Once I got to the bridge club it was great. Navigating the sub-zero
temperatures to get there was another story, however. Once there, I told stories
about the 70 degree weather last week in Santa Rosa...sigh... I
started my bridge career at the Cincinnati bridge club about 25 years ago and
it was good to see old friends.
Playing teams with partner Joe Fisher as well as Norm Coombs and Larry
Klein, we picked up some Imps on this hand. I dealt and opened 1♥.
(Had we been playing Flannery, I would have opened 2♦!)
♠A10xx
♥AQxxx
♦Jx
♣xx
Partner bid 2NT, Jacoby. I jumped to 4♥ showing a
minimum with no singletons or voids. Partner, undaunted, bid 4NT,
RKC. I responded 5♠,
2 keycards plus the trump queen, and he rolled into 6♥.
A diamond was led and he laid down a nice 5-loser hand. (deduct a
loser for the 5th trump)
♠Kx
♥Kxxxx
♦A109
♣AKx
♠A10xx
♥AQxxx
♦Jx
♣xx
There was nothing to the play--draw trumps, ruff 2 spades and lose a
diamond. We won 13 Imps on that one.
Another amusing hand found me playing and making 1♠ for plus 80 while our teammates bid and made 5♦
for a 12 Imp gain.
Going back Saturday for more. The temperature is expected to be
in the balmy 40's!
See you at the table!
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Jennbridge: Putting on the Pressure
As we all know, it pays to make life difficult for the opponents! In a recent regional team game, white against red, partner passed and RHO opened 3♥. I studied my hand:
♠10xx
♥Void
♦QJ10xx
♣AQ10xx
My first thought was that I "knew" what was going to happen. I was relatively sure that LHO would raise to 4♥ and they were favorites to score up a vulnerable game. What could I do with my minor-suited hand? How could I both announce my minors and jam the auction?
What about an overcall of 4NT? Wouldn't that inject surprise, take up bidding space, and describe my hand all at once? Partner was an experienced player and familiar partner--surely he would read it. If things went awry I could always scramble, bidding the minors later...
4NT! Pass by LHO, 5♣ by partner, pass, pass, PASS! Wow--this auction has a good sound. At least we're not in trouble.
Partner's hand was suitable:
♠10xx
♥Void
♦QJ10xx
♣AQ10xx
♠Kxx
♥xxxx
♦Kx
♣KJxx
A spade was led, and in the course of time the opponents took two spades and a diamond for down one. Sure enough, when we compared scores, our teammates announced "plus 620" and we replied "minus 50!" We love those 11 imp gains.
Keep up the pressure!
See you at the table.
♠10xx
♥Void
♦QJ10xx
♣AQ10xx
My first thought was that I "knew" what was going to happen. I was relatively sure that LHO would raise to 4♥ and they were favorites to score up a vulnerable game. What could I do with my minor-suited hand? How could I both announce my minors and jam the auction?
What about an overcall of 4NT? Wouldn't that inject surprise, take up bidding space, and describe my hand all at once? Partner was an experienced player and familiar partner--surely he would read it. If things went awry I could always scramble, bidding the minors later...
4NT! Pass by LHO, 5♣ by partner, pass, pass, PASS! Wow--this auction has a good sound. At least we're not in trouble.
Partner's hand was suitable:
♠10xx
♥Void
♦QJ10xx
♣AQ10xx
♠Kxx
♥xxxx
♦Kx
♣KJxx
A spade was led, and in the course of time the opponents took two spades and a diamond for down one. Sure enough, when we compared scores, our teammates announced "plus 620" and we replied "minus 50!" We love those 11 imp gains.
Keep up the pressure!
See you at the table.
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Jennbridge: Squeezing in Monterey
It's always better than I remember: the weather, the seafood and the beauty of Monterey Bay. Throw in some good competitive bridge and you have a winning combination!
Margie Michelin and I had a nice 58% game to make it to the barometer finals. Here's a fun hand from the first session. Bd. 7, both Vul.
Partner opened 1♣, RHO overcalled 1♠ and I bid 2♦. The bidding became rather long and tortuous after that, but we eventually landed in the nice contract of 5♦.
A diamond was led and I studied the hand. Clearly I had a spade loser--could I avoid losing two hearts? Like most players, I usually can't visualize the whole hand at trick one, but this much I know: Once I start running my long suit, the hand will generally come into focus.
It was possible that LHO needed to guard both clubs and hearts and that she could be squeezed. To prepare for this possibility, I rectified the count by ducking a heart early in the hand: I led a heart which lost to the 10 in RHO's hand. A spade was cashed and I won the next spade.
Sure enough, LHO started getting uncomfortable making discards on the run of the diamonds On the penultimate diamond she pitched the ♥Q and on the last diamond she discarded the ♥K! She wasn't able to guard both clubs and hearts and I scored up my game.
Hand rotated--I sat North.
Making 5♦ was worth 36.5 matchpoints out of 38.
See you at the table!
Margie Michelin and I had a nice 58% game to make it to the barometer finals. Here's a fun hand from the first session. Bd. 7, both Vul.
| ♠ | 2 |
| ♥ | J 6 4 |
| ♦ | A K Q 10 9 7 2 |
| ♣ | 6 5 |
Partner opened 1♣, RHO overcalled 1♠ and I bid 2♦. The bidding became rather long and tortuous after that, but we eventually landed in the nice contract of 5♦.
| ♠ | 8 6 5 4 |
| ♥ | A 9 8 7 |
| ♦ | 8 |
| ♣ | A K 8 3 |
| ♠ | 2 |
| ♥ | J 6 4 |
| ♦ | A K Q 10 9 7 2 |
| ♣ | 6 5 |
A diamond was led and I studied the hand. Clearly I had a spade loser--could I avoid losing two hearts? Like most players, I usually can't visualize the whole hand at trick one, but this much I know: Once I start running my long suit, the hand will generally come into focus.
It was possible that LHO needed to guard both clubs and hearts and that she could be squeezed. To prepare for this possibility, I rectified the count by ducking a heart early in the hand: I led a heart which lost to the 10 in RHO's hand. A spade was cashed and I won the next spade.
Sure enough, LHO started getting uncomfortable making discards on the run of the diamonds On the penultimate diamond she pitched the ♥Q and on the last diamond she discarded the ♥K! She wasn't able to guard both clubs and hearts and I scored up my game.
Hand rotated--I sat North.
| Board 7 South Deals Both Vul |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Making 5♦ was worth 36.5 matchpoints out of 38.
See you at the table!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
