Shirley Watches the Unit Swiss
.The Kibitzer is Shirley Wright
Shirley watches the Unit SWISS (5/22/05)
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.
Shirley: Going into the last round, two teams were exactly tied, and since they had already played each other, they played other teams. Every single IMP was potentially the difference between winning and coming in second. So bear that in mind as you watch what unfolded at the tables I witnessed. 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.
East deals, with both sides vulnerable
North
S-Q65
H-Q82
D-J953
C-1064
West East
S-10843 S-97
H-A109 H-J75
D-Q1062 D-84
C-52 C-AQJ973
South
S-AKJ2
H-K643
D-AK7
C-K8
The bidding was identical at both tables.
West North East South
- - 3C Dble
P 3D P 3NT
P P P
The play went as follows at both tables for the first eight tricks:
West led the C5 to the 4. 9, and K. Declarer ran four Spades, East pitching two Diamonds. Declarer now played the D-AK (West showing count with the 6 then 2, and played a third Diamond to West’s Q. On these, East threw all three Hearts.
Table 1: At trick 9, West exited with the H10, run to South’s K, and when South led back a Heart, West won with the HA, and returned a Club to East, who took the rest of the tricks for down 1. (+100 EW)
Table 2: At trick 9, West played a Club to East, who claimed the last five tricks, for down two (+200 EW). So the team NS at Table 1, EW at Table 2 had a net plus of 100, for three IMPs.
Can you find all of the errors in bidding, play, and defense?
Solution:
There were no bidding errors. The vulnerable preempt with only a six card Club suit is acceptable, but pass is equally acceptable. Both South’s did well to double, rather than bid 3NT directly, as a game in a 4-4 major looks more promising than 3NT. Once North correctly bid 3D, South has no alternative to 3NT.
Here is a synopsis of the errors.
The most obvious error occurred at Table 1, where at trick 9, West exited in Hearts rather than the obvious Club. This cost an undertrick, and as we shall see next, should have led to a huge swing if South had only been on his toes and not greedy.
Let us hear Table 1 South’s sob story to see if we buy in! “It was obvious to me that West was out of Clubs when she failed to return one at trick 9. Since the victory point situation was so close for us, I decided to take the “sure overtrick” by ducking the Heart to my K and making the HQ and DJ as my 9th and 10th tricks.”
In theory, I would agree with South’s reasoning, but South was clearly asleep at the switch. South had seen no Club pitches from either opponent, so at trick 9, (5 cards to go), East had room for only 5 of the 6 outstanding Clubs! West had to hold one Club!
So the correct play when West exited with the H10 was to rise with the HQ and cash the DJ to make 9 tricks (4S, 1H, 3D, 1C) and +600. The error cost 700 points, and gets absolutely no sympathy from me.
The most interesting error occurred at both tables and that was East’s discarding. East had an opportunity to make sure the hand would be set whenever the hand was not ice cold.
Here is the correct position for East, filling in what was known, when the second top Diamond is led: The ? in () represents the knowledge that West has either a fourth Heart or a second Club but not both.
North
S-
H-Q82
D-J9
C-10
West East
S- S-
H-???(?) H-J7
D-Q10 D-
C-(?) C-AQJ7
South
S-
H-??? (?)
D-7
C-8?
From East’s vantage point, there are 3 key cards: The C2 (East cannot have the 8, since it would be led from 85), and the H-AK. If South has any two of these cards, the hand is cold. If West has all three of these cards, the hand is certainly set. If West has the C2 and one of the Heart honors, the hand is also certainly set. But what if West has the H-AK and no more Clubs. In that case, East must keep both remaining Hearts to ensure a set. Watch what unfolds if this is the holding:
North
S-
H-Q82
D-J9
C-10
West East
S- S-
H-AKxx H-J7
D-Q10 D-
C- C-AQJ7
South
S-
H-10xx
D-7
C-82
On the third Diamond, West wins, as you throw a CLUB, and West exits with another Diamond, on which you throw yet another Club, to keep H-J7 C-AQ. North exits with the HQ (best), West wins the K, and returns a low Heart for you to claim the last three tricks (5 total: 2H, 1D, 2C). If you had kept just the HJ alone or a void in Hearts, the HQ exit (best) endplays West to give up a Heart for Declarer’s 9th trick.
East should not have relied on West to hold a second Club, even though it costs an undertrick on this hand. It would have been a complete disaster if West indeed had been dealt AKxx of Hearts and a singleton Club and your opponents make 3NT vulnerable with 17 points facing 5.
Lessons: (1) For declarer: Opponents do silly things. Don’t let opponents actions or inactions distract you from counting out the hand. Unimpeachable evidence should trump logical inference; (2) Good defense requires catering to a wider array of holdings. The actual East at both tables placed all their eggs in the basket that assumed West held another Club, risking a huge loss for a small gain. Luckily for them, their error was not punished.