Gainesville Bridge Club

The Kibitzer is Shirley Wright

Bourilkov and Pallas win North American Pairs (Flight C)

Jon Shuster, Gainesville

 

 

Shirley:  I really enjoyed watching the Gainesville duo of Dimitri Bourilkov and Abe Pallas win the North American Pair Flight C national championship (President’s Cup) in Detroit, March 15 and 16, 2008.  Sixty-two pairs, who qualified from the 25 ACBL Districts participated in this matchpoint event.  Dimitri and Abe qualified at the state finals in Vero Beach, in October, 2007, as one of three Flight C pairs to represent Florida.  After the first day (two sessions), they had solid games of 59% and 61%, and were in second place amongst the 28 pairs to move on to the finals two sessions, totaling 54 boards, two against each opponent.  The third session was their best, with a remarkable 61.5%, putting them first overall with one session to go.  As Dimitri puts it:  “A couple of boards at the start of the final session were not good, and the opponents were coming to our table, telling us that they knew we were ahead, and played aggressively. So we knew we had to play hard!  We couldn’t just “run out the clock”  This is excellent advice when you are leading an event.  In their final session, they scored a respectable 51.5% to win the event by seven matchpoints.  Top on a board was 12. So the following hand from the final session proved to be crucial in their win.

 

Board 21.

 DLR North

NS Vul

 

                                                             North (Dimitri)

                                                             S-AK5

                                                             H-1094

                                                             D-AK

                                                             C-AK764

West                                                                                                   East

S-Q43                                                                                                S-J1072

H-AJ62                                                                                              H-Q       

D-J9                                                                                                   D-Q10532

C-Q532                                                                                              C-J98

 

                                                             South (Abe)

                                                             S-986

                                                             H-K8753

                                                             D-8764

                                                             C-10

 

       West                               North                     East                        South

                   2NT (21-22)           P                            3D (Transfer)

P                3H                          P                            4H!

      All Pass

 

Absent a super acceptance of 4H, Abe bid aggressively, but had confidence in Dimitri.

 

East led the SJ.  Dimitri won the J and played the H 4 – Q, K and A. West now cashed the HJ. Now if they play 3rd trump, Dimitri could ruff a C, cash the last trump, come back to a D, duck a C, and still have S and D stopped.  The 5th C would be his 10th trick (2S, 2D, 3H, 3C). The defender actually returned the SQ. Now Dimitri cashed the 2 top C (pitching a S), ruffed a C low. With all his trump high, he cashed AK of D, ruffed a C,  a D, and a S  for 10 tricks. (2S, 2D, 2C, 3 trump, 1D ruff in the North hand).

 

District 9 players had other success stories in the event.  Juan Castillo and Herbert Jordan   finished a very strong fourth in Flight B, while Allan Stauber and Lewis Finkel came seventh in   Flight A.  Congratulations!

The Kibitzer is Shirley Wright

Jon Shuster (sshuster1@bellsouth.net)

 

 

Here are two hands with a common theme.

 

Hand #1:

 

Shirley Wright watched this deal from the Gainesville Bridge Club, Monday, January 21, 2008.  Can you identify errors in bidding and play?

 

 

Board 6, DLR East, EW Vul

 

                                    North

                                    S-103

                                    H-A106

                                    D-Q7

                                    C-AJ9864

 

West                                                                East

S-KJ975                                                          S-Q64

H-K93                                                             H-7

D-J4                                                                D-A1096532

C-1072                                                            C-Q5

 

                                    South

                                    S-A82

                                    H-QJ8542

                                    D-K8

                                    C-K3

 

Table A:

 

West                North               East                 South

-                       -                       3D                   3H

P                      4H                   All Pass          

 

Table B:

 

West                North               East                 South

-                       -                       P                      2H (Weak 2)

P                      3C                   P                      3H

P                      4H               All Pass

 

The play went as follows:

 

Table A:  West led the DJ to East’s DA, and East returned a Spade to South’s A.  Declarer then played the HQ, all following low, and a Heart to the 10 (East pitching a low D).  Next a Club was led to the K and a Club to the J, losing to the Q.  A Spade was returned and another Spade forced dummy to ruff with the HA.  In all, declarer lost one trick in each suit for down 1 (-100 NS)

 

Table B: West led a Spade to the Q and Ace.  Declarer led a Heart to the Ace, and returned a Spade.  West won the J, and played the HK and another Heart.  Declarer led a Club to the K, and on the next Club, West falsecarded with the C10, but declarer went up with the K, dropping East’s Q.  Declarer claimed 11 tricks (+450 NS).

 

Here were the results:  NS+480 (2), NS+450(2, including Table B), NS+420(2), NS+100 (1), NS-100(1, Table A).

 

(more…)

The Kibitzer is Shirley Wright: Grand Autumn

Jon Shuster

Shirley:  I watched this hand from Monday, September 24, 2007 at the Gainesville Bridge Club.  It looks like every competitor had trouble with it.  Abe Pallas and Dimitri Bourilkov were the only pair to reach 6S.

Board 17.  North Deals with neither side vulnerable.

North

S-KQxx

H-AKQxx

D-Kxxx

C-None

South

S-AJxxxx

H-x

D-AJx

C-Jxx

Here is a bidding sequence, presuming you play Exclusionary Keycard Blackwood, as recommended.

West                North               East                 South

-                       1H                   2C                   2S

P                      5C(1)               P                      5NT(1)

P                      7S

North’s 5C bid shows a void in the suit bid at the 5 level, and asks for keycards in the other three suits.  South’s 5NT bid is as follows (just as ordinary keycard{K of trump is the extra ace}, except discounting Clubs).  [5D=0/3   5H=1/4 5S=2 without the Q equivalent and 5NT shows 2 with the Q equivalent.]  The sixth Spade is the Q equivalent.  North knows the Q equivalent is a 6^th Spade and counts 6S, 3, 2D, and 2C ruffs for 13 easy tricks.

Q: Suppose the response over 5C was 5S (2 keycards), should North still bid seven?

A: Although you are a favorite to make seven, without the 6^th Spade, you should settle for six.  Even the strong field in Gainesville will have trouble reaching six, so it is unwise to risk a good board for a top.

Try playing opposite this South hand:  S-Axxxx H-xx D-Axx C-Qxx (a fine 2S bid over 2C) in seven.  You need either a 2-2 Spade Split or a 3-3 Heart split after the expected Diamond lead.  It is true that if you improved the hand in any one of the following ways, the hand is virtually cold for seven.  [change (a) S-xx to S-J10; or (b) Change H-xx to H-Jx;  or (c) Change D-xx to D-Qx or even D-Jx with a Diamond lead; or (d) change C-Qx to C-Ax.

Note that the opening lead should not be a Club on this hand.  Trump or Diamonds will be best.

Here is how Dimitri Bourilkov (North) and Abe Pallas (South) bid the hand.

West                Bourilkov        East                 Pallas

-                       1H                   2C                   2S

3C                   4NT                 P                      5H(1)

P                      6S

(1) Regular Blackwood, two Aces.

As Bourilkov explained, they were not using exclusionary, so his choices were 4C or 4NT.  With his opponents bidding so vigorously in Clubs, he assumed the Aces were the right ones, but for the exact considerations of safety, when 6S will be a great board, he did not go to seven.  This got them an absolute top.

The Kibitzer is Shirley Wright

Witness to the Gainesville SWISS

By Jon Shuster, Gainesville

Jon: Shirley, I know you enjoyed watching the exciting Gainesville Sectional June 22-24,2007 , which averaged 35 tables per session over its six sessions. Everyone enjoyed the free daily lunches and the great company. I understand you were particularly interested in a hand played in the Sunday SWISS Team event.

Shirley: That is “Wright”. I will present the hand and what happened, and see if you can spot the faux pas committed. Neither side is vulnerable, and South deals.

 

 

                                    North:

S-Q3

H-KJ84

D-KQJ9

C-AJ5

West:                                                               East

S-1062                                                             S-J985

H-Q9                                                               H-10763

D-103                                                              D-A52

C-K108763                                                     C-42

South

S-AK74

H-A52

D-8764

C-Q9

The bidding at Table 1 went:

West                            North                           East                             South

-                                   -                                   -                                   1D

P                                  1H                               P                                  1NT

P                                  4C                               P                                  4S

P                                  6NT

At Table 2, it went

West                            North                           East                             South

-                                   -                                   -                                   1D

P                                  1H                               P                                  1S

P                                  2C(1)                           P                                  2H

P                                  4NT                             P                                  5H (2)

P                                  6NT

• (1) 4^th suit forcing for one round.
• (2) 2 Keycards without the HQ

The play at both tables was similar:

At Table 1, West led the S2, to dummy’s Q.  Declarer forced out the DA, East winning and returning a second Spade to South. South now led the CQ, covered by the K and A.  The South hand was reentered in Hearts and the SA was now cashed, throwing a Club from dummy.  Next, declarer took the successful Heart finesse, but was left with a losing Heart at the end, when the suit divided 4-2.

The play at Table 2 was almost identical, with East leading a Spade.  No swing resulted.

Supplemental Bidding Quiz:

You hold, playing 5 card majors, neither side vulnerable:

S-AKQ3 H-J765 D-8642 C-9

North               East                 South               West

P                      P                      ?
Solution:

Bidding issues.

At Table 1, South should have bid 1S and not 1NT over 1H.  A 4-4 Spade fit might have been missed, especially if the North hand had a weak hand and would pass 1NT.  The 4C bid (Gerber) was a clear overbid.  With 12-14 points facing 17 balanced, the combined point count is at best 31, two points short of a good slam.  I prefer a simple 3NT over 1NT.  Slam figures to be at best a 50-50 proposition.  Having decided to bid slam, the third error at Table 1 was placing the contract at 6NT, rather than 6D.  Notice that although both contracts require a decent Diamond break (Hope East does not have D-A10xx), and both the Club and Heart finesses to be “Wright”, there is one ruff, and therefore the 3-3 Heart split is not as critical.

Recommended auction at Table 2, who were not playing inverted minors

West                            North                           East                             South

-                                   -                                   -                                   1D

P                                  1H                               P                                  1S

P                                  2C(1)                           P                                  2H

P                                  3D                               P                                  3S

P                                  3NT                             P                                  P

P

(1)  4^th suit forcing for one round.

I agree with the first four calls, but after that, the North player overbid the hand (and erred if a slam is to be bid by choosing NT, rather than D).  Instead of 4NT North should have bid 3D.  Even if the 4^th suit was forcing for one round, 3D is 100% forcing.  At this point, South does not know if this is a cue-bid with hearts trump or if it is a real suit. South has the perfect call of 3S at this point, and with North bidding 3NT, the description of that hand is complete.  Since the hand was placed in NT, and not Hearts, the Diamond suit must be real.  Since so many bids were made, rather than a jump to 3NT over 1S, the North hand must be a borderline slam hand.  Movement is now up to South, who clearly is glad to pass 3NT.

Having bid 4NT, and hearing partner’s 5H response, North did not take the time to figure out the hand.  It is clear that missing one Ace and the HQ, the outlook is poor in 6NT.  North can have one of these two shapes:  4S-3H-4D-2C or 4S-3H-5D-1C.  If North has just one Club, unless it is an unlikely singleton honor, a Club lead seals your fate in 6NT. If partner has the DA and SA, you will have to be extraordinarily lucky to avoid two losers in Hears alone.  Otherwise, you will have to drive out the DA or SA, and the defense now has at least two tricks in NT, even if you can score 4H and 5D.  In 6D Diamonds, if you assume the HQ is offside (50%), you will need to have at least two discards to avoid a Heart loser, a better shot than 6NT, however.  A strong case can therefore be made for bidding 5S over 5H to get partner to bid 5NT, assuming you have a sharp partner.  Note that 5S cannot be natural, since you failed to set trump by bidding 3S over 3H.  Also, 5S cannot be asking for the HQ, since partner already denied it.  By elimination, 5S demands 5NT.

Play issues:

The hand can and should be made!  They both came oh so close!  Both declarers correctly took the C finesse when in with the second Spade.  But both erred by failing to cash the second Club, once the Diamonds had been run.

Here is the situation when the critical juncture occurs.  The CJ play right now is the winner.  East must discard a major suit card, so South captures all of the remaining tricks, whichever suit East unguards.  Unfortunately, both declarers, without cashing the CJ, crossed to the HA at this point, and went down.  It is true, a multi trick set may be risked if the HQ is wrong and East can cash some Clubs.  But that is only 50 points a trick.  Getting +990 is certainly worth the effort.

North:

S-

H-KJ84

D-

C-J5

West:                                                               East

S-10                                                                 S-J9

H-Q9                                                               H-10763

D-                                                                    D-

C-1087                                                            C-

South

S-K7

H-A52

D-

C-9
Solution to Supplemental Bidding Quiz:

The optimal bid here is 1S, with Pass as a distant second choice, and 1D an awful selection.  If you bid 1S, the final contract will be 5C doubled, down 2 for +300. If you passed, the final contract is 4H making for -420.  If you open 1D, the final contract is 5C doubled, making for -550.  At the other table, East opened a weak 2D, and EW reached 4H on a silent auction, off one for -50.

 

The Kibitzer is Shirley Wright

Jon Shuster

Shirley: Can you track the errors on the two hands I witnessed?

The first is from the Sarasota Regional Open Pairs, Saturday afternoon, February 17, 2007, Board 19. (Hands rotated, NS Vulnerable, West deals)

North

S-10863

H-J98

D-AQ1097

C-J

West                                                                East

S-Q7                                                                S-J2

H-A764                                                           H-KQ1032

D-K84                                                             D-J632

C-K932                                                           C-85

South

S-AK954

H-5

D-5

C-AQ10764

The bidding went:

West                            North                           East                             South

1C                               1D                               1H                               1S

2H(1)                           2S                                3H(2)                           4S

P                                  P                                  P

(1)   EW Play support doubles, so this shows 4 card Heart support.

(2)   No interest in Game.

The play went as follows.  West led the HA (East encouraging) followed by the H4 to the 9, 10, South ruffing.  South played the S-AK pulling the trump, and now led a low Club, with the J winning on the board.  Another Heart was now ruffed, followed by the CA and CQ-K-A.  Declarer played the DA, ruffed a Diamond with her last trump and ran Clubs, making six (5S, 1D,5C, and 1 Club ruff).

The second hand was from Gator Bridge in Gainesville, Tuesday Feb 20,

2007, Board 8. (Hands rotated, Neither Side Vulnerable, East deals)

North

S-None

H-KQ95

D-AKQ98

C-QJ42

West                                                                East

S-Q952                                                            S-K10743

H-A73                                                             H-1082

D-J754                                                                        D-1032

C-93                                                                C-106

South

S-AJ86

H-J64

D-6

C-AK875

The bidding went:

West                            North                           East                             South

-                                   -                                   P                                  1C

P                                  1H                               P                                  1S

P                                  2D(1)                           P                                  2H

P                                  3C                               P                                  4C

P                                  6C                               P                                  P

P

(1) Fourth suit forcing to game by their system.

The play went as follows: East led the C9 to the CQ, and a Club was led to the CK, drawing all the EW trump.  The H4 was led next with the Q winning.  Declarer played three rounds of Diamonds (pitching declarer’s last two Hearts), ruffed a fourth Diamond setting up the 9, played the SA (pitching a Heart from dummy), ruffed a Spade, cashed the D9, pitching a Spade, and crossruffed the rest, making seven. (1S, 1H, 4D, and 7C)

Solutions:

Hand 1 (Sarasota Regional).  Apart from the poor vulnerable overcall of 1D by North, the bidding is acceptable by all players.  It may be tempting to pass with the West hand as dealer, but the opening bid on 12 HCP is pretty much a given today.

The play is another thing.  Let us start with the declarer’s vision.  It is clear that East has the H-KQ.  There is no way that West will underlead Hearts on this hand.  The second trump pull adds the SJ to East’s collection.  With 21 points between you and dummy accounted for plus 6 points from East accounted for, West becomes marked with the two minor suit Kings.  For all practical purposes, six is assured as the following plan indicates.  The declarer ‘s play of a low Club to the J, for practical purposes, holds the hand to making five and is therefore a serious error.

After pulling trump, lead the CA, and next lead the CQ through the marked K for a ruffing finesse.  (a) If Clubs break 4-2 (actual layout),  you ruff a Heart, ruff a Club  and claim 12 tricks. (5S, 4C, 1D, 2 C ruffs)

(b) If  East follows to the first round of Clubs with the 8 or 9 and shows out on the second Club, ruff a Heart, and take the second marked ruffing finesse through the remaining 8 or 9  and claim 12 tricks. (5S, 4C, 1D, 2 C ruffs)

(c) If Clubs are 5-1 and no singleton 8 or 9 appears, take the Diamond finesse.  Note that we now know West started with 2S-4H-5C and therefore just two Diamonds.  The DK will fall under the Ace and yet another ruffing finesse with the 109 through the J gets you your 12^th trick (5S, 2C ruffs, 3D (AQ9) and 2C (A10).

Note that the actual line of play theoretically gave up all hope of a second overtrick, which by playing as recommended is virtually certain. Only if there was a most unlikely bidding error by the opponents would the recommended line fail.

West was completely napping on defense.  When the low Club was led, West should realize that this is the critical juncture of the hand, and take time to reason it all out.  Here is how one might process the information as the West player.   When partner’s Spade J fell, declarer was marked with 5S, and was known to hold 1H.  Therefore, declarer has 7 cards in the minors.  The most important issue is who has the CA.  If partner had it, partner would have tried for game opposite your opener with the Ace of your suit and H-KQ10xx.  So declarer must have the CA.   Now if declarer has the CA, she must also have the CQ.  Otherwise, she has led a Club from A10xx(xx), and low to the singleton J,  an impossiblly silly play.  Place declarer with C-AQ amongst her 7 Minor cards, and no matter what the remaining 5 Minor cards are, declarer has a minimum of 11 tricks (5S, 2D, 2C, 2C ruffs).  Even with a void in Diamonds and 7 Clubs, lacking the  C10, declarer will win the CJ (partner dropping the singleton 10), play the DA, ruff a Diamond,  pitch the Heart on the CA (learning of the bad split), ruff a Club, and ruff another Diamond.  This sets up the Q as declarer’s 11^th trick.  Thus, it cannot lose to take your (CK) bird in the hand, when it was offered.  Both South and West were party to giveaways.

Hand 2 (Gator Bridge).  The bidding was quite poor by the North player.  The 1H call trapped NS from bidding intelligently from that point.

If you play Splinters and Exclusionary Blackwood (as this pair does), a pretty bidding sequence is:

South                                                   North

1C                                                       3S (singeton or void)

4C(nothing else to say)                       4S (Asks for keycards outside of Spades)

5D (2 Keycards, No CQ)                    6C

P

Another possibility:

South                                                   North

1C                                                       2D (Strong Jump Shift)

2S (Suit, Natural)                                3C (Sets trump)

3S (Cue bid, SA or void)                    4C (Roman KC Gerber)

4D (0/3 KC)                                        6C (One is the SA, so a KC is missing)

P

Note the utility of Gerber vs. Blackwood, since if partner has only two Keycards, Backwood takes you beyond 5C, off two Keycards.  When you ask for Keycards, you are just looking for the C-AK.  You already know partner has the SA, but not the HA.  (The 3S call denies the HA and shows the SA).   Note that if partner would have bid 4D or 4H  (one or two keycards respectively), you would sign off at 4NT at matchpoints, not 5C).

The only issue for these two sequences is the possibility that partner opened on a 3 card Club suit.

Critque of the play.

Defensive error.  Note that on the bidding, there is no way for East to have a singleton Heart.  It would be incorrect to lead a Heart, and certainly no error is charged against the trump lead.  But given the actual bidding and play, West erred significantly by ducking the HA.  West knows from the fall of the C10 from partner that declarer has 5C.  From the bidding, declarer has 4S.  And from the delayed Heart raise, declarer has 3H.  Therefore declarer has 1D.  West should visualize at least twelve tricks for South.  These include 1H, 4D (the 13^th will set up with a ruff), 5C, and 2 S ruffs.  If South, as seems likely, has the SA, this will come to 13.  So it cannot gain and may well lose to duck the Heart lead.

Offensive error.  Ironically, with proper play, declarer makes just 6C.  After taking the two trump, declarer should test Diamonds by playing the AKQ, discarding two Hearts.  If someone is kind enough to hold the D-J10 or D-J10x, you have 5D tricks to go along with 1S, 2S ruffs, and 5C (13 in all).  If West started with a singleton DJ or DQ, a doubleton J or Q, or if Diamonds are 4-3, declarer can get 4D tricks, and be able to get rid of all, three Hearts.

On the actual hand, here is the position after South ruffs the 4^th Diamond:

North (Dummy)

S-None

H-KQ95

D-9

C-J4

West                                                                East

S-Q952                                                            S-K1074

H-A73                                                             H-1082

D-None                                                           D-None

C-None                                                           C-None

South(Declarer)

S-AJ86

H-J

D-None

C-A8

Declarer now ruffs a Spade in dummy and plays the D9, pitching the HJ.  The HK is led for a ruffing finesse against East.  If East has the HA, North’s Heart losers are taken care of.  The HQ will win a trick, and the H5 will be ruffed by Declarer, and the H9 is pitched on the SA.  Alas the ruffing finesse fails, and South makes six.  Note that the contract is never risked by this line of play.

The actual declarer, at least in theory, gave up all chances of the overtrick.

Lessons.  At matchpoints, overtricks are important both as declarer and as defender.  Both declarers gave up on very legitimate (certain on the first hand) chances to make risk-free plays for overtricks.  Neither West defender took the time to reason out their defensive play, and thus gave back the kind gift declarer was presenting them.

Shirley Wright watches the North American District 9 Finals

Jon Shuster, Gainesville

Sunday November 5, 2006, Vero Beach, FL.

Shirley: I watched two very interesting and instructive hands from the District 9 Finals of the North American Open Pairs.  See if you can spot any errors on these boards.  Only the NS hands are shown (rotated to make South declarer)

First Board: South deals, NS Vul

North

S-KJ754

H-Q1087

D-83

C-105

South

S-None

H-AK9643

D-9

C-AQJ862

The bidding went

West                North               East                 South

-                       -                       -                       1H

P                      4H                   P                      6H

All Pass

Here is how the play went:

The H5 was led to the H7. HJ and HK.  Declarer next played the H3 the HQ, West throwing a low Diamond as East following with the defense’s last trump.  The C10 was run, losing to West’s K.  A Diamond was returned, won by East for Down 1 (-50 NS).

Second Board:  South Deals, Both Vul.

North

S-J107

H-A4

D-Q3

C-AQ5432

South

S-KQ4

H-K8632

D-A72

C-108

Dlr S, Vul EW

West                North               East                 South

-                       -                       -                       1H

P                      2C                   P                      2NT

P                      3NT                 P                      P

P

West led the D8 (presumably 4^th best), North winning the DQ, and East played the D6 (discouraging).  Declarer led the H4 to the HK (E played the H5 and West the HQ), and led the C10 to the CJ, CQ, and CK.  East made an excellent play of a low Heart to dummy’s A, killing the Club suit.  From here, declarer went down the obvious two tricks, winning  two Spades, two Hearts, two Diamonds, and One Club (-200 NS).

Can you spot any errors?

Solution:

First Board:

Bidding Commentary: There were no bidding errors made.  The 4H bid over 1H is somewhat risky, because it is most unlikely that the opponents have a game in either NT or Spades.  The doubletons in the minors have little offensive value.  But the bid does shut the opponents out of the bidding, and that is always an asset at matchpoints.  In fact, East held:  S-Axxx H-Jx D-AKQxx C-xx, and would probably have overcalled 3D over a 2H raise.  This would have alerted West to lead a Diamond.  The 6H bid is definitely correct.  You clearly have no Heart loser, and so the only possible losers are a Club and a Diamond, and hence. From South’s single dummy viewpoint, the slam is at the very worst on a finesse.  With the stealth auction, the opening lead might easily provide the slam going trick.

Play errors:  Some may argue that the singleton trump lead is wrong from S-Q10xx H-x D-Jxxxx C-Kxx, but I consider this to be a wise lead given the bidding.  Many would have led a Spade giving declarer the twelfth trick.   A Diamond lead from the J could also easily hand declarer a trick when dummy has something like D-Q10 and declarer D-Ax.

Only error: It may seem that the play was normal, but the play of the C10 finesse at trick 3 (after trumps were drawn) was premature, and a serious play error.  The proper play is a low Spade from dummy at trick 3!  In actuality, with East holding the S-A and D-A, a very difficult choice emerges.   Since South did not ask for Aces, East knows that declarer is void in one of Spades.  Does declarer have the actual hand, or could that small Diamond be the SQ?  East gets a chance to guess wrong by this pay and we suspect that a large proportion of real players will judge incorrectly.  The Spade play cannot hurt, as if it fails, dummy is entered in trump for the Club finesse.

Second Board:

Bidding commentary.  No errors were made.

Play errors:  After winning the DQ, declarer made a critical error by playing a Heart to the K at trick two. (A Spade to the Q is also a poor play, but not as bad, as it does not make the Heart entry as vulnerable).

The correct play at trick two is a low Club from dummy.  There are two reasons for this.  (1) If you can hold your Club losers to one trick, the hand is ice cold.  (There is about a one in three chance that West has two or three Clubs to the K.  The initial play of a low Club from dummy never jeopardizes that hope.  But if East has the offside K doubleton (not specifically KJ doubleton), it would be extremely difficult for that player to play low.  In fact, if  declarer indeed has D-Kxx and C-Jx (instead of D-Axx and C-10x), playing low would prove to be a disaster.  Instead of routinely beating this hand, declarer will make two Hearts, one Diamond, and six Clubs.  East’s CK becomes marked, by virtue of the CJ holding.   (2) Curiously, if indeed East played low and the C10 lost to the CJ, the second reason for the critical trick two play becomes clear.  West wins the CJ, and plays a high Diamond (ducked), and (hopefully) another Diamond to the Ace.  Now if East has the SA, and as it appears, fewer than 4 Diamonds, you can afford to lose the second Club to East, but not to West.   So in with the DA, you finesse the CQ and even though East the CK, you cannot lose more than one Spade, one Diamond, and two Clubs.  So the low Club play from the dummy at trick two is quite a gem.

Lesson of the hands:  Do your opponents seem to always make the right play against you?  God players not only make fewer mistakes than others, but they also actively find ways to elicit more errors from their opponents.  So try to place maximum pressure on your opponents when you play or defend, by placing them in the position of having to make more guesses as to what to do.

The Kibitzer is Shirley Wright

Jon Shuster

Shirley Wright is a fictitious character who watches actual bridge hands played at the Gainesville Bridge Clubs and at tournaments in Florida.  Visit www.gainesvillebridge.com under Bridge Tips for many other examples.

Jon: I’ll let Shirley take over.

Shirley:  Today, Tuesday 10/10/06, there were two hands that are interesting from a Matchpoint perspective.  I will let you try to give me a plan, and I will tell you how you do.  Note that overtricks in normal contracts are very important.

Hand 1:  Neither Vul

North

S-843

H-K103

D-9432

C-AK3

South

S-AK62

H-QJ985

D-None

C-J764

North dealt and passed.  South opened 1H in third position, and North bid 2H, a fairly conservative but correct call at matchpoints.  Partner is allowed to open light in third position, and if that happens, getting a plus score is the most critical consideration.

West led the DK.  What is your plan?

Hand 2:  Both Vul:

North

S-QJ83

H-AQ76

D-72

C-AQJ

South

S-None

H-98543

D-AJ653

C-K54

The bidding went as follows:

Table 1:

West                North               East                 South

1D                   Dble                Pass                 1H

Pass                 2H                   Pass                 4H

Pass                 Pass                 Pass

I do not care for South’s 1H bid.  This is an underbid, and South was fortunate to get another bid.  It also allows the opponents to get together more cheaply in Spades.  The correct call is 2H, which shows a good 8 to 11 points, and is non-forcing.  With 12+ South would cue bid 2D.  This hand is worth 11 points.

The DK was led. Solutions:

Hand 1:  If you drew trump, you will make +110, four Heart tricks and your two AK’s.   You have a very important inference on this hand.  Your non-vulnerable opponents were silent, and held 9 Diamonds.  This means the cards should be breaking evenly.

The recommended line of play is to make sure you score your two AK’s plus at least five trump tricks.  Also, while you are ruffing, you don’t want pitches of Black suits, allowing your Black suit winners to get ruffed.

Method 1 (Dummy reverse):  ruff the Diamond, play the S-AK (no ruff will occur, and a Club to the A, ruff a Diamond (your second ruff), play a Club to the K and ruff a third Diamond (the only overruff that could occur is the A).  At this point, you have won the first 7 tricks, and are down to:

North

S-8

H-K103

D-9

C-3

South

S-62

H-QJ

D-None

C-J7

Play the CJ, and if the opponents fail to play the HA and another Heart, you will actually three more tricks for a total of 10.  Against most defenders at this club, you would come home with 10 tricks.

The declarer I witnessed made only eight tricks when trumps were drawn at trick 2, and the defender smartly played a second trump after winning the first with the Ace. Now declarer could not score more than four trump tricks.

Line 2:  It is acceptable to try to ruff a black card or two in dummy.  So you might cash your 4 Black winners at tricks 2-5, and concede a Club.  This line gives the opponents two chances to play the A and another Heart to hold you to three, so Line 1 is seen as superior. Hand 2:

Preamble (South’s proper analysis):  Most defenders would prefer to lead from the S-AK to D-KQ10 if they had that, to look at the dummy, before deciding how to continue.  Maybe partner has a doubleton spade.  So you should be quite certain that the Spade honors are divided.  How does that information help?  West opened the bidding, and there are a total of 24 HCP between you and dummy, and East has a Spade honor (say the K).  So that leaves only 13 possible points tops for West.  Ergo, West must have the HK.  Now East passed the double with a Spade honor.  Certainly, if East held 6 Spades to the K, she would have bid 1S over the double.  So Spades must be 5-4.  That is wonderful news.  Can you ruff Diamonds in dummy?  That is scary, because East will also be short in Diamonds.  But ruffing Spades in your hand is safe.

Here is the plan (Another dummy reversal) :  You can ruff four Spades in your hand.  That will give you at least 7 trump tricks plus three Clubs and a Diamond (11 in all).

So at trick 2, you lead a trump to the dummy planning to finesse.  This will be your only trump pull.  In actuality, West plays the K, and you win the A,  (Playing the HQ next, hoping the K is doubleton is acceptable, but not the kind of play greedy practical Matchpoint players should adopt).  Now you will ruff a Spade, and enter dummy three more times in Clubs to ruff Spades.  You have won the first 9 tricks,  two Hearts are outstanding, and the situation is with South to lead:

North

S-

H-Q76

D-7

C-

South

S-

H-

D-J653

C-

When you lead a Diamond to West, you will ruff whatever West returns, and East will score a trump trick, but you will score two more tricks for a total of eleven.

Actual Play:

The actual declarer won the opening Diamond lead, played a Club to the J, and a Diamond toward her hand (East sluffing a Club), won by West with East showing out.  West led a third Diamond (the 10, a suit preference for Spades), and declarer ruffed with the HQ, ending all prospects for five.  Interestingly, ruffing with the HQ was declarer’s second major mistake.  Had declarer just pitched a Spade, East ruffs with her Heart winner, and declarer can ruff the two remaining Diamond losers after trump were drawn.  Again declarer gets 7 trump tricks and 4 side winners!  A better play than the third round of Diamonds by West would have been to exit with a Club (preferably) or Heart.  This would hold declarer to ten tricks with proper defense from here.

South made yet another blunder when after ruffing third Diamond with the HQ, cashed  the HA, thereby ceding trump control.  (Add the trick with the HA to the diagram, and let declarer ruff a Spade and ruff a Diamond.  East can overruff, and return a trump, but declarer is in complete control, with only one round of Hearts ever pulled.  From here, proper defense actually sets the hand.     So declarer wound up making 10 tricks, thanks to a defensive error by East!

Here is the situation, after the HA was cashed,  with the lead in dummy, with South needing 6 of the last 8 tricks to make 4H.

North

S-QJ83

H-76

D-

C-AQ

West                                                                East

S-A1064                                                          S-K9752

H-                                                                    H-J10

D-Q9                                                               D-

C-109                                                              C-3

South

S-None

H-9854

D-J6

C-K5

In the actual play, declarer cashed the CA and overtook the Q with the K, (East pitching a Spade), and ruffed a Diamond, overruffed by East.  Instead of playing the trump J at this point for a sure set, East contributed yet another error by trying to give her partner the setting trick in Spades. (If EW had a Spade trick, it was not going anywhere.)  All together, West, South, and East contributed 6 errors.

 

 

Lessons: (1) In any suit contract with 3+ trump in each hand, mentally sit in both chairs and decide which hand to set up, or whether to execute a crossruff.  It is easy to count your potential tricks for each of the strategies and adopt the one with the greatest expectation.

(2) It is often possible to recover from errors.  This hand was a case in point, where declarer after making the first error, could have completely recovered, but for a second one.