established Jack of Hearts, and we can see why it was important to keep the Jack of clubs in Dummy. What shall poor South discard? If he discards his last club, a diamond is discarded from Dummy and Dummy is high. South instead decided to bare his diamond King, and dummy's Jack of club was discarded. A Diamond to the Ace killed the King (its rightful duty) and the Queen was promoted to the 12th trick. The King is dead, long live the Queen! Bidding the slam would only have given them 1 single match-point extra!
Espen Gisvold
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Finesses Galore!
Playing against good players is always fun. It is even more fun when you get a good result against them. In Monday’s Match Point Pairs we met John Holland and Jackie Pye in round 11 for a fight over two boards. This was the first hand:
Board :21
Dealer North
Vul: N/S
North
♠ 98
♥ KJ105
♦ J3
♣ AKJ65
West East
♠ Q105432 ♠ J6
♥ Q973 ♥ A86
♦ 8 ♦ K106542
♣ Q7 ♣ 92
South
♠ AK7
♥ 42
♦ AQ97
♣ 10843
West North East South
1NT 3♦ dbl
Pass 3♥ pass 3NT
All Pass
This was, believe it or not a sequence we had discussed, but after overcalls we play “system Off” so my double was for blood but 3 NT was the next best. J
ackie lead her 4th highest diamond and Janet won with the Jack in hand - first finesse. Now came the ♣ Ace followed by a ♦ covered by the 10 and Queen and John discarded the ♠ 5 - Second finesse. The ♣ 4, covered by the Queen and King making that finesse unnecessary. A club to the ten and the ♥ 2 to the Ten and Ace - the third finesse. Jackie played the ♠ Jack won with the Ace and the ♥ 4 was played for a fourth Finesse and Janet could claim 12 tricks for 100% score. Then came:
Board: 22
Dealer: East
Vul: E/W
North
♠ K2
♥ A
♦ A106542
♣ 9532
West East
♠ J1098 ♠ Q754
♥ KQ94 ♥ 1086
♦ 3 ♦ Q97
♣ AQJ7 ♣ 1084
South
♠ A63
♥ J7532
♦ KJ8
♣ K6
West North East South
Pass 1NT
2♣ 3NT All Pass
2♣ showed majors, something Janet quickly brushed aside with 3NT. John led the ♠ Jack and I can count 3 tricks in the majors and need to get 6 in diamonds. Should I play on 2-2 or on 3-1? Johns bid showing both majors should have alerted me to forget “nine never”, win the first trick in any hand, followed by the ♦ Ace and a finesse against East and we would have ended up with an average of 95% over the two boards - a pretty decent result against the eventual winners. Instead I played off two top diamonds and went off one for a big fat donut and a 50% score over the two boards. The moral of the story? Try by hook or by crook to get the right player to declare when you have finesses to take!
I wish you all a happy new year!
Espen Gisvold
PS
If you see a hand you think is worth mentioning please leave me a note at: Espen
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| Deal Of The Week |
Two Way Slams
Ever so often I have read about hands that can produce slam in both directions, but have so far not come across many of them. Today’s hand popped up in the final match of the season between Je Vamp and Corona Beer in 2nd Division in MCBA’s online league
Bord 8
Dealer: West
Vul: None
North
♠ A64
♥ -
♦ AQ108632
♣ J42
West East
♠ - ♠ J105
♥ K753 ♥ AQ108642
♦ J5 ♦ 7
♣ AKQ10653 ♣ 87
South
♠ KQ98732
♥ J9
♦ K94
♣ 9
West North East South
1♣ 1♦ 1♥ 1♠
4♥ 4♠ 4NT 5♠
6♥ pass pass 6♠
pass pass dbl All Pass
It looks like someone had dealt the cards with boxing gloves on so we all had our own 7 card suit. Poor East and South had not been given a void, only a scruffy singleton - I guess it is a limit to how democratic the dealing gods can be!
The first round saw us all introduce our suits in a timely manner. Then West took it up to the game level and North told us all who had control of the Boss suit.
At this point East decided to introduce some sort of science into the bidding by asking West how many controls he had, and putting me on the spot.
At this point a few things were clear to me. Firstly that I had no defence against a heart slam. Secondly that I wanted to sacrifice all the way up to 6♠ . I had no thoughts of 6♠ being a makable game. The question then is: How do I make it difficult for East/West to exchange information?
I could bid 5♦ to show Janet my support for her suit. The problem is that it gives West a lot of options as well as giving them the knowledge that we have a double fit. If there is something I don’t want to do here it is to give opponents information. So I decided to keep Janet in the dark and bid 5♠ . West bid ♥ , and I now bid 6♠ .
What do you do in the East seat? It has now turned into a guessing game, and no one can criticise the double.
East lead the ♣ Ace followed by another club which was ruffed. Then three rounds of trumps before one round of Diamonds, and I pulled them out of their misery by claiming.
At the other table the action stopped in 5♠!
Espen Gisvold
PS
If you see a hand you think is worth mentioning please leave me a note at: Espen
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| Deal Of The Week |
Walking on Air
What does it take to get hooked on bridge? Your first endplay? Your first grand slam? The first time you managed to false card and mislead declarer or when you first managed to master cue bids? No matter what it is, this hand will keep me buzzing for a while!
Board 4
Dealer: West
Vul: All
North
♠ 2
♥ KQ63
♦ AQJ985
♣ AQ
West East
♠ KQ9843 ♠ J105
♥ 108 ♥ J954
♦ 1043 ♦ -
♣ 74 ♣ K108652
South
♠ A76
♥ A72
♦ K762
♣ J93
West North East South
2♠ dbl pass 3NT
Pass 5NT pass 6NT
The bidding should probably not be discussed in earshot of minors and definitely not before the watershed. The book bid over 3NT is 4♦ (forcing), but with me, the mad Norwegian in South who knows if it’s forcing nature would dawn on me. What 5 NT is, I don’t know, as 4 NT would be asking me to bid 6 with a max and pass with a minimum. Nevertheless, I didn’t fancy being in limbo land so I bid 6.
West led the King of Spades and I could count 11 tricks. I have 12 if the Hearts split 3-3 or, if push comes to shove, the ♣ Queen could be a trick. I did not fancy ducking the lead and risking a club switch forcing me to a premature decision, so I won with the ace.
I now cashed the ♦K and East discarded a club! This gave me knowledge about 9 of West’s cards so two things became clear.
First that East is favourite to have 4 or more hearts. Secondly, East is also favourite to have the ♣ King.
I guess the optimum play now is the strange looking play of the King & Queen of Hearts and a small one to the Ace to get the count, but instead I just ran all my diamonds.
If East sees what’s coming the best sequence of discards is five clubs to try to show declarer a weakness in clubs, before a Spade is discarded on the last diamond. At the table East kept ♣ K10 and discarded the two remaining Spades.
This is now the position with the lead in Dummy:
North
♠ -
♥ KQ63
♦ -
♣ AQ
West East
♠ Q984 ♠ -
♥ 108 ♥ J954
♦ - ♦ -
♣ - ♣ K10
South
♠ -
♥ A72
♦ -
♣ J93
I played a ♥ to the ace and a ♥ back to the King. On the ♥ Queen West discards a ♠. As I knew East was out of Spades I played Dummy’s last ♥ and East had to win and play away from ♣ K10 to Dummies ♣ AQ.
For those interested in names, this is s Squeeze Without The Count, and it will have me walking on air for the next few weeks regardless of whatever atrocity I might already have performed at the table.
Espen Gisvold
PS
If you see a hand you think is worth mentioning please leave me a note at: Espen
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KILL THE SQUEEZE
Board 7 in the match between Je Vamp and PROTEUS produced what is possibly the most fascinating hand of the online bridge played in the county since lockdown.
Board 7
Dealer: South
Vul: All
North
♠ AK82
♥ A8
♦ K954
♣ 864
West East
♠ 10975 ♠ 64
♥ 65 ♥ K732
♦ 108 ♦ QJ76
♣ Q10932 ♣ AJ7
South
♠ QJ3
♥ QJ1094
♦ A32
♣ K5
West North East South
1♥
Pass 1♠ pass 1NT
Pass 3NT
The bidding is unimportant as such. West lead the ♣ 10. What do you put in from East? I ran the problem past Michael Byrne and Boye Brogeland. Boye, since it was presented as a problem, suggested that he would be tempted to put in the Jack as that would be the right thing to do if partner had Q109xx. However he admitted that at the table he would have won with the Ace and returned the jack. Michael said the same. Victor did just that and South won with the King and reeled off 4 rounds of spades. Victor in East discards a ♥ and a ♦. This is the position:
North
♠ -
♥ A8
♦ K954
♣ 8
West East
♠ - ♠ -
♥ 65 ♥ K73
♦ 108 ♦ QJ7
♣ Q93 ♣ 7
South
♠ -
♥ QJ109
♦ A32
♣ -
Now the ♣ is played from Dummy and Mary could take her club tricks but in the process squeezing Victor in the red suits (East cannot hold 2 ♥ and 3♦ with only 4 cards left. To try to confuse declarer Boye suggested East first 3 discards should be hearts before he discards Diamonds - playing as if he did not have the King). Victor discarded 3 Hearts and when Mary freed herself with a Heart, Declarer went up with the Ace killing Victors King getting the 4 last tricks for a total of 9.
What if East at trick 1 puts in the Jack? South wins and as before runs 4 rounds of spades before playing a club from dummy won by the Ace in East. The position, with East on lead is:
North
♠ -
♥ A8
♦ K954
♣ 6
West East
♠ - ♠ -
♥ 65 ♥ K73
♦ 108 ♦ QJ7
♣ Q93 ♣ 7
South
♠ -
♥ QJ109
♦ A32
♣ -
If East now plays a Club, West again will end up squeezing East. Had East had ♦ QJT it would be easier to find a ♦ switch. As it is, it's East’s only hope that West has the ♦ 10, so East must play a Diamond. Declarer can now take no more than 3 tricks before letting East in. East now takes his red suit trick and plays a Club to partner for one down. A beauty both in declarer play and defence - two for the price of one!
Espen Gisvold
PS
If you see a hand you think is worth mentioning please leave me a note at: Espen
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BID GAMES
There are many mantras in bridge and one is that when playing teams (or iMP scoring) games should be bid, especially when you’re vulnerable. This hand from Fridays IMP Pairs is a good example. Out of the 10 tables, only one pair managed to bid the game in hearts!
Board: 13
Dealer: North
Vul: All
North
♠ KQJ64
♥ K
♦ A74
♣ 10982
West East
♠ A1075 ♠ 832
♥ 8752 ♥ AQJ10
♦ Q1063 ♦ 85
♣ A ♣ KQJ4
South
♠ 9
♥ 9643
♦ KJ92
♣ 7653
West North East South
1♠ dbl pass
3♥ pass 4♥ All Pass
Believe it or not, 4 tables were allowed to play it in 1♠ and 3 West players though their hand worth a mere 2♥ over partners double. I’d rather bid 4♥ than 2♥ myself, but then I have Viking blood in my veins!
Here East thought his two suits good enough to bid the game after West had shown 8+ hcp.
North started with ♠King won in hand with the Ace. West cashed the ♣ Ace and on the small ♥ towards Dummy North had to produce the King which was won by the Ace. Declarer now cashed Dummy’s Clubs discarding his own Spades. A Spade was played and South tried to ruff with the 4 and West could over ruff and take 10 tricks. It is fascinating to look at the value of the ♥ 8 If Wests Heart had been 7652 he would have needed to follow a different line.
After the same introduction with a spade lead to the Ace and Ace of Clubs and S to dummy and 3 more rounds of Clubs the situation is:
North
♠ QJ64
♥ -
♦ A74
♣ -
West East
♠ - ♠ 83
♥ 765 ♥ QJ10
♦ Q1063 ♦ 85
♣ - ♣ -
South
♠ -
♥ 984
♦ KJ92
♣ -
Now it is imperative to take two rounds of Hearts before a Spade is played. After that West cannot be denied a ♠ ruff.
Can we improve on this line? Yes. Before running the club winners cash two rounds of trumps. Now you are not relying on a 4-4 fit in clubs if the trumps break 3-2. If it is 4-1 your still safe is the hand with the last trump has 5 Clubs.
Espen Gisvold
PS
If you see a hand you think is worth mentioning please leave me a note at: Espen
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| Deal of The Week |
GRAND SLAMS
It is not much that gets your blood running as fast at the bridge table as playing a grand slam in an important match.
As far as national competitions goes EBU’s Tollemache Trophy must be as important as they come. Todays hand is from that competition.
Board: 24
Dealer West
Vul: None
North
♠ 65
♥ QJ842
♦ 543
♣ J52
West East
♠ AQ10832 ♠ KJ74
♥ - ♥ AK10975
♦ KQ109 ♦ -
♣ AQ6 ♣ K107
South
♠ 9
♥ 63
♦ AJ8762
♣ 9843
West North East South
1♠ pass 2NT pass
3♥ pass 5♦ pass
6♣ pass 7♠ All pass
The grand slam in spades was reached at only 10 out of 26 tables. At on table they managed to end up in 6♥ going on off! Always something for us non so good players to gloat over! Manchester who won the qualifier did not manage to bid this grand in case you think it is trivial to do so!
The bidding I liked the best is the one shown here. West opens 1♠ as I’m sure 1close to 00% of the bridge playing population would do. East bid 2 NT showing a Game Forcing hand with 4 card support. So far we would still cary with us some 50% of the bridge playing population. Now the diversions comes in how West continues.
At this table West followed the “traditional” route by showing short heart and “extras” by bidding 3♥ . What to do with Easts hand? Many experts, if not all, have a tool called ‘Exclusion Key Card Blackwood’ - a jump to an unbid suit above 4 NT - here 5♦. It asks partner to show keycards outride of the suit excluded by the bid.
6♣ by West told East that he had 2 key cards and the ♠ Queen outside of ♦. This was enough for East to bid the Grand Slam.
North lead the ♠6 won in hand with the ten. West pulled the last outstanding trump with the Ace and wasted no time and claimed. Two diamonds would be ruffed and two would go on the top hearts and there was no black suit losers.
Espen Gisvold
PS
If you see a hand you think is worth mentioning please leave me a note at: Espen
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SHAPE
We all know that in 3rd seat we can open on slightly less than in other positions. But most of us are scared of doing so when we are vulnerable and opponents are not. Catherine Draper has no such worries when she can look down at a hand with good honours and a bit of shape.
Board 15
Dealer: South
Vul: N/S
North
♠ K7643
♥ K9
♦ A743
♣ 103
West East
♠ A92 ♠ J85
♥ J1054 ♥ Q76
♦ K52. ♦ J9
♣ K73 ♣ AJ864
South
♠ Q10
♥ A832
♦ Q1086
♣ Q92
West North East South
Pass
Pass 1♠ pass 1NT
Pass 2♦ pass 2♠
All pass
At all the other tables this board was passed out. We can all learn from Catherine Draper’s evaluation of this hand. This hand only has 10 honour points, but what points! No Quacks, just Axes as well as being in control of the boss suit.
Forget the vulnerability and let fortune favour the brave and do as Catherine and open 1♠. Adam Wiseberg in South could bid 1NT - showing 8-11 hcp and denying 3 spades. Catherine had opened on shape more than points so she bid 2♦.
Whether to bid 2♠ or 3♦ now in South’s seat can be discussed, but Adam bid 2 and it all petered out.
Catherine got a ♦ lead - the only lead that gives her a free run at 10 tricks, and she did not put a foot wrong in her attempt to squeeze even an eleventh trick out of it.
She covered the ♦Jack with the Queen and won West’s King with her Ace. A small spade to the ten and West won with the Ace and played another spade won in dummy.
A small heart to the King and the last outstanding trump was pulled with the King. Now she played 3 rounds of winning diamonds ending in her own hand before she played her last two trumps to see if she could get the opponents to make another mistake. She had no such luck, but 170 in was worth 5 IMP!
Just another day at the office!
Espen Gisvold
PS
If you see a hand you think is worth mentioning please leave me a note at: Espen
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| Deal of The Week |
DESERVED?
This week season 3 of the online League finished and in the second division it was a nail biter between the 3 bottom teams. In the end Minty1 lacked one single IMP across the whole season, and Je Vamp in 4th place only managed to outperform Rejuvenated in 5th with 3 IMP across the whole season! This hand came up in the last match between Je Vamp and Rejuvenated
Dealer: West
Vul: All
Board: 4
North
♠ 9843
♥ J9
♦ 4
♣ QJ10942
West East
♠ 10 ♠ AK7
♥ KQ10654 ♥ A8732
♦ AJ53 ♦ Q10762
♣ A3 ♣ -
South
♠ QJ652
♥ -
♦ K98
♣ K8765
At my table where I sat North the bidding went:
West North East South
1♥ pass 2NT pass
3NT pass 5♣ dbl
5♥ pass 5♠ pass
6♥ All Passs
2 NT was Jacoby. I’m not a fan of using Jacoby with a void, I like to have it as a tool for balanced and semi balanced hands, but as Wikipedia says: “However, it might be the best alternative as prelude to possible slam exploration with unbalanced support in a holding stronger than the agreed range for a splinter bid.”
3NT was a non minimum hand with a Spade shortage – a system known as Swedish responses to Jacoby. East now jumped to 5 ♣ - Exclusion Key Card Blackwood and 5♥ 3 keycards (I assume they ueded ROPI). Now East made a beautiful bid of 5♠ . West has a hard decision. 5 ♠ is obviously a bid looking for a grand slam. But with no minor suit kings to show, West signs off in 6♥ and East decides not to bid the Grand slam hinging on a finesse.
At the other table the bidding was maybe a bit less controlled.
West North East South
1♥ pass 4♣ pass
4♦ pass 4♠ dbl
6♥ pass 7♥! All Pass
4 ♣ was a splinter, showing a singleton or void in clubs and agreeing Hearts as trumps. Now two cue bids followed normally showing first round control in East West’s system. Both East and West aiming for a scientific auction to find out if the Grand was on. South’s double will force North to open a spade and thereby protect Souths Kings in the minors. West had had enough of science and bid what she thought was right, and East thought he, with the ace of trumps yet to show and a void rather than a singleton had ample strength to go for the Grand.
North lead the ♠ 8 won in Dummy. Two rounds of trump followed by the ♣ Ace and a ♣ ruff. The second high Spade with a Diamond discard before the Diamond Queen was run. As the King was with South it won and a Diamond to the Jack saw 13 tricks for East/West together with 13 IMP. Had the ♦King been in North we would have lost 17 IMP so a 30 IMP swing. As we won the match by 9 and needed to win by 7 to be sure of avoiding relegation it goes without saying that the position of the ♦ King was the single most important card in the 2nd Division in season 3!
PS
If you see a hand you think is worth mentioning please leave me a note at: Espen
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| Deal of The Week |
Free Run
Over the last 40 years bidding has changed immensely. Not only is 4 card major on its way out, but the use of artificial bids has exploded as well as the use of weak 2 openings. This deal shows one of the reasons why weak 2 openings are so popular.
Board 18
Dealer: East
Vul: N/S
North
♠ AK75
♥ A72
♦ 10843
♣ J4
West East
♠ J9843 ♠ Q62
♥ - ♥ K98543
♦ QJ7 ♦ 62
♣ 87532 ♣ 106
South
♠ 10
♥ QJ106
♦ AK95
♣ AKQ9
South West North East
pass
1♦ pass 1♠ pass
2NT pass 4NT pass
5♣ pass 6♦
At 5 out of 9 tables East opened 2 ♥ and it became difficult for North/South to find their way to the slam in Diamonds. Even when 2 ♥ was not opened, it is not clear cut how and if it should be bid.
Jeff Smith decided to open 1♦ , it promised 4 cards at the same time as it kept all other options open. Over Jackie Pyes 1♠ he could show his strength (18-19) by jumping to 2NT. Jackies 4NT was quantitative. Now Jeff bid a natural but undiscussed 5♣ and Jackie jumped to 6♦ showing her ♦ support but at the same time giving Jeff a choice of slams. With ruffing values Jeff stuck with the diamond slam.
Wests opening lead was the 8♣ won in hand with the King to keep communication as fluid as possible.
I was kibitzing and in my simple mind, it looked to me that cashing two top Diamonds and then discarding dummies hearts on Clubs and ruling Dummies spades in hand looked like a reasonable plan only needing the ♦ to splitt 3-2.
Jeff went down a different path. He played a Spade to the Ace and discarded a heart on the King before he ruffed a spade. Now he cashed the two top diamonds before he played a club to the jack and ruffed the last spade with his last trump. As the player with the remaining Diamond couldn’t ruff the next club he was home and dry. One can wonder at times if he is a distant relative of RR?
Espen Gisvold
PS
If you see a hand you think is worth mentioning please leave me a note at: Espen
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| Deal of The Week |
Practical Bridge
Many of us love to conduct complicated, long winded and precise bidding sequences. We behave as if we are on a shooting range trying to get a perfect 100 with our fine tuned rifle instead of understanding we are in a war zone and a more robust weapon might be of better use. This week’s hand is an illustration. It is from Sunday evening’s 7:30pm event which now seems to be gaining some followers.
Board 7
Dealer: South
Vul: All
North
♠ 8
♥ Q864
♦ AKJ108
♣ J 7 3
West East
♠ KQ10972 ♠ J654
♥ - ♥ A1053
♦ 76532 ♦ Q94
♣ 106 ♣ 82
South
♠ A3
♥ KJ972
♦ -
♣ AKQ954
South West North East
1♣ 2♠ Dbl 4♠
6♥
Only at one table did North/South manage to bid the slam. East’s 4♠ can be questioned, as it gives away so much information, but nevertheless, South’s jump to 6♥ was well timed.
At one other table they sniffed at the slam when South Opened 1♥ and North jumped to 4♥ over East’s 2♠ . South asked for aces - not always the best thing with a void, and after North showed 1 Ace they stopped in 5.
Against 6♥ West lead a spade won with the Ace in South. A heart to the Queen and Ace and a club won with the ace. Souths last spade was ruffed. The ♥ 6 was won by the 7 in South.
South now pulled the trumps, entered Dummy with the ♣ Jackand discarded small clubs on the high Diamonds and finally claimed at trick 11 when a club was played to hand.
Espen Gisvold
PS
If you see a hand you think is worth mentioning please leave me a note at: Espen
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| Deal of The Week |
Gut Feelings
Most hands can be analysed and the “right” line can be found. Every now and then a hand comes along that’s so complex you have to rely on your “gut feeling”.
When I saw this week’s hand, I had some initial gut reflexes. I posted a more reflected version past proper experts, and Alan Mould said:
“I think the hand is really hard to analyse. There are positions of the opponent’s cards where it is right to take 2 Diamond hooks. There are positions where it is right to do what Jeff (Smith) suggests. There are even positions where it is right to play a low Spade towards the Jack. I actually do not know what the right line is”
So we have to go with our guts
Board 2
Dealer: East
Vul: N/S
Teams
North
♠ AQ8432
♥ AQ1094
♦ J2
♣ -
West East
♠ K107 ♠ 965
♥ 632 ♥ 7
♦ Q753 ♦ K864
♣ AQ3 ♣ 109876
South
♠ J
♥ KJ85
♦ A109
♣ KJ542
South West North East
pass
1♣* pass 1♠ pass
2♣1 pass 2♥ pass
3♥ pass 4♣2 pass
4♦2 pass 4♠2 pass
4NT3. pass 5♠4 pass
6♥
*2 or more Clubs but also could be a 12-14 or 18-19 balanced hand
1 Will now have at least five Clubs and likely not three Spades
2 Cue bid
3 RKCB
4 Two key cards plus Queen of trumps with Hearts as trumps
East leads the ♣10, covered by Jack Queen and ruffed.
I am a simple soul, so I’d cash the ♠ Ace, ruff a ♠ enter my hand with a ♥ and ruff another ♠ , and as the spade split 3-3 I’d get home with laurels in my hair. But after looking at it time and time again, there must be a better way to play it, One that would make even if the opposing spades split 4-2. Against something like:
North
♠ AQ8432
♥ AQ1094
♦ J2
♣ -
West East
♠ K1075 ♠ 96
♥ 632 ♥ 7
♦ Q75 ♦ K8643
♣ AQ3 ♣ 109876
South
♠ J
♥ KJ85
♦ A109
♣ KJ542
East leads the ♣10, covered by the Jack, queen and ruffed. ♠ Ace and a ♠ ruff, followed by a♣ ruff. You ruff a ♠ and East discards a ♣ (If East discards ♦ the ending will be a little different, but not as pretty!) The situation now is:
North
♠ Q84
♥ AQ10
♦ J2
♣ -
West East
♠ K ♠ -
♥ 632 ♥ 7
♦ Q75 ♦ K8643
♣ A ♣ 98
South
♠ -
♥ KJ
♦ A109
♣ K54
You ruff a ♣ and the suit is established. You ruff another ♠ and that suit is established. Now the situation is:
North
♠ Q8
♥ AQ
♦ J2
♣ -
West East
♠ - ♠ -
♥ 632 ♥ 7
♦ Q75 ♦ K8643
♣ ♣ -
South
♠ -
♥ K
♦ A109
♣ K5
Now you play the ♥ K and overtake with the Ace and you cash the ♥Queen discarding a ♦ . If the Hearts are 2-2 you make 13 tricks, whilst if the H breaks 3-1 you now play a high spade, discarding the last low ♦ in dummy and whoever has the last heart can ruff when they like and be your steppingstone to dummy’s remaining tricks. A beauty!
Espen Gisvold
PS
If you see a hand you think is worth mentioning please leave me a note at: Espen
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