There are some hands that make a mockery of bidding systems. How about this hand?

The first question that one might ask is ‘do EW play multi two bids’ (rainbow bids)? If they do, does one open non-vulnerable with the East hand. Personally I think East has sufficient strength to warrant a bid of 2D but there will be those be those who argue that East is too weak. So immediately begins a divergence in opinion. Although this might prompt some partnership discussion, South’s problem can be discussed at length. Against a multi 2D what should South bid? If East passes what should South bid and does it depend on NS’s system? Of course it does!

Thus to comment on the results of this hand is a minefield of systemic (mis)understandings but it is certainly a hand to sit down with partner and discuss your preferences and understandings.

We did just this and as I sit East and North and my partner sits South and West, we had a wonderful discussion as to what our ‘theoretical’ table might have heard. I certainly would have opened 2D (multi). Partner’s first reaction to the South hand was to double and then the problem passed to West. She opted for 4H, explained as game is to be accepted in either major. North is basically out of the fun and passes. East has little option but to pass. South will have none of it and bids 5D! West bids 6H, assuming now that East’s suit is hearts and that East’s holding in hearts is better than the actual holding.

At that point my partner wanted to change her first bid on the South hand to 5D, influenced, of course, by the outcome of the first sequence and ‘gentle’ persuasion from myself. I agree that South has a serious problem and think the second choice is far superior. Over 5D West will likely bid 5H (same meaning – game in the majors) and East will pass. West will not get another chance. A fantastic and simple minefield of bidding.

Needless to say the 5 pairs that bid 6 hearts made it and two of them had the pleasure of being doubled. A wise word here. A very much better player than I once said that if they bid to six on their own, there must be a reason and to double is asking for a poor score. The two pairs who doubled six hearts each received a single match point, not the best result on the board.

An exceptionally difficult hand and one that, after serious discussion with partner of all the meanings of your systemic bids, will certainly clarify some rare sequences for the future.

The very next hand (Board 3) also produced some strange results. Seven of the thirteen pairs reached 6S on this hand.

Assuming South opens and rebids spades, North should get the pair to six. However, although all thirteen pairs played in spades, six of the thirteen pairs only made eleven tricks! It is hard to see, with the heart ace onside, what went wrong?  There are several ways to make 12 tricks. One way is simply to discard two hearts on the long diamonds and ruff two clubs in dummy. Even on a small heart lead South has no option but to play the king. The worst case lead is a trump taken in hand with the jack. Play the ace of clubs and a ruff with the ten. Play the ace king queen of diamonds discarding two hearts. Then ruff a diamond to return to hand with the nine. The last club is ruffed in dummy. Lead the fifth diamond and throw away your last heart! You are left with the winning KQ of trumps. Another cow flew by for some.

A perfect hand for teacher

Rarely, in one hand, does one get an opportunity to teach the essence of duplicate bridge and some essential vital statistics. Hand 14 (Wednesday) was a perfect example of card play and card distribution knowledge.

Imagine sitting North on the above hand and you hear a pass from East and partner open 1D!! I was always taught the expression ‘slowly slowly catchee monkey’ especially when you have a shortage in partner’s suit. On this hand although inwardly I am doing cartwheels, outwardly I will bid a very solemn 1S. I would expect my partner on this hand to force in diamonds (3D), a little light but better than two clubs, and I will quietly bid 4NT (keycard in diamonds!). Partner with four controls will bid 5D and my next bid will be 7S!! Partner has shown AK of diamonds, together with the aces of hearts and clubs. That adds up to 15 HCP and we always reserve partners second bid for a ‘good’ suit so I am hoping the diamonds will be enough for my baby hearts. What more do I need?

Any partner of mine who converts this to 7NT would be summarily executed at dawn the very next morning! So where is the ‘teaching of bridge essence’ you ask? As I said before ‘slowly slowly…’.

On Wednesday the hand was played thirteen times, twice in 6N and four times in 6S. Two pairs got to the grand slam in NT (Oops) and one pair reached the grand slam in spades. 7NT is doomed from the start as partner’s diamonds are a shade lighter than advertised and unfortunately the declarer in 7S ended a trick short. Those in 6S all made twelve tricks but those in 6NT also made the same 12 tricks. 23 match points to 6N (undeserved. It should have been much less.) and only 17 for 6S (undeserved. It should have been even less than those in 6NT!).

No one in spades made the indicated 13 tricks whilst those in 6NT made the 12 tricks they had from the start – six spades and two in each of the other suits. Unfortunately the score sheets on the internet do not show the opening lead so I must guess. Either a spade or the jack of diamonds is the obvious lead against 7S, the latter probably being the more popular and unfortunately this lead creates the bigger problem.

In no trump declarer must count tricks. Indeed in any contract the teacher always says count your losers – count your winners – and asses the dangers. As stated earlier there are twelve ice cold tricks. Hell may freeze over (pardon the expression) but it will be a very bad break in spades to beat your twelve tricks i.e. 4-0 in spades on the wrong side. The odds of this happening are just under 5% and in this case 6NT bid and made. Note the same odds exist in 6S.

In 6S you are getting a poorer score if you only make 12 tricks as you can see that the same12 tricks are made in NT. This you see on the first lead and must realize. Can you find a thirteenth trick that is not available to the no trump specialists for a better match point score?

This is Lesson 1 from this hand – Think what the others are doing on the same hand before setting your target. The higher you aim, the better your chances are of obtaining a score above par. Remember this is pairs, where the odd ten points does matter, not teams where we simply play safe.

If we are in 6S, to get a better score than those in 6NT we have to make an extra trick therefore we have to imagine where we can create that extra chance. How many extra tricks do we need? We have 12 tricks and we are aiming to make 13. Thus we need ONE extra trick, not available to those in NT.

Where will it come from?

To those who answered the last question with ‘the diamond suit’, go to the bottom of the class. On the jack of diamonds lead this suit is poison. East has advertised his intention. He will ruff the second diamond. Is there another chance? One single ruff in dummy of a heart is all we appear to need. But beware – communication in this hand is basically non-existent. Do not get carried away. PLAN the play and see that one single ruff is insufficient. There is no way back to dummy after the ruff and drawing trumps! We actually need two ruffs to set up the hearts. What are we going to ruff? Obviously hearts.

Therefore on the jack of diamonds lead we suspect that East has a singleton. In order to make 13 tricks, the king of diamonds as a trick has disappeared. [Check your entries. You cannot try to cash the king as East will over ruff and you cannot re-enter dummy if you engineer a heart ruff]. Thus suddenly we need two ruffs in dummy to be sure. [In reality we only need one as the computer has givenEast QJ9and one ruff promotes our ten but we do not know this].

Analyzing probable distributions we see that we have five club cards in total, six cards in the heart suit and seven in the diamond suit.

Chances of East having a singleton in diamonds are (without the ‘crazy’ lead) 7.25 %. The chance of East holding a singleton diamond, after seeing the lead of the jack, are around 100%. Think of the bidding!

Continuing with our analysis we calculate that the chances of West having a singleton heart are just below 3.5% and having a doubleton heart around 15%. Note these probabilities are half of the standard figure, as we are being specific about the opponent. Chances of East holding a singleton club are just under 1.5% and the chances of East holding a doubleton club are about 8.5%.

Put very simply the larger the number of outstanding cards, the smaller the chance of encountering a singleton in either hand.[ For this analysis I have just selected the danger hands].

Thus to ruff one heart in dummy is 97% and to ruff two hearts in dummy is about 85% (not good odds in a grand slam but way better than trying to cash the king of diamonds). Getting back to hand by ruffing a club is around 99%, whilst ruffing a diamond is about 95% but, if we believe East, in this case 0% as he has led the jack.

This is lesson 2. Weigh up your best line of play before you play a single card!

According to this plan, take the jack of diamonds with the ace. Play the ace of hearts (note the nine from East) and lead a small club to the king. Ruff a small heart in dummy (noting East’s jack). Cash the ace of clubs, discarding a heart, and note West’s queen. Breathe a small sigh of satisfaction as West, who has five diamonds, has apparently only two clubs and is therefore unlikely to be short in hearts, an original danger to the plan. Lead a small club and ruff small. (If West ruffs simply over ruff). East follows. West, however, will probably discard a diamond. Ruff another heart noting the fall of the all important queen. Ruff a club and draw trumps – you are home. You have beaten those no trump divas.

On a trump lead, take the trump in hand. We do not have the same entry problem. Play a small heart to the ace. Play a club to the king. Ruff a small heart in dummy. Ruff a club in hand and draw trumps. Enter dummy with a diamond and discard two hearts on the ace of clubs and king of diamonds. Thirteen tricks bid and made.

Celebrate your forward thinking.

(Hands 16 and 16 FBC 20/04/12)

Hand 15

With South to open, the bidding appears to have been short and sweet. Whether South found an opening bid or not, the field of 17 pairs played in four or more hearts. It seems West, with five losers, probably barraged with four hearts, although one pair used a transfer sequence as East played the hand.

Some went to five and one pair even tried six [I would love to have been a fly on the wall at these tables to observe the bidding and the subsequent discussion! Did they jump or were they pushed?].

What would you have done with the North hand if partner had opened one club?  Vulnerable, it is doubtful whether you would have doubled (negative or positive!).

Looking at all four hands it is easy to see that West must fail in four hearts but half of the field made ten tricks and one made eleven, after the lead of the spade three from North. The popular lead of the club ace seems to suggest that South opened one club and five pairs still managed to scramble home with ten tricks. With three club tricks and the ace of diamonds this seems a little extraordinary! Remarkable that not one pair tried the phantom spade sacrifice, not so phantom as it turned out and it is interesting that so many pairs beat par to make ten tricks.

Hand 16

The very next hand, bless the computer dealer, turned out to be just as strange. With West as dealer, the first two bids are very predictable. West will pass and North, with twelve points and a five card spade suit will open 1 spade. At least that is what I imagined. East probably has enough to double although many will pass, and South, with eight losers should bid three spades. Again, as in Hand 15, West (vulnerable) is unlikely to compete and North with seven losers should pass! Most did not and wisely so!  Only two pairs from 17, managed to pass whilst 14 bid game and one pair even got to five spades, despite having a combined loser count of 15 (losing trick count) and a high card point count of 21 HCP. [90% of the field is so aggressive].

Nothing remarkable thus far? Not so fast. According to the score sheets South played in four spades twice! Did West open at these tables or did North open 1 club even having a five card spade suit? At these two tables the defence was easy. The king of diamonds was led and four tricks later, South was one down.

At the other 15 tables the defence is not so easy, the opening lead posing quite a problem. Looking at East’s hand and hearing an uncontested 1S-3S-4S what do you lead? Eight out of the fifteen pairs allowed North to make ten tricks but in only five of these cases was the lead fatal, giving North an immediate ten tricks (North with a simple discard in diamonds on the long heart). The other pairs lost a trick by not cashing diamonds.

It is quite easy to see how East can make a bad choice of lead but when handed a gift North should count his winners and losers. With four losers, an immediate discard is called for and the obvious way is two heart tricks before anything else. Interesting.

Quite remarkable was the fact that in these two hands, despite the potential competitive auction, every pair played in the same denomination, in Hand 15 seventeen pairs played in hearts, whilst in hand 16 all played in spades.

One last hand that caught my eye from last week was from Capital Bridge Club. (Hand 5 21/04/12).

With dealer as North, The first two bids are easy to imagine. North will pass and East will open 1 heart. South should compete with two clubs and West has the usual type of problem. Do I support in hearts or call spades?  Most pairs will elect to support in one major, hiding the other holding, especially when both suits are majors. Hence the majority of the field arrived in a heart contract and no one got to spades! This did not really matter as the problem in both contracts is the same.

Four hearts, although quite makeable, is quite difficult as it requires declarer to guess the position of the spade honours – no one playing in hearts managed this. Remarkable is that one NS pair was allowed to play in four clubs for a top. Five pairs failed by one in four hearts. A single pair sacrificed in five clubs, got doubled, and because no one made the contract got a zero for their troubles. Can declarer get any clues from the bidding?

With ten clubs and eight diamonds missing, declarer can assume South has six clubs and probably four diamonds as North did not show any diamond interest. We know that the spade queen and the club queen were the preferred leads by South. The spade queen is ominous as no one will lead this from a doubleton. This looks like either QJx or a bare queen. With only three cards in the majors it looks correct for it to be a singleton. Unfortunately we must presume this before testing hearts.

The lead of the club queen states clearly that the diamond honours are distributed between the two hands and it is unlikely that South has either ace-king or king-queen in this suit. The club queen suggests possession of the jack as well. Would South have overcalled two clubs, vulnerable, with QJ to five?  So we imagine South’s hand to have six clubs headed by QJ, four diamonds headed either by the king or ace, and three cards in the majors. Cover the queen of clubs and North will take the ace. North can count as well! He should switch but to what? Certainly not a heart, and unlikely a spade as he sees K to five on the table. A diamond is most likely and having got this far probably the king! South will encourage and the second diamond will be taken (book!). South will now choose a continuation. A diamond is seen to be useless, a club equally useless, never a heart so here comes the queen of spades! Same guess as before. Not quite – South has exposed ace queen of diamonds and North the king along with the ace of clubs. The king of spades has to be the correct play. A club ruff followed by the ace king of hearts exposes (to a certain extent) the likelihood of South’s singleton and a finesse of the ten of spades completes the careful play. At least the people in five clubs doubled would be vindicated! A very interesting hand.

Hand evaluation. Wednesday Club 11^th April (Hand 2)

Imagine holding this hand and partner actually opens the bidding! Yes, I know, the cynics will straight away say partner opens 1H. Well – actually no! Partner opens either 1NT (weak 12-14 balanced) or 1D with at least 4 cards in the suit. Can you handle this hand?

What do you need to arrive in Grand slam? Actually all that is needed is the king of spades, the king of diamonds and the queen of clubs (with some sort of fit in either minor). You have 20 high card points AND a void in hearts. You actually need 8 high card points from partner and he / she has opened the bidding!!

Many of the contestants could not as, although everyone made thirteen tricks, three out of thirteen pairs were not in game (a cow flew by), and only two out of thirteen pairs reached the Grand slam.

Over 1NT (weak) by partner the hand almost bids itself. You bid 3 clubs (slam invitational). Partner should not simply reply 3NT. Firstly this story has already been told by your opening bid (weak), secondly it denies support for the suggested suit and lastly it denies a first round control. A good partnership will immediately start a cue bid sequence. In this case the opener will bid 3H which translates as I have clubs in support and have the ace of hearts. You co-operate with 3S – note you are completely in control. Partner has to be a zombie and simply reply. Partner bids 4D. As partner would have bid his first round controls upwards this bid translates as the king of diamonds because he did not bid 3D after 3C! Hence he does not have the ace of diamonds (obvious looking at your hand) and confirms holding the king. You simply relay 4H. Partner bids 4S. This confirms the king of spades.

You have now found two of the three required cards. Note the ace of hearts does not really excite you but it is good for a discard if needed. Can you find out about the queen of clubs? Note the agreed trump suit is clubs. If you bid 5NT, known as a Grand slam force, partner has to reply 6C with none of the top three honours, 6D with one of them and 6H with two of the three. Thus it is very safe to bid 5N (alerted as GSF of course). Partner replies 6D – the missing queen!!

Sit back and think. We have 6 club tricks, three diamond tricks, three spade tricks AND the all important ace of hearts. This adds up to thirteen stone cold tricks and we bid 7NT. Easy does not come easier.

Over a one diamond bid by partner the sequence is not quite as clear. 3 clubs becomes a two way bid and partner will bid 3NT showing the 12-14 weak hand. 4D by you indicates the suit agreement version of the first two way response. 4H by partner is a cue bid followed by 4S by you. 5S by partner shows the spade king and 5NT (GSF) asks in diamonds. Partner bids 6D (one of the three top honours) and you will not risk 7NT (you do not know about the club queen), opting only for the 7D contract.

I considered a bidding sequence of 1D by partner followed by 2H by this monster hand. Partner will bid 2NT and I will bid 3D. Again suit agreement, but now we are one level lower. The cue bidding sequence starts with partners 3H, 3S by us, 4S by partner, 5N by us and the same problem.

The complete hand:

Anyone got a better sequence over the 1D opener?

The ‘Moysian’ fit

Hand 1 from last Wednesday’s game is a perfect example of this oft neglected art. For those uninitiated, Alphonse Moyse Jr. was an expert bridge player in the 30’s, who wrote over 20000 columns of bridge hands, gleaned mainly from his rubber bridge experience, for various US newspapers. He had many claims to fame as one can see from the ‘Bridge Encyclopedia’ but even there, no mention is made of the ‘Moysian’ fit, The so-called ‘Moysian fit is described as ‘choosing to play a contract having only a 4-3 fit in trumps despite the fact that 4-2 is the likely break for the opposition’.

Hand 1 from the Wednesday Club on the 11^th of April was the inspiration for this article.

Seeing all four hands, it is easy to make twelve tricks in No Trumps, although only few managed in this contract (three from thirteen). Counting one’s tricks and obeying statistical rules perhaps one should always make this. We can only make two spades, four hearts, and two tricks in diamonds. Thus we need four club tricks. A Priori, playing for the drop is a 35% chance whilst playing for 4-2 in clubs is nearer 48%. Being on-side halves this but so what – once both show up with two clubs the odds are changed. Post Priori now favours 4-2 and if we are wrong, we go down in a bad slam – Done that before, and got the T-shirt! Thus on the third club we should finesse the nine and bingo – ‘fortune favours the quasi-scientist’!!

[Actually two pairs made 13 tricks in No Trumps but, in these cases, it appears the defence had a bad day at the office].

However our friend, the computer, says we can make all thirteen tricks playing in either hearts or clubs.

For 7 hearts the solution is quite simple. Counting our tricks, and ‘double dummy’, we see that we must draw two rounds of trumps with the ace and king. Then we must take four club tricks by finessing the nine as before in 6NT! On the fourth club we must discard a spade. The king and ace of spades are cashed and a spade ruffed. Enter West’s hand with the diamond ace and draw trumps. The diamond king is the thirteenth trick for the grand slam. Four clubs, two diamonds, four hearts, two spades and a ruff. Thank you Mr Moyse!

In seven clubs things are not quite so simple but still possible. Did you see the solution? Try working it out!

Cash the king and queen of clubs, the king ace of diamonds and run four hearts discarding a spade. King and ace of spades and a spade ruff with the six of clubs. Dummy is left with two diamonds and the luckless South has jack and eight of clubs. You have ace and the nine. North is immaterial. Lead a diamond. South must ruff and you overruff, and draw the last trump. Thirteen tricks. Thank you Mr Moyse!

The computer is correct but who would find this at the table? It is the only distribution that works and therefore that is the way to play it.

Fortunately none of us would be in seven, would we?

Problem hands – Friday Bridge Club 30th March

Hands 1 and 2 on Friday caused the players a few problems. On hand 1, 6C seems an easy contract to reach and some might argue that 6NT has the same chances. Personally I would rather be in clubs. The inferior contract of 6S is defeated on the bad spade break as one pair found out to their chagrin. With a 5-3 fit and a 5-2 fit choice in the trump suit, when in slam, I think the former should be preferred. Interestingly enough not one pair out of sixteen chose clubs. Ten played the contract in NT, two in slam but alas only one found the winning line, whilst the others struggled in spades. In this contract one actually made 12 tricks, whilst four made eleven and one made ten. In NT seven made 11 tricks and one pair only managed ten.

Assuming that North opens one club (genuine suit), East and West will probably remain silent. South will bid 1S and North should jump to 3C. South will show support to 4C. 4N (keycard) elicits 5H (two aces) and North settles for six.
The play is anything but simple. Three pairs out of sixteen made 12 tricks (one in spades as I mentioned). The computer says that 12 tricks both in clubs and NT can be made so let us see if the winning line can be found without the defence having to make a mistake. Seeing all four hands the obvious backward finesse of the queen of spades is fine in clubs but cannot prevail in NT!! Thus there is another solution.

In clubs, despite any lead, North forces out the ace of hearts and plans to discard one diamond in South, setting up a ruff with dummy’s four of clubs. No one was in clubs but in this contract the best lead is a trump. North must take the lead in dummy with the ace. He plays jack of hearts and a small heart to the queen to force out the ace of hearts. Take the second trump lead in dummy with the jack and finesse the diamond. The king of hearts gives South the chance to discard a diamond and the third diamond can be ruffed. The ace and king of spades are played and North returns to hand by ruffing a spade high. The last trump is drawn with the queen and North claims 12 tricks.

Well and good but what about the NT contract. This is definitely much more difficult at the table. A heart by East is probably the best opening lead. West can take the lead and return a heart. North must cash five clubs forcing West to find three discards. Two hearts and a spade will be the likely cards. South can discard two spades. The king of hearts is now cashed and South can discard a diamond. West however must discard from Q94, -,KT9, -. Either a diamond or a spade is fatal.. A spade promotes the jack of spades and a diamond promotes the eight of diamonds!!! Try it and see!! If you found this at the table why are you not writing this article?

On hand 2 East makes North South’s task easier by opening 1C! South will double and West will pass. What to bid on the North hand (12HCP but 6-5 in the majors)? I am sure most North players found 2S. South might offer 3NT but North will bid 4H showing at least longer spades than hearts and at least 5 cards in that suit – why else take out the NT contract?
4N by South exposes the missing ace (clubs) but South knows his king is well placed. Six spades bid (and made on any lead with only the club ace to lose). Fourteen pairs were in spades and two in hearts BUT no one reached either slam!!

I am glad to report everyone made 12 tricks but one of the pairs must have had a slip up somewhere as they were not in game! They were punished severely in match points.

Chag Sameach to our Jewish friends, have a very happy Pesach and to our non-Jewish friends enjoy the Easter holiday.

Glenda and Peter

A very happy Pesach to all our Jewish friends at Pretoria Bridge Centre.
A very happy Easter to all our Christian friends at Pretoria Bridge Centre.

Thinking of you all at this time

Peter and Glenda Jackson

Two very interesting hands – Friday Bridge Club 23^rd March

The following two hands were played 18 times each and the multitude of contracts and results was fascinating. The first hand (Hand 17) :

Dealer North passes. With 23 HCP and a solid 5 card spade suit I see nothing wrong with an artificial opening of 2 Clubs, the strongest bid for most Acol players. South passes and West has an interesting bid. Some people will say that not having and ace and a king or a king and king-queen combination West should bid 2D (negative). [Personally I think West’s hand has enough to offer a positive bid but be that as it may].

Let us stick to the rules and let West bid 2D. East will bid 2S and West should support to 3S (not four), this bid being stronger than the direct game bid.  East will ask Keycard and West will show one control (obviously the ace of diamonds). East does not have to ask for kings as West has denied an ace and a king with his 2D response to 2C! East will settle for 6 spades and on anything but a club lead is cold for thirteen tricks by means of 5 spades, 5 hearts two diamonds and a club. On a small club lead from South, East must play the nine and again no danger for 13 tricks. It is obviously a mistake to play the queen on a club lead, as South is very unlikely to lead away from the king.

Why is the hand interesting you ask? Looking at all four hands 13 tricks are available in hearts, spades and no trumps. A club lead in six hearts from the North hand puts West to the proverbial sword at trick one. The same reasoning should prevail and the same thirteen tricks come home. No one reached seven. Here is a break down of the results:

As can be seen the majority made 12 or thirteen tricks with ease. One East obtained the cunning lead of the five of diamonds in 6 spades and made eleven tricks. No sympathy. With 10 major suit tricks and two aces one should still make the contract. The other pair failing to make 12 tricks obtained the lead of the diamond two!! Fascinating.

The next hand is a little gem and I really appreciated the fact that two pairs made the requisite 12 tricks. Well done to both. Six pairs opted for 3NT whilst the other 12 played in 4 spades. The no trump experts all made ten tricks except for one poor soul who made nine. In 4 spades two pairs made 12, five made ten tricks and five made eleven tricks. The hand in question:

It seems as though both East and West had a chance to play the hand depending on system. Playing five card majors East cannot open one spade and hence West gets to play the hand. Playing Weak No Trump East probably gets the honour as the sequence probably goes 1Nt – 2C (Stayman) – 2S (by East) etc. Playing 4 card majors and strong NT some East’s will open one diamond and some one spade (I will never understand the latter). Anyway 4 spades was the popular contract and the opening lead had very little significance.

Declarer can count two tricks in each suit for starters. A couple of club ruffs are apparently available and a couple of diamond ruffs will bring the total to 12 tricks. BUT in what sequence should we play our cards. Essential is that the spades behave. The chance of dropping the queen jack in two rounds is there, of course, but then we cannot make 12 tricks. We will end with 11 tricks because we have reduced our ruffing values.

So take the opening lead and cash ace and king of trumps. Next cash ace and king of hearts so there are no surprises in that suit. North shows his doubleton heart. King then ace of clubs and ruff a club. All follow (phew!). King then ace of diamonds and ruff a diamond. South shows out and does not ruff. If he had done (with the queen of trumps) discard the losing heart!! Lead the last club in the West hand. North may ruff and we discard our last heart in East or North may discard when we claim our twelfth trick with a ruff in East. Twelve easy tricks are made for a lovely joint top.

Try it. I believe this play is called ‘En passant’ from the chess game and to those that made 12 tricks – again well done. I was very glad to see no one actually bid six!!

Regards from Mexico.

Double dummy

Here is a hand from Martha. The contract is 7 hearts by North. Before you read on, try your skill at making 13 tricks against the jack of spades lead.

Take the first lead with the queen and play the ace, felling West’s king. Now play five rounds of hearts as there is no ruffing potential. East will have to discard three cards. He can afford one spade and two diamonds. Lead the small diamond finessing the queen. East can afford another spade but the last diamond becomes the ‘executioner’. Another spade discard from East sets up the 5 of spades whilst a club opens up the club suit in South.

I doubt I could have done this at the table but when East shows out on the third heart and the first diamond one can count East’s hand as 5-2-2-4. The queen of clubs has to be right so either the long spade or the long clubs must come home. Well done Martha for a very interesting play.

Congratulations to NGBU for the SAWBA Interprovincial. Wonderful performance against very strong opposition. In the pairs NGBU had good performances as well but I cannot access the team’s results. Maybe someone could prompt Sid to rectify the problem.

Hands from the Friday Club

This week I picked a few hands from the Friday Club – the last two sessions.

The first hand was something of a success story. Hand 5 (9^th March). The computer forecast a grand slam in clubs and out of the seventeen times it was played eight pairs were in slam. Someone elected for a grand slam in no trump which was unfortunate as they ended a trick short but the rest played in a small slam, two in no trumps and five in six clubs. Those in no trump got the top match points because no-one got to the grand slam in clubs. Small slam in clubs making 13 tricks got just over three quarters of the match points whilst 12 tricks gained just over 60% of the match points.

Here is the hand.

With seven losers North (to open) might try 1C. After that it might take more than a bomb to stop South reaching slam. With 21 HCP and five clubs to the KQ even simple Blackwood reveals an ace and a king (7 HCP) and thus South can deduce North either has shape or hidden values. The singleton diamond is worth gold as is the queen of hearts. Cue bidding should expose the singleton diamond and the grand could be reached.

Without an opening bid from North, South might open 2NT (20-21) and North should make a slam try in clubs.  After this try galloping horses should not stop South.

Those in 3NT and 5C were obviously being a little conservative on the day. Lucky East – Wests.

The same set of hands – Board 8.

This time those in 6NT got a poorer score than those in the heart slam. With a spade discard on the long club 13 tricks were made easily in hearts whilst in no trump no-one guessed the position of the spade queen and thus they only made 12 tricks (fortunately all played by East as on a diamond lead from North, West suffers the ignominy of losing  the first five tricks, in what should be a cold grand slam).

How many opened an eight trick hand in hearts and how many took the game force route (2C??). Over two clubs the grand slam in hearts is virtually certain to be reached whilst over the eight trick bid East can only see 4 tricks as his contribution. So I guess no-one saw West’s hand  as a game force hand. Strange!

The complete hand.

Finally on the 16^th March Hand 18.

East has an easy 1 spade opener and for those playing 5 card spade suits the hand becomes incredibly easy. West will probably get there in three bids. Ask for aces (Keycard). Reply two aces and the queen of trumps. Ask for kings. Zero, I.e. no club king. Bid 6 in spades or no trump. The position of the king of clubs is 50% and a small slam in spades or no trump is virtually certain.

For those playing four card suits the route is one round longer. After one spade, force in diamonds. Three spades by East confirms five cards. The same three bids as before and you arrive at 6 spades or 6 no trump. Again the hand was played 17 times and eight pairs settled in 3NT (improbable). One pair had a bidding slip and finished in 3 hearts according to the scorecard. As they made 13 tricks (impossible in hearts) we can presume it was 3 spades but somehow this got passed. One pair finished in 6 diamonds and lost inevitably to the diamond ten. What is remarkable is that those playing in no trump did not all make 13 tricks.

Can you reach seven on any of these hands? If so you would have scored maximum. As recorded the actual players all studiously avoided the grand slam.