Shirley Watches a STAC game
The Kibitzer is Shirley Wright
Shirley watches a STAC Game
By 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 http://www.gainesvillebridge.com/ under Bridge Tips for many other examples. Kirk Becker does an excellent job as Webmaster.
Jon: Shirley observed play in the Sectional Tournament at Clubs at the Gator Bridge Club on Tuesday, February 8, 2005. She watched Board 13, and I will let her describe things in her own words.
Shirley: Your job, like in the comics where you are asked to find all the differences between two drawings, is to locate all of the errors in the hand, before I tell you what they are in the solution. Remember my name, cause I’m Shirley Wright (no relation to Denny Crane.)
North deals, with both sides vulnerable
North
S-AK97652
H-8
D-K95
C-84
West East
S-3 S-QJ104
H-A109 H-K7542
D-AQJ1064 D-73
C-AK5 C-J10
South
S-8
H-QJ63
D-82
C-Q97632
West North East South
- 1S P 1NT(1)
Dble 2S 3H P
4D P P P
- (1) Forcing
The play went as follows:
North led the SA (A from AK), and led a low Spade, ruffed by South and overruffed by declarer (West). Declarer played two top Clubs and led a third. North ruffed with the D9, and a Heart was pitched from dummy. North now led the Heart 8 to the J and A. Declarer next played the Heart 10, North pitching a Spade, and dummy winning the K. Declarer led a Diamond and finessed the 10 losing to the K. North played the SK and South eventually won a Heart, for down 1. The defense scored 1S, 1H, 1D, and 1C ruff.
Result: Although 4H can and probably should be made, -100 (4D-1) was a fairly normal result, a bit below average.
Can you find all of the errors in bidding, play, and defense?
Solution:
Cards may help follow this.
There were three errors (four actually, but I am forgiving on that one!).
(E1) West’s 4D call: This is enhanced by the fact that this EW pair plays responsive doubles, so the 3H call promised a 5 card Heart suit, making 4H the clear choice. Even if you do not play responsive doubles, think about this: Partner did not have to enter the bidding. North probably has 11 HCP (perhaps more) and 6 Spades. South probably has 5 HCP (perhaps more) and two Spades. So partner at most 6 HCP, probably has 4 Spades, and despite the comfort defending Spades, voluntarily entered the bidding at 3H. Is it logical that it shows a mere 4 card suit? So 4H is the call of choice.
(I won’t charge West with an error for this, but the best line of play after overruffing the Spade at trick 2, is to play the DA followed by the DQ. This is in fact a 100% safety play if we assume North has a legitimate 1S opener. See details below.) If we place the DK in the North hand, the plan to ruff a Club has slightly better than a 75% chance of making against proper defense.
(E2) The return of the Heart 8 by North was an error that should have led to the contract making. North deserves a pat on the back for leading a low Spade at trick 2, which is the only play that gives declarer any problem. Most players would have led the Heart 8 at trick 2. But only a Spade exit at trick 6 defeats the hand at this point. (A trump exit allows dummy to win the D7 and run the SQ, with South out of trump.)
(E3) The play of the H10 after declarer won the HA was a costly error. The North hand is an open book at this point. Declarer just has to count. North is known to hold 7 Spades to the AK (South ruffed the second Spade), 2 Clubs, the D9, and the H8. Eleven cards are accounted for. To get enough points for a 1 level opener, you have to assign the DK to North. (The only other missing honor is the HQ, and without the DK, surely North opens 3S with 9 points and 7 Spades.) Hence, the only unknown is whether North’s remaining card is a Diamond or a Heart. So when in with the HA, declarer must lay down the DA (the K may drop for an easy 10 tricks). But when the K does not drop, the DQ is played and North wins the K, but is down to only Spades. The forced Spade lead sets up the Q for a parking place for the Heart loser. (Review of E2: If South gets to ruff two Spades after North leads the Ace, dummy is down to the Q singleton, so no endplay develops. When in with the DK, North can lead the SK and South gets a Heart trick.)
Lesson for West: (1) Trust your partner in the bidding; (2) Count the hands, both for points and tricks; (3) Your opponents bidding can help you bid and play hands.
Best line of play:
After overruffing at trick 2, you place North with 7S to the AK and the DK. Without the DK, North would probably preempt, rather than open 1S. So you now play the DA (if the DK drops, you will be trying to make an overtrick.)
If North has the DK and at least one other Diamond, your two rounds of trump extract South’s last trump (South has already used one.) North must exit with a red card to avoid immediately handing you your 10th trick. Either way, West wins in hand, draws the remaining trump, and if not already played, takes the Heart A. If a third Diamond is needed to be played, a Heart is pitched from dummy. Next the H10 is played. (a) If North follows, duck. Hearts are either 3-2 or if North started with four (7S-4H-2D-0C), the proven Club finesse can be taken when Dummy gains the lead with the HK. (b) If North shows out on the second Heart, win in dummy and lead the SQ, pitching the losing Heart. North, holding no more red cards, is endplayed, and must hand you your 10th trick in a Black suit.
It is a bit more interesting when North holds K98x of Diamonds. When pulling trump, you would pitch two Hearts from dummy, even though it looks wrong. This leaves North with only two cards in Clubs and Hearts combined, so the two AK’s ending in dummy will leave North with nothing but Spades. Now the SQ, pitching a Heart, again leads you to 10 tricks.
Advanced footnote: If indeed South has the unlikely DK, then North needs at least QJx or QJxx of Hearts to justify the opener of 1S. In the former case, with Hearts 3-2, 10 easy tricks are there. In the latter, when you duck a Heart and win the second Heart with the Ace, North gets squeezed in the majors as you run your trump and Clubs. North will have to discard from S-K H-Qx in front of Dummy (East): S-Q H-Kx.