Tuesday morning January 1, 2008

Lead: king of hearts

This is an excellent example of competitive bidding. Three hearts can make with a little luck, two certainly can be made for +110. This is a case where it's better to take inferior cards one trick past the Peter Principle and go down one or two (-100).

Tuesday morning January 1, 2008

Lead: three of clubs

What would you do with West's hand after partner overcalls 2NT? Pass or transfer to hearts? I transferred Linda to hearts after her 2NT overcall and she made 3 for 140. One East overcalled 1NT which was passed around, making three for 150.

Tuesday morning January 1, 2008

Lead: three of spades.

Playing Inverted Minors East finds herself in a bind on the first round of bidding, needing five in the suit in order to jump to 3D directly. West's re-bid however shows a six-card suit and values, probably shortness in spades; a game try would not be unreasonable as above. Unfortunately none of the Wests playing this hand got there; in fact, the high board was 2H making 5! Clearly, playing this hand in hearts was aided by being played in a church.

Tuesday morning January 1, 2008

Lead: jack of diamonds.

What fun! Playing "Steps" over a 2C opener, West responds 2H showing 5-8 HCP. East's 2NT bid shows NT balance and 22+ points, in this case 24. West smiles to himself as he "transfers" hearts with the 3D bid, showing partner a real heart suit. East, having more points than she's seen in several years, watches as partner asks for aces then makes the slam after finessing the spade at the end, losing only a club in the process.

Tuesday morning January 1, 2008

Lead: ten of diamonds.

This hand is not a demo of scientific or even good bidding. If South had a singleton diamond it would have offered a perfect 4D splinter; 3S doesn't show the strength of the hand, so South went the slow route with two clubs. North shows a six-card suit with the spade rebid and South is back on the hot seat. A four-heart quebid is in order which would be followed by North asking for aces.

The diamond lead was most fortunate; in fact it made the contract. In this case a heart was returned to the board and a spade led; North's ace taking the queen. Back to the board with a heart in order to lead another trump; West gets his king but that's it.

Tuesday morning January 1, 2008

Lead: five of diamonds

Should'a could'a. This is the way the bidding should have gone with slams available in hearts, clubs and NT. East shows a six-card suit in clubs. West knows the team has at least one runnable suit, six tricks in hand. When East shows support for hearts and two aces, West knows the team should have six hearts, six clubs and two additional aces plus the king of spades, or roughly fifteen tricks. In reality the team has seven clubs, six hearts, a diamond and two spades, or sixteen tricks!

Saturday morning January 5, 2008

Neither East or West could step up to the plate to support each other's minor suit opening, leaving the door open for North to waltz in with a very weakish 2H bid and steal the contract. The culprit is East who, after observing his partner's overcall, should accept clubs as the trump suit even though her diamond suit is better. North loses two hearts, two diamond and a club on the way to 110 points. Three clubs goes down 1 for 100 NS. Any wussy NS that can't bid 2H or 2S on this hand deserves the low board they get when 2C makes 2. One racy EW pair ventured out to 3NT and went down only 1. The proper play against East's 3NT is to lead away from the AK of spades, allowing East to get her spade trick Banging down the AK of spades gets the defense only two tricks because North will be blocked; if North unblocks then the nine is promoted and South never gets to win with the peeps.

Saturday morning January 5, 2008

Lead: nine of clubs.

Add: sound of chickens cluck-clucking at the two Norths who didn't go to three clubs over 2H. Three clubs makes 4 all day long. EW loses two spades, a heart and two clubs, easing into 110 points while NS should be putting up 130 points with no problem. Neither side was vulnerable. Going down 1 at three clubs is better than letting EW sneak away with 110. This is the kind of simple hand that separates a 45% game from a 55% game. Clearly the Big Dog in this hand is North although the goat could be South if she doesn't say SOMETHING on her first bid. She's at the 1-level and needs to contribute. The 1NT bid says she's got 6 points, some support in clubs and a stopper in hearts. This should encourage North to continue with clubs to the three level, even though she only has five.

Saturday morning January 5, 2008

Lead: ace of clubs

I love hands like this. As did the East in this auction, two other Easts jumped to 3C even though South opened with 1C--I guess figuring "could be short". Vulnerable East was punished, losing two spades, two diamonds, a heart and with careful play two trumps; one on a spade ruff, the other naturally to the king. North's diamond bid is reasonable, a "pick'em partner" bid. South could have also guessed at 3NT with West's inactivity and would have scampered home with five diamonds, three spades, a club and maybe a heart for 430.

Saturday morning January 5, 2008

Lead: king of hearts.

All five NS teams missed a 9-spade fit. I think I'd overcall East's 1H with 1S on the first round, even vulnerable. North loses a club and a spade for 150+. He could have had 650 in spades, losing the same club and spade. Two NSs allowed EW to stop at 2H, making 2 for 110 and a top; a third NS allowed EW to stop at 2D, also making 2 for 90.