| 679 Bartley Road, Chester NJ 07930 |
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| SHADOWFAX SCHEDULE |
Tues 9:30 lesson, 10 a.m. 0-999 game
... followed by a postgame discussion of hands played that morning
Wed & Fri 10 a.m. Open games (BYO lunch!)
regular game card fees are $10 per person
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| Stardust game @ Shadowfax! |
25% Gold MP awards all week 12/15-12/19!
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| TUESDAY LESSON (12/02/25) - Play your (real) opponents! |
Show Detail |
Those sitting NS will get to a reasonable 3NT game. West leads the S5, fourth from his long suit topped by an honor. East wins the SK and returns the S9. West plays the S2, letting your SJ win the trick. Sit South - how will you continue?
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| Show Answer |
You only have 5D & 1C top tricks to go with the Spade trick you took - you need 2 more to make your contract. At first glance, it looks like Hearts can provide 3 more winners after you knock out the HA.
But you cannot lose the lead - West's S2 tells you he started with a 5-card suit , so he has 3 established tricks are ready to cash. You also know it's he likely he WILL get in to run them, since West wisely ducked to leave East with a Spade to return if/when HE gets in. Is there a way you might add 2 more tricks and get to 9 before losing the lead?
Yes, if the CK & CJ are both in East you can take 3 Club tricks - but the odds of that (25%) are pretty bad. If West has either the CK or CJ, you're down 2 (4S+1H+1C) for -100. Instead, cash your 5 Diamonds and knock out the HA. Yes, they will run their Spades, but you will get back in to collect a total of 8 tricks for only down 1 (-50).
The entire field is going to be in 3NT down 1, unless a greedy, slow-witted West grabs his SA on trick 2, or East mistakenly hold up his HA. At Matchpoint scoring, your real opponents (those you're trying to out-score) are the other pairs playing your cards. Avoid a bottom and get a 40-50% score on this board - take the "Win" and move on to the next hand!
Note: At IMPs, "Go for Gold" and try the double finesse in Clubs! It's a bet worth covering - you gain 9 IMPs 25% of the time, versus losing 1 IMP 75% of the time! |
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| Looking for ways to improve your game? --- Our website can help! |
Our website provides analysis (by individual and pair) about sessions played at Shadowfax. Color-coding of the hand-by-hand results makes it easy to identify the boards on which your partnership scored well ^ (or didn't ^).
To learn how to use these and other features of our website to improve your game, just ask - we want our members to use all the bells&whistles on our website!
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| Review and Replay Our Lesson Hands! |
Did you know our Tuesday Lesson Hands (more than two years worth!) are available at the Lessons from the Past link?
You can review the lesson, read helpful analysis, or even replay these hands - simply pick a hand and click Play It Again!
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