Bridge

Hi all

I was playing with Sanne at the Pro-Am night at QT. I know we’re are partnership in all kinds of ways, but bridge honestly isn’t one of them. So I didn’t feel awkward or bad about it. That we royally won the event with almost a 4% margin to number two, well… let’s not get into puny details.

In the last round we had a lively auction:

1. A penalty double would have been justified
2. I was completely & utterly oblivious to what was happening
3. Let’s try to recover some of the points we missed out on

When West started with the Ace the rusty old lock that was my contract gave away the tiniest crunch. I ruffed and played a towards the King, West rising with the Ace. Desperately looking for a ruff he switched to a via the Queen for my Ace. Yes, I feel that lock slowly opening up to me.

Another to dummy and East follows suit with the Jack. On the King I see East pitching a and I follow his lead. Finally the lock yields to my vigor. So East is 1-2-6-4… the rest is easy as pie: to my hand, draw the outstanding trump and endplay East with the fourth . With just left he has to surrender a trick to my King. + 420

With another lead a clairvoyant South can manage to score five tricks in and three in . Setting up the same endplay as I did will bring in trick nine. East has to pay attention though, because any other exit than the Queen will give South ten tricks.

Too bad we missed out on a juicy penalty. South can score eight tricks in a contract: three , one and always four (West will bring them on a silver platter). Quite funny if the opponents have an eight card fit.

Hi all

Last Saturday we went on a fruit picking tour through Brentwood. I felt like a 4 year old again ravaging through my grandma’s strawberry garden. About 30 years ago my parents took the same pic, nothing ever really changes.

Here’s a tiny deal from a team’s game in Oakland. It was a remarkable event, not only for us winning it, but in addition to the boatload of unpigmented masterpoints I already have, I now have collected enough pigmented points too to call myself a Life Master. Wow! Spotlights on me!

Ugh.

Back to reality.

I was sitting South and this is what I heard and saw:

Geoff led the 2 (odd leads) and while declarer takes stock, I try to piece together both other hands. So Geoff has a five card suit, and probably four as well. And I’m pretty sure that for his double he has at most a singleton , he would overcall instead. That must be the stiff Ace or West would have responded to his partner’s opening. So that leaves declarer with a 1-4-2-6 distribution, and yes, that matches to the auction too.

Declarer asks for dummy’s Jack and I win with the King. A to Geoff’s Ace and another for dummy. Now declarer rattles of three top pitching two himself. A low is requested from dummy…

I thought I had figured it all out when I rose with the Ace of , gave Geoff a ruff and tried to uppercut anything by ruffing the with the Ten. But it didn’t. Declarer simply overruffed with the Jack and lost another trick to Geoff’s high trump, 2 making.

In gun terms this is what happened, I drew the gun from holster and aimed ( switch to Geoff), pulled the trigger (rising with trump Ace), and then put my bullet in the chamber (ruffing with the Ten).

In retrospect it’s all so easy. First let Geoff win with one of his top trumps instead of going up myself (loading the bullet), then get the desired ruff with trump Ace (pulling the trigger). Now a through and Geoff’s little trump gets a promotion (bang!). The top trump is then the setting trick (the bad guy is dead now).

It’s a funny little deal, 2 in an eight card fit with trumps splitting doesn’t make, but it takes pretty wicked defence to hold 2 (only seven trumps together with a nasty split) to eight tricks.

Hi all

Bridge Big has launched their open beta. René promised the team is zealously committed to fixing bugs, smoothing the user experience, adding more features and solving the “table hopper” problem. With decent exposure in national and international magazines, an article on www.bridgetopics.com and Zia as evangelist they shouldn’t have a hard time establishing a large (and hopefully faithful) userbase.

Here’s a deal from the San Francisco sectional that has been giving me head ache:

After partner has overcalled the first problem arises: where to bin your hand? Is it a top heavy invite? Investigate other games than 5? Or enter a slammish sequence perhaps? But those three small are a bit smelly…

At the table I bid a loaded 4, hoping partner would bid (a natural) 4, perhaps 4NT with a softish hand, or continue to 5 with a control rich hand. The result was the same at both tables: 5 down 1.

It bothers me quite a lot that I can’t figure out a way to reach a sensible contract. Expert players and established partnerships offer me a broad range of answers, but most of them do something slammish. Opposite hands like:

Slam is laydown.

I guess I just have to accept that the deal above is a fringe. And that a slammish sequence (say 5) is an IMP positive action.

Hi all

I’m indulging, [read sigh of complete satisfaction here.] But I don’t think I will be rested and recharged when I get back to Berkeley. It has been a wild stew of travel, beer, little sleep (in lots of different beds), and way too much attention. Thanks friends & family, you were all wonderful company!

You’re at the helm of a modest 2 contract.

1. Attempt at suicide, because red vs. white
2. Weak with both Majors

West leads the 9 (zero or two above), and you see it’s a healthy contract. You win the Ace and ruff a to your hand, East showing up with the Queen. A small trump towards dummy and the King makes his appearance.

You take stock for a second. But that 1-4 trump break doesn’t pose a problem to you. Confident you have analyzed and formulated an endplay in trumps. You ruff another (East discarding a ), and you hook the , losing to the King. East now cashes Ace and Queen and continues a third for West’s King. You win the switch in dummy and this is the position:

Count complete, East is 3-4-2-4. Just string off your and when East ruffs he is endplayed to lead away from the Jack.

Wait…!

West has a small surprise up his sleeve. That trump King was accompanied by a small one all the time, so the third gets guerilla ruffed. And East still has a guarded trump Jack… Down 1.

I don’t like to meekly lay my head low, so I smoothly inserted the King of trumps. Give the pot a good stir. And fortunately my RHO was of the right caliber to not panic and resolve the apparent trump position.

Hi all

If you take a drive towards Oakland you’ll see quite a few billboards of doom.

… And the bible guarantees it.

Pffffff
Hi
Hi
Muahahahahaaa
* snort *

Well, I don’t have to clarify my point of view now, I guess. I thought mankind was beyond this already. Anyway, we’ll be sitting in a plane to The Netherlands, the only screening we will be subjected to is by DHS (not so great either). Three weeks of visiting family & friends, indulging in decent bread & cheese, and play some non-ACBL-cured bridge. Good times.

Here’s a fine deal from a STaC game in San Francisco. I’ve met my LHO before, she’s venomous. The frost at the table is very real, her glares at my partner chill my spine. After pass – pass – 2 – double – pass it’s my turn again:

Lebensohl or no? I decide to take the weak route (2NT) because I hate my King in front of the preempt and a stiff Queen doesn’t give me warm feelings either.

Partner surprises me with a jump to 4. What? Come again?

Suddenly my hand improves by 1.609 km’s and then some. I expect partner to hold a singlesuited monster. And I add four trumps to the Queen – Jack, a singleton, even the King recovered some of it’s grandeur. I’m worth another call: 5. Raised to 6.

1. Lebensohl

This was the full deal:

There was no play to it, two ruffs and then a hook for a possible overtrick. I’m glad my partner decided to sell his hand as a singlesuited hand, I probably would have doubled and then bid NT myself.

Hi all

I’m a bit sore. Sore from carrying sand and tiles to revamp our backyard. But our combined efforts led to drinking Duvel in the sun’s splendor on our new terrace. Life’s good.

Geoff and I had an uncomplicated auction to 3NT.

West leads a small . I don’t want to endanger my contract so I call low from dummy. I win East’s Ten with my Ace, next my Jack gets covered by the King and Ace, and the same happens for the Jack from dummy. Just for sake of symmetry I cross to the Queen, and all four suits have been played in the first four tricks.

I continue cashing out on the black suits ( breaking) and I find myself squeezing West out of his five card suit and the King. All thirteen are making their bow to me… the 7 last…

So the juice I squeezed from my opponent magically turned into beer. Well, coming from Dombo I know, no, I feel! the 7 is a false prophet. The universe revolves around the 8. The 7 outranked in class, suit and number. There’s not a lot more to it than that.

But woe me, the invertebrate! The promise of beer and I set aside my beliefs (be it temporarily).

Hi all

I’m looking to participate in the summer nationals in Toronto. Unfortunately my partners here have other plans/obligations, so here’s me throwing a pitch: Reasonable & imaginative player, often wears colorful pants and has a lot of fun at the table seeks decent partner to wreak some havoc in Toronto. Responses here.

Here’s a deal from me and James again at Quick Tricks.

1. A tad light
2. Kaplan inversion, 4+ at least invitational
3. Take out
4. Let’s just take the least dangerous path

After my opening and rebid James switched on the nitro. For a second I pictured myself on the launch schedule at Cape Canaveral. Lift off complete!

My LHO leads a low and I see that I’m standing on the edge of a very deep cliff. But the strong gust of wind has a friendly directional push, I’m not plunging to my demise just yet.

So we’re off two tricks from the start, but I can pitch three of them on dummy’s , taking care of half my issues. The other half is to locate the whereabouts of that lovely Queen.

I take stock for two minutes and I’ve formulated a small trap I can set for my RHO. I start with pitching three and then on the fourth round of I throw my last , East winning the trick.

East winces for a second and then switches to a .

He fell for it!

Why would he switch to a if the look so much more attractive in their vulnerability? He must have a stiff ! Combine that with his first round pass and then a minors showing take out double. East is 1-2-5-5.

Confidently I play from top and the Queen does make her appearance.

Perhaps I would have taken the right guess anyway, but a succesfully sprung trap offers some extra backing. Check out this story if you’re hungry for more bridge, it is out of this world:http://www.blakjak.demon.co.uk/crypto.htm

Hi all

I’ve got a knee slapper for you. How do you call a tiny psychic running away from the police?

Answer at the end…

This deal is from a random night at Quick Tricks, I played with James, a British bio-informatics student studying for a semester at UC Berkeley. We had a good night. South (all red) opened a weak NT and got to play there.

West starts with Ace and King of (East showing out the second round!) and South won the Jack with the Queen. So West has four tricks hanging in the air like Damocles’ sword. South attacked the suit but West smoothly inserts the King to dummy’s Ace.

Declarer probed for vibrations with the Jack but when East (James) unperturbed followed small he went up with the Ace. Another to dummy won the trick, effectively shutting off the suit. The Ten of and South had all his antennas turned to James. A silky small one…

Declarer suddenly got the jitters, he remembered my Jack as suit preference. Too much, he just couldn’t let me win my stiff Queen of and went up with the King. Well, I didn’t have the Queen, James did. Down one was the result.

James correctly ducked the one round and his smooth ducks on the probes deserve praise. It’s not that spectacular a deal, but James and I were beating the defensive drum in the same rhythm. No giveaway pauses or disruptions in tempo to give declarer an edge.

The psychic? …. A small medium at large!

Hi all

Seinfeld in the Paramount Theatre was awesome. I enjoyed his observation what guys expect from their woman is the same as what they expect from their underwear: a little bit of freedom and a little bit of support.

Here’s a deal from a recent teams match. I’ve asked around a bit, and most of the reactions so far range from “Daisy picking” to “What’s the problem, yawn” all the way to “That’s why I play Heeman“.

All white and partner opens an 11-14 NT.

I passed as responder and I see Geoff wrap up eleven tricks! As the cards lie you just had to snap your fingers for a butler to hand over your twelve tricks in on a silver platter:

Trumps breaking, King and Ace on side, and trump length with length so you don’t run into communication problems. Of course bidding slam is 4th dimensionally outrageous, and only fit for certain characters from books by Victor Mollo.

But still, there’s this nagging feeling whether we should have reached the game. The question ultimately boils down to whether it is imp positive to undertake action. Balancing reasonable 4 contracts against featherlight NT contracts, and if the opponents are about to bid we’re better off bidding 2 now. The answer? I still don’t know.

How valid is the approach actually, that if you can make game opposite a perfect minimum, you need to invite? And doesn’t that bite with Mike Lawrence’s advise to never play partner for the perfect hand?

Hi all

Things are not bad here. We made a short trip to Colorado last weekend. Nothing beats fresh powder! And this time I didn’t even break a bone. This weekend I have to sacrifice a Trentemøller session in SF to Jerry Seinfeld in Oakland. Not the easiest of choices, if I may say so.

Here’s a challenging defensive problem from the GNT Open.

1. Waiting
2. 22-23 hcp, balanced
3. Puppet Stayman

You sit East and await partner’s lead. The 3 (attitude leads) hits the table and this is what you see:

A quick analysis shows that partner holds roughly ten hcp, a five card suit and probably has led from a 3 card suit. Declarer goes into the tank for a full five minutes before calling small in dummy. You add the 8 to the pot and declarer wins with the Ace.

Now declarer plays Ace and Queen, partner winning the latter one with the King. What do you discard?

Before answering that question try to visualize declarer’s hand. If declarer holds three that suit looks far more attractive to set up than those . So declarer holds only two. Well, that paints declarer’s hand almost perfectly: 5-2-2-4.

You can hold on to both round suits now and pitch a . Declarer doesn’t have the entries to set up and cash dummy’s .

In the end declarer will end up one trick short because nothing works out.

So where did declarer do wrong?

If he had unblocked Ace & King before touching the , East would have been caught in a genuine three-suited squeeze. But declarer still needs to read the complicated position correctly.