Bridge

Hi all

I think it’s official, I’ve tapped too much from my barrel of luck. This deal is from a pairs night in Piedmont. Sitting South I opened a weak NT and Geoff raised me to game.

West led a small and East played the 9 for my Queen. I can count five tricks in , one and two if the finesse works. My only sensible legal chance for nine is finding West with exactly KJ stiff.

I lead a small and West throws the King in the arena. I glance at West and decide it’s an honest card. I see no alternative than going for a flaw in the defense. I rattle off all (pitching a and a ), leading to this position:

The opponents kept all their and RHO has pitched two and a on the choo-choo train. So now I have East almost where I want him. Still in tempo I request a from dummy and when East follows with a small one I feel victory approaching.

West in with the King, pounces with the Ace of and another one for his partner’s Jack. With a sigh East acknowledges defeat, he can take the Ace, but then has to lead away from his Jack of .

So if East had risen with the Ace of they can keep me to seven tricks. Not a bad reward if you pay some attention. My fields of luck are now infertile, desolate and loveless, I fear.

Hi all

On Monday I returned to Quick Tricks again, this time to ravage the field with Sanne. I promised her and myself to be a good and understanding partner. Of course my not so hidden agenda was to brutally extract points from my opponents. I was successful a couple of times.

1

2

3 1

pass

pass

Double

pass

4

1. Weak

Now to find a lead. A trump looks way too passive because I can see the suit can be set up easily. A might work but also could allow declarer to add some easy ruffs to her balance. So I decided to lead a , my 6 of to be precise.

This was the full deal:

Declarer glanced at me for more information, but I just sat there with a beatific smile. She played low from dummy and eventually ended up one trick short.

There are a couple of winning routes if you get a lead. You can ruff it in dummy with a top trump, then draw the outstanding trumps by hooking the Jack. Next duck a to take the finesse against the King later (communication baby!). You will score five tricks in , four trumps in your own hand and a ruff in dummy. An alternative is to set up the suit after drawing trumps, just play a small one to the King and pray for a 2-2 split. Scoring four trumps, a ruff, four and the Ace. I’m pretty sure this competent opponent would have found one of them at the table.

By the way, did you notice Sanne’s 3 call with six trumps? A fine decision, even with eleven trumps together there are just seven tricks in the bag for EW.

The first one might have been a bit lucky, this is a whole other league:

Your LHO opens a strong 2 and your RHO (me) brusquely jumps to 7NT. What do you lead?

My friend Bruce decided to lead a .

Too bad, three tricks in , seven and four add up to more than thirteen already. Dirty epic!

Hi all

My preparation for the Marin sectional consisted of sleeping in a tent, watching deer and chipmunks, and drink Pinot Grigio from a bottle as Sanne and I both had forgotten to bring glasses on our camping trip.

Geoff and I teamed up again with Drew and Bill. There was not a lot of room to score, throw in some random succesful insanity by your opponents and you go home having scored just above average.

If I were a Roman gladiator meeting my RHO in the arena would bring an eager smile to my face. Man, I don’t understand how one person can contain so much hostility, sourness and anger.

Anyway, on the deal above I had to declare 3NT from South. West started with a for my King. I can count eight tricks and there are several options for a ninth. I decide to go after an extra trick so I lead small to the Queen, losing to the King. The continuation I take in dummy and I cross to my King to lead another . LHO fumbles through her cards for ten seconds, then says “Sorry, I don’t have any problem!”, and with that bit of poisonous information I have to take the right path. I request the  Jack from dummy and I’m glad it wins the trick. I have nine now, but I’m hungry for a tenth. I exit in , leading to this position:

When West decided to cash the thirteenth East could pitch a , so did I from dummy and my hand. The thumbscrews got really painful on East when West played a for my Ace. Such a beautiful round squeeze, executed by your own partner! She spit some angry remarks, but she knew she got owned. The overtrick was worth an IMP.