Friday evening April 13, 2007

The hand was played in four hearts making 5 and 6; six hearts down 1, six hearts making 6 and the Bernie Slam, capturing all the tricks. The play is straightforward; finesse the spade and play for the drop. Thank you very much; 7 spades, four diamonds and two outside aces for 1010 and a top board. I'm not sure how hearts goes down, even with a diamond lead; win on the board, heart finesse, ace of trumps, give a trump; six hearts, four diamonds and two outside aces.

Monday afternoon April 9, 2007

Nobody got to the slam because nobody opened with 2S. The bidding above is representative of what could have been bid. North's stop at 2NT to check for South's feature is really not required. It makes 7 spades as well; with West's queen of hearts lead, two rounds of clubs and a cautious third round. When East plays the jack, a low ruff is safe. Ruff a heart, a spade back to declarer followed by a high ruff of a heart. One more round of spades pulls trump, followed by the ace of diamonds and the queen of clubs. Thirteen tricks. 6NT also makes against any lead.

Friday evening April 13, 2007

If you notice the--we won't say "older"--players who constantly win, place or show; they always look to find a way to 3NT. Watch them play party bridge and they're the ones who are racking vulnerable games while their opponents are lounging in 2H or 3D. On this hand, one North played the hand in 1 heart making 2 while two other teams played in 2 diamonds, one making, one going down one; meanwhile both Helen and Peggy brought good 'ol 2NT out of the closet, forcing to 3NT. There is no lead that sets 3NT.

Friday evening April 13, 2007

Both John/Mac and Paul/Lanell bid and made the contract this evening. The above is the brute force non-negotiable method. A better bidding sequence would be a 2C opener with East's hand followed by a positive 2NT bid by partner, then 3S and 4NT by responder. After the 5H bid, this allows responder to place the contract in 6NT, the best place and assume control. North would probably still lead the ace of clubs, leaving EW with 7 spades, two hearts, three diamonds and three more clubs for 15 tricks!

Friday evening April 13, 2007

Unfortunately, this bidding did not actually take place at a bridge table, at least not at ours. Everyone stopped at four hearts, one at five--all making 6 and 7. East's 5C bid is a control cuebid, as is West's 5 diamond bid. East knows that partner has an opening bid (3D over 1NT) and has the ace of diamonds; leaving the ace of spades in the defender's hands. Six hearts is a risky, but decent gamble. Furthermore, it's OK to get lucky once in a while!

Monday afternoon April 9, 2007

This is yet another example of WHY BRIDGE IS SO MUCH FUN! 1NT was bid and made by South and East, while it went down 2 once by East, and makes 4S as pictured above. 1NT played in the south gets a low spade lead to the ace and a high spade back (preserving the 5 to return to partner's piddly winners. Eight tricks are had for a top board. EW, not playing transfers or Stayman gets to an enthusiastic 4 spade contract. Playing the old fashioned way, a 1NT-2S bid should be passed by the 1NT opener, but in this case East plowed ahead right to game, losing only two hearts and a spade; the diamonds ruffed in hand, the clubs ruffed in dummy.