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Daily Bridge in New Zealand

Moving Forward….and “Minties’ Moments”.

A board for all tastes, whether you like the difficult problem an opposition bid can cause or some lighter moments that happen frequently at the table. Let’s look:
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East Deals
None Vul
   
A 9 4 3 2
Q
A K 10 5 3
8 4
 
N
W   E
S
   
West North East South
    1  4 
?      

 

We are playing Pairs and have a problem. Double here would be take-out style, applauded and rejected by the Panel:

Nigel Kearney “Double. 4Spade-small on a 5-3 could easily be right but is a stab in the dark, as is 6Diamond-small. If partner passes the double, he probably has a strong notrump and I hope for 500. If not, I will convert 5Club-small to 5Diamond-small. Over 4Spade-small, I'm probably worth another move.”

Stephen Blackstock “Double. Traditionally shows “cards” and welcomes a take-out to 4Spade-small. Not ideal if East passes with 5 diamonds and a strong NT, but even that might be OK as 4Heart-small should go down and we have no guarantee of 11 tricks in 5Diamond-small. 4Spade-small is too wild for me. Partner will often pass in a silly contract, and double will locate any 5-4 fit.”   But:

Michael Cornell “5Diamond-small: what other sensible bid can one make? 4Spade-small is not a suggestion. Unless partner has extreme distribution, all he can do is pass. If partner has say Spade-smallJx, that will normally be a 3 loser suit and is more likely to have 4 losers than 2! Double is off the menu with a known 9+ fit.
Then, we have the good and the bad about Key Card. With more ambition is:

Kris Wooles “4NT: I’ve got a choice of a conservative 5Diamond-small or a forward going 4NT. After a 5Diamond-small response, I would pass. After any other response I would punt 6Diamond-small. Nothing is perfect after high level interference but following the 4Heart-small bid, partner’s values should be in the other suits.”

That is the black suits.Agreeing is:

Bruce Anderson “ 4NT: RKC (1430) agreeing diamonds: the risk of playing a slam off 2 aces is reduced by that fact partner cannot have a balanced 12/14 points as they would have opened 1NT.  So, with a balanced or semi-balanced hand, partner will have 15+ points. Admittedly, partner may have a 4144 shape and soft values in spades and clubs but that risk is low.

 Over 5Club-small showing one ace I am bidding 6Diamond-small; to make up an opening hand, partner should have both black kings and the trump queen. A response above 5Club-small means a small slam must be good. I will not bid a grand no matter what partner shows as there may be a deep spade loser, and usually just bidding and making a small slam is good at Pairs.”
Wise words except that there is one player at the table who could make the auction even spicier…North.

Peter Newell “5Diamond-small: Tough problem. I don’t like double as partner will pass most of the time with balanced hands unless he has 4 spades.  I expect the penalty will be less than 5Diamond-small making.  I cannot see a good way of exploring slam, and am worried unless partner has great cards in spades (eg Kx) we likely have a spade, and a heart loser.– So, key card is too much of a blunt instrument.”

A choice of three bids. I wonder what North would have made of the conservative 5Diamond-small. Could they resist bidding some more?

 
East Deals
None Vul
K Q 7 6 5
A 10 9 2
10 9 7 5
A 9 4 3 2
Q
A K 10 5 3
8 4
 
N
W   E
S
 
10
Q J 9 7 6 4 2
A K Q J 2
 
J 8
K J 8 7 6 5 4 3
8
6 3
West North East South
    1  4 
5  5  6  Pass
Pass 6  ?  

I am sure North would/could/should (your choice) bid 5Heart-small. As East, I would now force myself to the 6 level…but in clubs as that must surely be the lead I would like should the opponents go 6Heart-small, which they “could, would, should”…and then the fun really might start!

Some "doozy" moments

There is of course no defence to 7Diamond-small which meant doubling either diamond slam was not a great idea. 23 tables played a sedate 5Diamond-small while 22 more made it to 6Diamond-small, twice doubled. The “Greed” Award goes to the 2 East-Wests who redoubled 6Diamond-small. Pride alone may have induced North-South to stand the redouble. In days gone by, the penalty for doing so was having to work out the score made with one overtrick. We have it all on a plate…or a tablet…these days.

6Heart-small has just a spade and two clubs to lose, a great sacrifice even doubled as compared with 5Diamond-small…-300. As South, I would be much happier working out that score. However, at two tables, South or the tablet had the great pleasure of working out the score for a doubled heart slam making!
bother.jpg
oh bother!

The lead at one table was Diamond-smallA while the other has it recorded as Spade-small3! WhenSpade-smallJ scored, South could do worse than continue with their second spade. As East, I would adorn West's Spade-smallA with a fairly loud discard, another black ace. However, West saw no reason to play that suit, with disastrous consequences for the defence. As for what happened to the club tricks after Diamond-smallA lead, the mind boggles. A trump drawn and Spade-small8 from the South hand probably did the damage. There is a semi-legitimate way for 6Heart-small to make, the lead of Spade-smallA and a spade continuation. South would ignore East’s request for the loan of a heart!
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The Power of the singleton trump

At one table, South must have been delighted to play in 5Heart-smallx. East took my advice about bidding clubs as West led one…and on the third round of the suit, oh dear, the trump played was not high enough to do the job and Heart-smallQ scored! The low ruff occurred at a couple of other tables, too. Around a third of the field played in hearts, another third in 5Diamond-small and most of the rest in 6Diamond-small.

Only three tables made it to the 7 level with no joy for North-South who all defended 7Diamond-small, once doubled.

The Panel were of course not privy to these later happenings though their choice of actions over South’s aggressive 4Heart-small call  was interesting to see. Next time, we will give the Panel the North hand and see if they reach the par 7Heart-small contract, surely doubled and beaten by more than one trick.

Go down to bad breaks, not good ones.

 
North Deals
E-W Vul
K 7
A 3
Q 8 6 4 3
A J 8 7
   
N
W   E
S
   
 
A 10 8
Q J 9 7 4
A J 2
3 2
West North East South
  1  Pass 1 
Pass 2  Pass 3 NT
All pass      

You took on the responsibility of being declarer. How are you going to make at least 9 tricks on the lead of Spade-small3 from West? If forced, East plays Spade-smallJ at trick 1.

Richard Solomon 



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