Vikings in Space

Hi all

As I mentioned earlier, lots of stories. From our last teams match.

I hold a fairly nice red twosuiter:

I open a strong 1, LHO enters the bidding with 1 (showing and a higher suit), René passes (0-4 hcp) and East bids a natural 2. Do I have enough to mention my suit? I suddenly liked my hand a lot less, breathing down my neck, partner nearly broke, so I dropped the hand like a hot potato.

I lead a high and dummy comes down:

I breathe with relief, a red suit monster was waiting for me around the corner. The defence is tight and we take maximum advantage of a small error leading to a one trick set.

At the other table things went differently:

1. Preemptive pressure

I do have some comments on N-S bidding, 1 was frivolous, but South raising himself to game still hurts my eyes. I guess West (Martin) felt like he had been invited to a butcher’s party (+800).

Full:

Hi all

It seems everything is working fine again, and I have lots of stories to tell. So check back often. Tuesday at Star I played with Martin. I have to start with some apologies, I can count something like fifteen solid tricks during the bidding, but I miscount an Ace. No score for 6NT (back to primary school?).

We ended up in 4 and I know what’s technically correct. Go for the drop. But it was an opportunity for gallery play and I had good vibes at the table. So I played the Queen from hand and success was mine, East had a bare Jack of . Yay!

Some more vibes.

I open with a 11-14 NT (though it’s a little too strong for that) and Martin transfers to . Not unhappy. But now Martin jumps to the game, according to our agreements this is mildly slam invitational (other hands go through Texas). Well, I definitely have extras so I cuebid 5 and Martin finishes off with 6.

Full deal:

I ruff out the for 12 tricks. I was a bit surprised we were not alone on this one, but still happy with the 80something%.

Hi all

I have a small defensive problem for you. It occurred at Dennis’ table last Tuesday at BC Star.

LHO opens 1, a Bergen 3 on your right and left decides he has enough for game. Partner starts with the 2 (odd leads) and dummy hits the table. You take the trick with your Ace and return the King of .

Declarer takes your King with the Ace and plays the Queen for partner’s King. The from partner is ruffed and declarer throws the remaining from dummy on his Jack of . Two top follow (partner following once) and declarer doesn’t look happy seeing he has a trump loser, but puts you in with a third round.

Declarer skillfully removed all the black suits. It looks as if you have to open up or give a ruff and discard.

Let’s analyze.

Declarer surely doesn’t have King-Queen in , else he would have claimed. What about distribution? This one is easy, declarer has a 3-5-4-1.

The picture is complete. A ruff and discard cannot help declarer, for he can discard just one . He will still be left with a loser in the suit or a complete guess about the Queen. Let declarer solve his own problem, maybe he’ll go wrong…

Full layout:

Hi all

Here’s a 6NT from one of the Dombo teams matches last week. The game stayed in the back of my mind for a couple days, and finally I found out why.

North opened 1, East overcalled 1 and South ended up in 6NT. West not being blessed with second sight started with the Jack (a lead from West beats 6NT). Declarer lost track and ended up one trick short.

The plan. You have eleven tricks if you develop the for three tricks. Number twelve has to come from a squeeze, there are no other options available. So take the lead with the King and play a to the Ace and a to dummy, West takes and plays again a for your Ace. Cash both the King and Queen of and cross to dummy in . Now the rest of the red suit tricks and East is trapped.

When the Ten of is played from dummy it’s all curtains for East.

I hear you say: “But if West switches to a when he’s in with the King?” Now this is what I like about this game. Follow the same lines as above and it will lead to this:

Again these curtains on the Ten.

West can take away one entry when in with the King, but the other black suit will still provide the communication for the black suit squeeze. One question is still left, how to get to play 6NT from North? 

Hi all

Another one from the glorious match last monday. At both tables 5 went down one, but in the post mortem Wim found the way to eleven tricks.

1. 15-17 balanced or unbalanced 4+
2. Inverted
3. unbalanced
4. stopper
5. Half a stop?
6. No, but something extras in
7. Not enough for 5, but interpreted as slaminvitational
8. Cue
9. Pulling the brakes

The plan. Take the trump lead in dummy and immediately play a . Take the (likely) trump continuation again in dummy and ruff the other . Cross to dummy in trumps, finesse in , and play Ace and a third round. This is the position:

East will be on lead and has to lead away from the King of or give a ruff and discard. On the thirteenth you can dispose of the other losing then. But what if East throws his King, foreseeing the throw in? Too bad, West holds the Jack, so the position is locked frozen for the opponents. Complete deal:

Hi all

Though we tied 15-15 against our arch rivals BCO4, the moral victory was ours. By one whole imp. There were several nice games, a grand in , a couple of nice partials, but let me ask you a question:

How greedy are you? Remember it’s teams.

I wonder what hurt most, that declarer got home without breaking a sweat or the doubled overtrick?

There’s something nifty about this game. Game in is on ice for the opponents. Look here:

Let’s assume West leads a (as good as anything). You take it and immediately ruff a . Finesse in , ruff another , cross to the Ace, Ace as well and a ruffed. Now if you ruff a in dummy this will be the position:

Play a loser from dummy, discard a winning yourself and West has to ruff. Next he will tackle trumps for you. Repeat the trick by playing your last from hand. Drumroll…: Eleven icy cold tricks.

Hi all

These best wishes at Star yesterday really paid off, René and I ended up first with 58something%. I felt relieved.

Lots of jedi mind tricks, all in smooth ease we seduced our opponents into making fatal mistakes. With decent and polite smiles we accepted all gifts.

I almost dare not tell you about René’s (well timed) weak jump in . The opponents ended up in 3NT and missed their best spot in 4. It’s no typo, René blasted them out of their 6-3 fit. You do the math: his weak jump was based upon how many ?

Here’s a little gem:

I passed as a dealer, West opened 1, René introduced his suit and I bid 1NT, ending the auction. West started with four rounds of and Ace of and to the Queen. East wasn’t really happy to be on lead and decided to lead a , my Jack winning the trick. Current layout:

I cashed the King of and the Jack. Now I noticed East started with only four black cards. I played a to the King and the Ace, West showing out. I have complete count, West is 4-2-2-5 and East 2-4-5-2. Confident I play from top, the Queen would either be doubleton in West’s hand, or East had been squeezed out of it already. My 7 of was the 7th trick. I have heard this is worth beer in some places, so where can I collect?