I was kibitzing the J1 team match against SCBA(B) for Bridge League Cup yesterday. Despite the fatigue due to H3 Econs exam, it was still a worthwhile journey because of all the interesting boards that came out during the match.
The first board that I want to discuss concerns accurate defense. Both declarers in NS made 3S, making it a push board. At the table that I was kibitzing, the bidding went as follows:
W N E S
1S
/ 1NT / 2S
/ 3S //
Nothing interesting. West was holding the following hand:
Jxx
Jx
AKxx
Jxxx
In this case, the choice of suit to lead is very obvious. West should lead the king of diamonds to ask for the count in the diamond suit (Attitude is pretty useless here since declarer is likely to be short in this suit as he has shown a long spade suit. It would not matter if partner held the queen of diamonds). Dummy was laid:
Qx
AQTxxx
xx
Q9x
East followed small, declarer followed small. How should west proceed?
The key to finding the killing defense is to count. In this case, the switch to club is called for. Of course, many people would reason that a club switch is obvious just by gut feeling. Before reaching this conclusion, have you considered to cash another diamond trick? Have you considered to play a heart in hope that your partner holds three hearts to the king and ace of trump so that you can attempt an uppercut? Even when switching to clubs, have you considered whether you should play the jack of club of small club?
East hand was as follows:
xx
Kxx
QJxxx
AT8
Declarer was holding:
AKxxxx
xx
xx
Kxx
Lazy to type out my reasoning on how the defend should go, welcome any responses through comments.
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The following deal illustrated how one should not feel despaired even though the contract is hopeless. One should still keep calm, concentrate and calculate the best plan to catch a sleeping defender:
x
KQxx
xxxxxx
9x
Qxx
x
KQJxxx
AQ7
South was the same player as the above previous deal. He was playing in a 5D contract missing 3 aces. West led the jack of clubs from a JT sequence, east encouraged with 8 and south won with the queen. The first plan was to steal a trick in hearts. West correctly rose with the ace of heart. Encouraged by his partner, he led the ten of clubs, which is perfectly fine since he is still unaware of the position of the ace of spades and he has the ace of diamonds. The problem arise when east, out of unknown reason, covered the ten of clubs with the king of clubs. South was a sharp declarer. Despite facing a level 5 contract without any aces, he was able to identify 7 as the largest available club. Of course, he used this to discard the spades and the rest of the story is irrelevant.
Moral of the story: Even in hopeless situation, do concentrate, be calm and count!
Hope the J1s learned their lesson the hard way.
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I learned some lessons during the Sunday team matches today too, just that I was lucking as my mistakes did not cost. The first error occurred when I was holding this hand:
KJTxx
KJTxx
Ax
x
My partner bid 1S. I splintered with 4C. Partner bid 4H showing first round control in hearts, I asked for keycards and landed in a 6S. The 6S made because of defensive error by the opponent. Yet, it was a good slam.
The problem lies in the bid of 4C. At that moment, I considered that so long my partner has an opening hand outside his club suit, we have a high chance of making slam (which is indeed what is mentioned in Ron Klinger’s book “Cue-bidding to Slams”. What I failed to consider was that even if my partner has an opening hand outside the club suit, the contract would fail if his points are too concentrated in the diamond suit. Consider the following hand opposite my hand:
AQxxx
xx
KQJx
Ax
6H can still make, just that it is much more unlikely. You need the ace of heart to be onside. Many people recommend bidding to a slam that makes on a finesse. I prefer to go against this belief as a lot of IMPs are lost because people enjoys the thrill of slams and tends to overbid.
The point is, I wouldn’t be able to ask partner for a heart control in the event that my partner bids 4D instead of 4H. A more creative approach is to bid 2H (game forcing) after the 1S and explore the slam slowly via principal of fast arrival.
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Moving on, a partial contract, but no less interesting. I was holding:
Kxxx
Kx
QTxxxx
x
Partner opened 1NT. I bid 2C (Stayman), partner bid 2D, and I bid 2NT. Partner passed and eventually we made 11 tricks.
Bidding 2NT was an amateurish mistake. In this case, 3D is the correct bid. 3D offers a safer contract for partner to land in. Most importantly, partner can find a 3NT with minimal game points when he has Xxx in diamonds (which in this case, he has). In addition, he may opt to play in 5D if he deem 3NT as dangerous with maximum. Another instance of a lack of experience and creativity...
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One final mistake before I sign off...
Axx
AKQxx
Axx
xx
I was in the third seat and went “wow” when partner opened 1NT. I transferred to hearts and bid 4NT. 4NT!! I can’t believe I bid that on the table. Likely because I have never actually bid this kind of hand in my life before. So what is the correct bid?
The correct bid is to fake a 4 card diamond suit by bidding 3D. When partner bid 3H, you can proceed with all your sophisticated slam bidding tools. When partner bid anything else, you can sign off in 6NT. Either way, abusing 3D does not cost.
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On a side note, my team got another honorable mention in the Purple Comet Math Meet, just by 1 freaking point again. 28/30 what the hell, this kind of error-prone question is just not my cup of tea zzz
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