You are here: Home / Archives for December 2010

Poll #11, To Bid – Or Not To Bid? 12/8/2010

December 6, 2010 By 5 Comments

Oh oh, here’s another marginal hand with some different strengths and weakness. They say no two hands are ever the same, yet when it’s all said and done we only have two basic choices: open or pass.

Recall in our Monday quiz we briefly mentioned considering and contrasting our hand evaluation and bidding style to partner and the general Bridge community. This time we add a new wrinkle to the bidding poll, asking you whether you might be tempted to bid when you are playing with a conservative partner.

Okay, it’s time to “bid ’em up.” Sharpen your pencil and log your vote today. Right away you will see where you stand among hundreds of others who are making their selection.

*** To view our secure BridgeHands members bonus content below, please login***

Please login or register to view this content.
Filed Under: Polling You

Poll #10, To Bid – Or Not To Bid? 12/6/2010

December 5, 2010 By 5 Comments

Sometimes we are dealt marginal hands leaving us “on the fence” deciding whether to open or pass. This week BridgeHands tests your mettle with several hands too close to comfortably call. When you stop to reflect on our bidding style, it frequently correlates to our risk/reward “flair” in real life. Strange game, this creation we call Bridge.

In these situations where it’s too close to make a comfortable call, perhaps the most important lesson learned is:

1) How does you style compare with your partner?

2) How does your style compare with the larger Bridge community?

3) How do you perceive others will vote? (right or wrong)

And that’s where our “Polling You” enters the picture. So log your vote and see where you stand among hundreds of others who are making their selection.

As this week progresses, we will build on this theme, looking at another marginal hand, finishing up with coordinated bidding.

*** To view our secure BridgeHands members bonus content below, please login***

Please login or register to view this content.
Filed Under: Polling You

Poll #9, Opening lead or bid in live auction, 12/3/2010

December 3, 2010 By 8 Comments

We finish this week with our same 2=5=4=2 hand. By this time, you are either getting to think of this hand as your old friend or ready to move on to one with better values.

As you will recall, on Poll #7 the opponents played in a 3 Notrump game, while on Poll #8 the opponents jumped up to a 6 Notrump slam. So let’s go the other way and finish this week with a competitive auction. RHO again starts with 1 Notrump and, no surprise, we pass as always. But this time Lefty makes a conventional 2 Heart call – a Jacoby Transfer requesting partner to bid 2 Spades.

However the fun has just begun! Now partner doubles the conventional 2 Heart call, certainly having something to say about opponents artificial bid. Next RHO freely bids 2 Spades and the bidding comes back to you. Will you continue to pass, having an idea what to lead? Or then again, based on your partner’s double, should you bid something yourself? (favorable vulnerability)

Okay, consider LHOs requirements to make a Jacoby Transfer – what do you know about Lefty’s length? What about LHOs strength? Consider what prompted partner to double – what’s that all about? Think about why opener RHO freely bid 2 Spades after your partner doubled – is RHOs bid mandatory or optional in some situations?

Thankfully, you do not have to answer all these pesky questions. However, you may want to ponder a deeper meaning before you decide on your lead… or make a bid over Righty’s 2 Spade call. Good luck!

 

*** To view our secure BridgeHands members bonus content below, please login***

Please login or register to view this content.
Filed Under: Polling You

2010 Fall NABC: Senior KO, Board 57

December 2, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Board 57 Senior KO Round 4 of 4

Going into Board 57, the Knock Out match was neck and neck.   But still waters can only last so long and on this hand the sparks flew on both tables.   With favorable vulnerability, how do you feel about a preemptive 2 Heart opening bid in first seat with 2=5=4=2 shape?  Well, Bob Hamman’s the bid ultimately drove the opponents to a 4 Spade contract they ultimately would not have chanced.

At least that’s what partner Zia believed when he doubled Bates 4 Spade bid.  When partner preempts but then leads another suit, most often it’s a singleton and pard is looking for an immediate ruff.  But recall Hamman’s shape was 2=5=4=2 so the lead of the Club 8 was from a doubleton.  Zia, believing Bob Hamman was short returned the Club Ace – but it turned out declarer Bates held the stiff Club, leading to a ruff of Zia’s Ace.  Ouch, any return other than the Ace or a Diamond sets the contract.   Playing double dummy is sooo much easier than only seeing half the cards after long hours of grueling play.  Do you think when Bob and Zia went to sleep that night they both wish the opening lead would have been the top of sequence Diamond 10?  Might that lead have come if Zia didn’t risk the double of 4 Spades?  Did the dark angel wisper for Zia to return the Club Ace instead of the neutral Spade Queen?  Questions, questions, questions – that’s what keeps us Bridge-types going…

So when the dust settled in the Open Room, Bates chalked up 790, 4 Spades doubled, making and vulnerable.  Let’s look at the action before going to the other table…

Board 57
North Deals
E-W Vul

♠ 9 6
♥ A Q J 8 3
♦ 10 9 8 6
♣ 8 6

♠ J 10 8 7 5 3
♥ 6 4 2
♦ A 7 5
♣ 7

N

W

 

E

S

♠ A K 4
♥ K 10 9
♦ Q 4 3
♣ K J 10 4

 

♠ Q 2
♥ 7 5
♦ K J 2
♣ A Q 9 5 3 2

West

North

East

South

Bates

Hamman

Wold

Zia

 

2 ♥

2 N

3 ♥

3 ♠

Pass

4 ♠

Dbl

Pass

Pass

Pass

4 ♠ x by West

Trick

Lead

2nd

3rd

4th

1. N

♣ 8

J

Q

7

2. S

♣ A

♠ 7

6

4

3. W

♠ 5

6

A

2

4. E

♠ K

Q

3

9

5. E

♣ K

2

♦ 5

♥ 8

6. E

♣ 10

3

♦ 7

♥ 3

7. E

♦ 3

J

A

6

8. W

♥ 4

A

9

5

9. N

♦ 10

Q

K

♠ 8

Meanwhile, in the other room, Drewski also opened 2 Hearts holding the 2=5=4=2 shape.  Does that make your head spin just a bit?  Again, this was followed by a 2 Notrump balancing bid by Ekeblad.  However, this time South (Krekorian) quietly passed.  And sitting West, Rubin, jumped to 4 Hearts – a Texas Transfer to 4 Spades by Ekeblad.  So this time the lead came from the other side of the table, with the Notrump bidder’s hand closed.

Normally, playing the strong hand as declarer is good for about a trick.  But not so on this hand.  Krekorian was not about to lead his unprotected Club Ace, instead leading the normal high Heart 7 from doubleton.   So this time, seeing the dummy’s exact shape (singleton Club and 5 red suit losers, the defenders got all their due tricks to set declarer Ekeblad by 2 tricks, down 200.

So much for still waters with a 990 point swing to the O’Rourke team over Meltzer’s boys.  Here’s the board in the Closed Room.

Board 57
North Deals
E-W Vul

♠ 9 6
♥ A Q J 8 3
♦ 10 9 8 6
♣ 8 6

♠ J 10 8 7 5 3
♥ 6 4 2
♦ A 7 5
♣ 7

N

W

 

E

S

♠ A K 4
♥ K 10 9
♦ Q 4 3
♣ K J 10 4

 

♠ Q 2
♥ 7 5
♦ K J 2
♣ A Q 9 5 3 2

West

North

East

South

Rubin

Drewski

Ekeblad

Krekorian

 

2 ♥

2 N

Pass

4 ♥

Pass

4 ♠

Pass

Pass

Pass

4 ♠ by East

Trick

Lead

2nd

3rd

4th

1. S

♥ 7

2

J

K

2. E

♠ A

2

3

6

3. E

♠ K

Q

7

9

4. E

♣ K

A

7

8

5. S

♥ 5

4

Q

9

6. N

♥ A

T

♣ 2

6

7. N

♦ 10

Q

K

A

8. W

♦ 5

6

3

2

9. N

♦ 9

4

J

7

And so as the evening went on, and On, and ON – the play was EXTREMELY slow.  Eventually even  the Director couldn’t resist chiding the players to do *something* with the play running late and hour our two after most mortals would finish.  But at the end of a critical and close team KO game, mortals are all tucked in their beds.   Yet the momentum began swinging with this pivotal board with the O’Rourke team winning the match by a modest margin.   And on the next evening, they outright clobbered their opponents to win all the gold.   Well done – great play to the team who seemed to defy gravity!  And who said the out-of-town “away team” gets sleepy, anyway?

Epilogue – While many viewers probably nod their head if partner makes a preemptive 2 Heart call with 2=5=4=2, top players use advanced hand evaluation and tend to “mix it up” a bit when conditions are right.  Here’s some of their considerations:

1. Favorable vulnerability – check
2. First seat (better than second seat) – check
3. Positive shape (5-4-2-2 better than 5-3-3-2) – check
4. Four card suit suit not a major – check
5.  Ideal strength (7-8 losers) – check
6. Top players in the world – check

And as we have witnessed in a top team game, it’s “mano-a-mano” which helps explain why both players opened 2 Hearts.  In fact it was Bob Hamman who once explained the following difference between an IMP and Matchpoint duplicate Bridge game (not an exact quote):

“… In a team IMP game, it’s like two prize fighting boxers going at it for 15 rounds with the best man left standing.   However, in a Matchpoint game, you put the two prize fighters in the ring with a bunch of lunatics…”

Filed Under: Advanced

Poll #8, Opening lead against 6 Notrump, 12/1/2010

December 1, 2010 By 6 Comments

The auction starts peacefully enough with RHO opening 1 Notrump. With your 2=5=4=2 shape, you might even be tempted to bid if you held another primary honor and we not vulnerable. Next your LHO tries 2 Club, Stayman asking opener for a 4 card major. But then they do not find a major suit fit, surprise – surprise! The responder jumps up, up, up and away to 6 Notrump!

So with the opponents aiming to make 12 tricks, now is a good time to think about your long term plan to play and discard tricks.

When the opponents propel the auction to 6 Notrump, do we stick to our prior lead strategy or is there more to this auction than meets the eye? What’s going on with our lefty bidding 6 Notrump, eh? Ah, so many questions – so little time. Okay, everyone has their eyes on you – time to show your partner you’ve got the right stuff with your opening lead…

*** To view our secure BridgeHands members bonus content below, please login***

Please login or register to view this content.
Filed Under: Polling You
Newer Posts »