Saturday, March 29, 2008

Silver Points

I played a lot this week because it was STaC week, and I wanted some more silver points. I only managed about three altogether, and no session was big enough to register on the city-wide scoring, so overall I have to say it was a disappointing result. Still, I had a couple of three-session days at the Manhattan, playing 66 boards total each day (24, 18 and 24), so that was nice. I haven’t played that much in one day since Gold Cup days back in England, and they were about thirty five years ago! Actually it wasn’t bad, although I was definitely tired by the end of the day. Maybe I would have achieved better results by spreading the sessions over more days, but there are downsides to that too – I get more grief at home the more days I’m out. I really have to start working out. Mens sana in corpore sano, and all that, and better stamina too.

I didn’t notice too many hands I would want to blog about either.

E-W game, dlr S (rotated)

              ♠ 10 3
              ♥ A 8 6 4
              ♦ A K 5
              ♣ 5 4 3 2
♠ K J                        ♠ Q 9 8 7 5 4 2
♥ 10 5           [ ]         ♥ 9 7
♦ J 10                       ♦ Q 8 7 3
♣ A J 10 9 8 7 6             ♣ -
              ♠ A 6
              ♥ K Q J 3 2
              ♦ 9 6 4 2
              ♣ K Q

1♥    2♣    3♣    pass
4♥    All pass

This seemed straightforward enough at first. The auction was simple enough, with the unassuming cue-bid as a limit+ raise. The ♣A opening lead didn’t promise any difficulties, and the first view of dummy seemed to show an appropriate number of losers and winners. That picture changed when East discarded at trick one, because the defence was too obvious: ♣A, ♣ ruff, ♠ switch. And suddenly I have four losers, because even if the diamonds break 3-3, they have a spade to cash when they win the third diamond.

Fortunately, there is just one reasonable line of play, and it works. Win the ♠A and draw trumps in two rounds – you need them 2-2. Eliminate the clubs by ruffing, and cash both top diamonds. Finally, exit with the spade loser, and hope that West is winning the trick. He had indeed failed to drop the ♠K under the ♠A, and found himself forced to give a ruff and discard. Dummy’s third diamond went away as I ruffed in hand with my last trump, for the tenth winner.

Very simple, but I wanted to mention it because it’s a long time since I’ve had a throw-in that didn’t involve any sort of tenace.

This one gets a mention because the Losing Trick Count got us to the game, and not many people bid it.

Game all, dlr N

             ♠ Q J 5 3 2
             ♥ K 9 6 4
             ♦ 5 2
             ♣ 10 7
♠ A K 9                     ♠ 8
♥ 2            [ ]          ♥ Q J 8 7 5 3
♦ J 10 6 4                  ♦ Q 7
♣ K 9 8 5 2                 ♣ Q J 6 4
             ♠ 10 7 6 4
             ♥ A 10
             ♦ A K 9 8 3
             ♣ A 3

1♦   Pass   1♠   Pass
3♠   Pass   4♠   All pass

South’s raise to 3♠ is perhaps a bit aggressive. But there are only 6 losers, and the controls are impressive. My raise to four spades looked outrageous when I counted points – 6 isn’t very many. But there are only 8 losers, and there should be a 9-card trump fit. So 4♠ has to be the bid, if partner can bid 3♠.

I jumped up with the ♥A on the opening lead, and returned the ♥10 towards the ♥K. If West ruffs, I can later discard dummy’s club loser on the ♥K. Instead he discarded, so I won, crossed with a diamond and led a spade towards the ♠QJ. There was no way for the defence to make more than three tricks after that. West tried the effect of drawing three rounds of trumps, but I used my two spades in hand to ruff diamonds, establishing the ♦3 as the tenth trick.

I don’t know how to generate a sensible bidding sequence on this beast.

N-S Game, dlr E

                 ♠ 9 2
                 ♥ Q 10 6 5 2
                 ♦ K J 10 3 2
                 ♣ 9
♠ -                            ♠ A 10 8 7 6 5 3
♥ A 8 3            [ ]         ♥ K J 9 7
♦ 9 8                          ♦ Q 5
♣ A K J 10 5 4 3 2             ♣ -
                 ♠ K Q J 4
                 ♥ 4
                 ♦ A 7 6 4
                 ♣ Q 8 7 6

1♠   Pass 2♣   Pass
2♥   Pass 4NT  Pass
5♥   Pass 6♣   All pass

Not a good auction, demonstrating that Blackwood and voids don’t go together well. But it’s hard to come up with any positive result. The best efforts seem to manage to stop at 5♣, and only go one down.

It seems ridiculous to do other than open 1♠ with East’s hand, and that is enough to keep South out of the auction. So then what do you do with that West hand? You have 8, likely 9, tricks in your own hand, and partner has opened. Can you envisage that there is no game available? Nothing makes.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Reverses

Reverses are very simple bidding sequences that seem to give a lot of beginners (and even intermediates) fits, for no good reason.

In standard bidding in the US and UK, we bid our longer suits first, and rebid a second suit later if that seems advisable. Generally speaking, with a balanced hand we will bid no-trumps at the first convenient opportunity. So after a bidding sequence like
1D – 1S; 2C (opponents silent)
responder can infer that opener has an unbalanced hand that includes at least five diamonds and at least four clubs. Now, suppose responder has a weak hand. What is the weakest action he can take? Obviously, if he clearly prefers clubs to diamonds, he can pass. But much of the time, he will like diamonds equally as well as clubs, or will have some holding like two small diamonds and three small clubs, in which case opener would be much happier in his 5-2 diamond fit rather than the 4-3 club fit. So most of the time, responder will return to opener’s first (and therefore longer) suit when he is weak. In the above example, he will bid 2D.

Now what if the bidding starts instead with
1D – 1S; 2H
What is the same, and what is different? Actually, everything discussed above is still true. Opener has an unbalanced hand that includes at least five diamonds and at least four hearts (this time). When weak, responder will usually return to opener’s first suit, diamonds. The difference is that this time, the lowest level will be a bid of 3D. If that is to be a reasonable contract when responder is very weak, then obviously, opener must have something more than a minimum opening. This sort of sequence is called a reverse – where opener bids two suits and forces responder to the three-level if he wants to get back to the first suit. In the UK, opener would be showing about 16+ hcp when he bid like this. In the US, people typically expect even more, 17-18+ hcp.

The situation should be compared to the sequence
1H – 2D; 3C
As with our reverse, no jumping is involved, but responder has still been pushed up to the three-level. In standard bidding, opener would still need extra strength to do this, and in fact, this sort of sequence used to be called a “high reverse”. Playing 2-over-1 game forcing, you can play this as merely bidding out your shape, and not showing extra strength. This is possible because responder has promised extra strength with his first response, so the three-level should be safe even if opener is minimum.

A style I like to play is to use five-card majors with 1NT response forcing, but with 2-over-1 responses not absolutely forcing to game. In this style, since the 2-over-1 responses are “meaty but not game-forcing”, a high reverse should be better than a minimum, but need not be a rock-crusher as in Standard American. I therefore like to play all reverses at about the British level, 16+ hcp.

You may ask why call it a “reverse”? What is backwards? The answer is: nothing that I can see. I think the name came from the thought that if you bid the higher-ranking suit first, you can get the suits in at the two-level. If you reverse the order, you force responder to the three-level. But which suit you choose to bid doesn’t actually have anything to do with its rank. As I started out saying, we bid the longer suit first.

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Misfits

I had a pretty good night at the Manhattan, but there were some brutal hands about.

E-W game, dlr W

            ♠ K Q 10 8 6 3
             -
             9
            ♣ Q J 9 8 7 3
♠ J 4 2                 ♠ A 9 7
J 5 2       [ ]        Q 10 6 4 3
A K Q 6               7 3
♣ A 5 4     ♠ 5         ♣ K 6 2
             A K 9 8 7
             J 10 8 5 4 2
            ♣ 10

This was our worst board of the evening. The auction is too embarrassing to repeat, but it should be sufficient to say that, sitting North, I finished up in 5♠ doubled, sacrificing over their hearts. Needless to say, dummy was greeted with a fair amount of hilarity, which I could appreciate but apparently my partner could not. I went three down, only avoiding a complete zero because one E-W pair actually bid and made 3NT for +600 (I don’t see how, but that’s what it said on the traveler). On a heart lead (not completely ridiculous, since they had bid and supported hearts), I would only be one down (pitch 9 on theA and play a spade to the ♠10). But East was smart enough to lead a trump (knowing I had a two-suiter and that South had given preference), and with the AK visible, hearts were never led at all. Most people were going down in some contract or other, but nobody else was crazy enough to venture to the five level, and a lot of the time it was E-W going down. Oh well.

This one featured an optimistic opponent “stepping in it”.

Game all, dlr W

             ♠ Q J 6 4
              10 3
              K 8 7 6 3 2
             ♣ 6
♠ A 8                    ♠ K 9 7 5 3
J 8 7 4      [ ]        A 9 5 2
A Q J 10 9 5           -
♣ 5          ♠ 10 2      ♣ 8 7 4 3
              K Q 6
              4
             ♣ A K Q J 10 9 2

1   Pass   1♠    2♣
4   Double All pass

Even before I saw his hand, I was impressed with my partner’s cool pass over the double. Some players might wonder if their solid club suit might not be much more useful on offence than in defence. My guy never flinched.

I started with my singleton club, and on the second round over-ruffed declarer’s5 with my 6. The 10 came next, and declarer rose with A to play another club, ruffing with the9 as I discarded. From that point, he had no chance of making more than his trumps and top winners, for down three. 800 was a top shared with one other pair.

The one slam board we played, we missed it with a typically crude auction.

Game all, dlr W

           ♠ A
            J 5
            K 8 7 5 2
           ♣ A Q J 7 2
♠ 10 7 6 4 3 2          ♠ Q J 8 5
4 3        [ ]         K 9 7 6
10 4                   J 9
♣ K 9 6    ♠ K 9        ♣ 10 8 4
            A Q 10 8 2
            A Q 6 3
           ♣ 5 3

1  Pass 1♥  Pass
2♣  Pass 3NT All pass

I know it was matchpoints, but I think South is just too good to not even think about 6. (Not to mention that he had no clue whether 3NT was anything like a decent contract). He only has five losers on the LTC, and he knows we have (at least) a nine-card fit. I hesitated before passing over 3NT, sure in my bones that he had just fixed us, but I had no real justification for bidding on. Playing with agent 99, I would hope for something a bit more classy and optimistic, along these lines.

1♦     Pass 1♥     Pass
2♣     Pass 2♠ (a) Pass
3♣     Pass 4♦     Pass
4 (b) Pass 5 (c) Pass
5 (d) Pass 5♠ (e) Pass
6♣ (f) Pass 6 (g) All pass

a) 4th suit forcing
b) Redwood 1430
c) 2 +Q
d) Specific king ask
e) ♠K
f) Do you have the ♣K also?
g) With either the ♣K or a solid heart suit that would be a source of tricks, South could bid 7. Since he has neither, South signs off in 6.

Actually, agent 99 isn’t quite up to speed on 1430 yet, but we’re working on it.

Saturday, March 1, 2008

Simple squeezes

I have enjoyed squeezes from the first time I ever managed to play one. That was a simple squeeze needed to make a slam, and I think that scenario is the one that still gives me the most pleasure, so many years later. Of course, I have some unfulfilled ambitions these days - I’ve never yet managed to play a backwash squeeze, or even an ordinary squeeze with a losing squeeze card. But simple squeezes and strip-squeezes are the most common forms, and my feeble faculties can still pick them out. I’m amazed that some people can be quite familiar with the game and yet remain completely ignorant of squeeze play.

Case in point:

Game all, dlr N, IMP pairs

♠ K Q 7
A
A Q 10 7 5
♣ A 9 7 3

[ ]

♠ A 9 5 3
K J
K J 9 4
♣ K 10 8

1  Pass  1♠  Pass
3♣  Pass  4NT Pass
5♦  Pass  5  Pass
5♠  Pass  7  All Pass

6 led.

I was playing with a total stranger (this was our second hand together) on OKBridge, but one who was higher rated than me on OKB’s scale. We had agreed to play 1430, and with no suit explicitly agreed, I figured my 4NT would refer to clubs, and that therefore his 5♠ response to the Q-ask would show both the Q♣ and the K♠. At that point I could have bid 7NT, but I thought that 7 might be a shade safer, and that either grand would be a good score at IMPs. It never dawned on me my partner would misplay the hand, and yet he did, outrageously. He simply cashed his winners, which is actually the winning plan. But instead of discarding a club on the last trump before cashing dummy’s tricks, he saved the trump and used it to ruff the fourth round of spades. After he went quietly one down, and saw that several people had made 7 and several more 7NT, his first comment was that “some people made it” but his “3♣ bid had told the defence what to keep”. Obviously, he had never heard of a squeeze, and assumed that the only way to make was a defensive error. I was speechless. It may seem against the odds, but in fact West did hold four spades and the QJ♣. No preparatory work was necessary – just cash all your winners, and don’t throw that fourth spade away, and the contract falls into your lap. And the most frustrating part of the debacle was that there was nothing in the hand that needed a trump. I could have bid 7NT and had just as much chance of making as that palooka had in 7 - and I would indeed have made it.

Some measure of emotional compensation was achieved the following night at the Manhattan.

Game all, dlr N

              ♠ Q 9 5 2
               A K 8 4
               K 5 3
♠ 10 7        ♣ A K         ♠ J 6 4 3
J 10 7 6 2                 9 5
8 7           [ ]          Q 10 6 4
♣ Q 10 9 5                  ♣ J 8 6
              ♠ A K 8
               Q 3
               A J 9 2
              ♣ 7 4 3 2

1  3NT
6NT All pass

My partner (a regular partner, but not agent 99) had just misplayed a hand, and I wasn’t feeling too charitable when he opened 1. This explains the peremptory jump to 3NT, rather than a careful exploration via an inverted raise, which would almost certainly make him the declarer again. He took me at my word and put me straight into slam.

The opening 6 lead (again!) went to the 9 and Q. A quick count revealed 10 tricks, with an 11th very likely from diamonds and lots of chances for a twelfth, so my first move was a diamond to the K, and a finesse of the J. That won, but I noticed a high-low signal on my left, and decided that the Q and 10 remained on my right. I had noticed that the rule of 11 indicated that a deep finesse of the 8 should win, so I tried the 3 next, but West was careful to insert the 10, so I won the A and took stock.

At this point I have eleven tricks. The 8 is a menace against West and the 9 is a menace against East, spades may break, or may be longer in one hand, and there is a club menace against both. But I haven’t yet rectified the count, and the only way for a double squeeze to work is if I duck a club – which is impossible! - or a spade, which will throw away what might be my best chance to make or completely screw up my communications. So instead I must decide on a simple squeeze, and lose a trick to make that work. With West having five hearts and East having four diamonds, I decided that if anyone had four spades, it was fractionally more likely to be East. In that case, the answer was to lose a heart trick, so I now led the 8, discarding a club from hand. West won and returned a club, but the stage was set. Three rounds of spades revealed the 4-2 split. The A♣ and the K reduced everyone to two cards. On the table was the 9♠ and 5, in hand I held the A and 9. East was left to find a discard from ♠J Q 10.

Two or three other people bid to 6NT, but no-one else made it - a refreshing turn-about from the night before.