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TALES OF TAURANGA
Strange stories of those who did not win. The Tauranga Mini Congress Week-end.
January 30th- February 1st 2016
The Bay turned on a pretty good wettish weekend for bridge which suited the host club with a roomful of players for all events. We could tell you how Michael Ware and GeO Tislevoll blitzed the Pairs’ field to win by over 20% and scored over 73% in one round in the process. We could also tell you how Blair and Liz Fisher, Pam Canning and Michael Curry won the Teams event. We could even be persuaded to relate how Tania Brown guided her son, Matthew, to victory in the Monday Pairs…but we won’t!
Tania and Matthew Brown Tauranga President, Derek Webb, Pam Canning, Michael Curry and Liz and Blair Fisher
We have much more important stories to relate. We start off with a lesson Nick Jacob gave to his partner for the week-end, Kinga Hajmasi, on the “fine” art of balancing/ sacrificing. In theory, you push your opponents into a non-making contract or at least incur a smaller loss than had you left them undisturbed. Nick and Kinga were up against Jenny Millington and the normally very vocal Barry Jones in one of the qualifying rounds of the Teams.
Bitter Sweet Balance
Sometimes with Michaels, you do not know which is your partner’s second suit as after the sequence:
West North East South
Nick Jenny Kinga Barry
1♠ 2♠1 3♥
?
1 hearts and a minor
Barry’s 3♥ was a game try in spades.
Nick held: ♠ 86 ♥ QJ2 ♦ Q8 ♣ KQ10732 and being rightly pessimistic, presumed partner held the diamond suit. Even so, he felt he had enough to bid 4H. However, the next couple of bids changed his thinking:
West North East South
Nick Jenny Kinga Barry
4♥ 4♠ 5♣ Pass
Pass 5♦ Pass Pass
?
It was now evident that Kinga had a special hand with long clubs. He was happy to see how few losers Kinga had in her club slam. He was not to find out:
West North East South
Nick Jenny Kinga Barry
6♣ 6♦ Pass Pass
Nick had no defensive tricks to the slam and therefore felt it was time to bid on:
Nick Jenny Kinga Barry
6♥ 6♠ Pass Pass
?
Suddenly, the world was not such a wonderful place. They certainly had the clubs, maybe even the hearts, sown up. Yet, as we were playing bridge, not 500, clubs were at the bottom of the heap and spades were definitely at the top. He noticed that Jenny had given all her “pass” cards to Barry and could not stop bidding. Nick knew he could bid a cheap 7♣ but what if Jenny bid on to 7♠? 7NT did not appeal as a sacrifice! No, time to cut one’s losses and hope his teammates bid the grand. So, 6♠ ended an unusual auction, unusual in many ways, not the least that Barry had only bid once. Jenny did all the talking! Oh, the four hands! Sorry.
Dealer North North
Nil Vul. ♠ AK10952
♥ 76
♦ AK642
♣ –
West East
♠ 86 ♠ J4
♥ QJ2 ♥ K8543
♦ Q8 ♦ –
♣ KQ10732 ♣ AJ9865
South
♠ Q73
♥ A109
♦ J109753
♣ 4
As you can see, most of what thought Nick thought was correct. 6♣x was a very cheap sacrifice, just -300, 7♣x – 500, 7♥ x – 800 assuming South tries to get a club ruff and gives their partner one in the process! Meanwhile, 7♦ and 7♠ (played by North) were cold. -1010 was cheap! Cheap? Yes, except for one thing. I think you know the score for 5♦ making 7. -440. … and that was the score at the other table! The balance only cost 11 imps!
It’s time, though, to focus on the lady who would not stop bidding. We are going to give you one of the most awkward bidding problems ever in the history of bridge. Yes, it happened to Jenny Millington during the 10A Pairs. We are fairly confident that Jenny was the only West to have this problem.
A “Balanced hand”
Jenny held:
♠ 8
♥ K76
♦ AKJ109842
♣ J
and had to find a bid after this auction:
West North East South
1♥ Pass 1♠ Pass
?
1♥ was not canape but was entirely natural, not maybe what she had in mind when the pen headed towards the bidding pad…but you cannot blame the pen, can you?
So, what would you bid now? You just know that no matter how many diamonds you bid, your trusted partner will convert back to your “longer” heart suit. So, any ideas?
Jenny and Barry play a strong no-trump system. So, a 1NT rebid shows 12-14. “Perfect” Jenny thought,”12 points and at least one card in each suit…balanced!” “If Barry cannot provide some help in clubs, that is not my fault!” So, 1NT it was. Barry reached for the “stop” card and Jenny feared the worst..6NT, 4♥, 6♥. No, it was 4♠! Rightly or wrongly she was done…not maybe her most descriptive bidding ever but Barry would be delighted with the ruffing value.
She did issue a warning to partner after a high club opening lead that dummy might be not quite what he expected. As any good partner would, he thanked Jenny for a lovely dummy and with just a modicum of help from the defence proceeded to make his contract.
Dealer West North
Vul E/W ♠ K106
♥ A9842
♦ 5
♣ 9842
West East
♠ 8 ♠ AQJ9732
♥ K76 ♥ –
♦ AKJ109842 ♦ 6
♣ J ♣ Q7653
South
♠ 54
♥ QJ1053
♦ Q73
♣ AK10
The final contract was quite a common one and three other pairs made it with Jenny and Barry getting a 93% score on the board. Maybe the defenders were a little mystified by the bidding..and who could blame them!
Then, we have a story called:
All Round The Mulberry Bush
Subtitled: “Partner sometimes knows best”.
Who said “sometimes”? The bidding started relatively easily as you sat there with, as North:
♠ Q763 ♥ AQ65432 ♦ – ♣ 107
West North East South
1♦
4♣ 4♥ 5♣ 5♦
Pass Pass x Pass
Pass ?
5♦ seemed OK though you kind of agreed with East’s opinion that it might not be making.
Maybe you should have one more shot:
5♥ x Pass
Pass ?
Come on, you expected that! OK, what is partner’s shape? 4171? Why not?
5♠ x
Why not? The doubles were getting quicker too!
Partner had heard enough:
West North East South
6♦
x All Pass
Well, you got the length of one of partner’s suits correct. Now, came the agonising bit…laying down the dummy. “Please, please, partner, make 12 tricks or 10 even 9 but not 11!”
Dealer South North
Vul Nil ♠ Q763
♥ AQ65432
♦ –
♣ 107
West East
♠ 982 ♠ AJ104
♥ 7 ♥ KJ10
♦ 73 ♦ 642
♣ QJ98653 ♣ AK4
South
♠ K5
♥ 98
♦ AKQJ10985
♣ 2
West led ♣ Q and switched to a spade won by East…. down one. “Bother”! I really really hope that the defence to 5♦x would have been different…heart switch at trick two. Alas, I know only too well who went “round the mulberry bush”.
Then, there is a story called:
Too Good to be True
You remember how Jenny Millington bid hearts when she meant to bid diamonds. There was a deal in the Monday Pairs when it appeared a player had muddled up her red suits again, though Jenny was way over the other side of the room when the following occurred. Was the disease catching? As West, you held:
♠ K94
♥ AJ7542
♦ J3
♣ 62
With North-South vulnerable, the bidding proceeded:
West North East South
1♦ 4♠ 5♥
?
Well, you were expecting South to bid….but surely not hearts? You were going to support spades over either minor from South….but that 5♥ bid seemed out of left field.
What would you do as West if the auction had gone:
West North East South
1♣ 4♠ 6♥
?
Hey, your defence (well, your partnership defence) may not always be optimum but that contract is just not going to make. Double of either of the above auctions would not be for take-out…. but double of both heart contracts would be wrong! It was not that they were making, but…
Dealer North North
Vul N/S ♠ 3
♥ 6
♦ KQ972
♣ AKQ754
West East
♠ K94 ♠ QJ1087652
♥ AJ7542 ♥ –
♦ J3 ♦ 1084
♣ 62 ♣ 103
South
♠ A
♥ KQ10983
♦ A65
♣ J98
The theory of when you have loads of trumps and the opposition are in slam or at a very high level is that simply passing gains you a good score. Either all other pairs will just be in game or more sinisterly, they have a much better place to play. Of the 26 tables, 4 defended 5♥ undoubled while one defended it doubled. 2 doubled 6♥ while one pair defended that contract undoubled. Six bid and made a minor slam while the rest were in a variety of contracts from 4♥ up to 7♣. Surely if 5♥ is doubled, North will bid on in the minors, easier if you had opened 1♦ not 1♣? No-one pulled 6♥ to the making 6NT. There is a good lesson or three from this deal.
Finally, a story to sum up the Congress as a whole:
Everyone’s A Winner
Welcome back, Barry and Jenny. No silverware for the cabinet this week-end but plenty of memories for us to share. The organizers of the event would say that title applies to everyone who had a good time, very good food, plenty of great hands, excellent organization, a very friendly atmosphere. However, the title applies to a Team’s match involving Barry and Jenny’s team. In the first match, they played Richardson, a family team of Carol Richardson, Steve and Andi Boughey and Carol’s sister, Kaye Wilson, who finished second overall. Jones won the match by 2 imps but there was a fouled board which could not be played. Therefore, 3 imps to both sides. A win by 5 imps to Jones and by 1 imp to Richardson.
They are like that at Tauranga. Everyone’s a winner.
Richard Solomon
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