OK to run with scissors

March 19th, 2011  ~  Jeff Lehman  ~  1 Comment 

Eric Rodwell was declaring this hand from Vanderbilt Round of 8:

Dealer: Vul:	North ♠ AKxx ♥ Q ♦ Axxx ♣ QJTx
West ♠ xxx ♥ AJT ♦ QJTx ♣ xxx		East ♠ x ♥ K98xxx ♦ xx ♣ AKxx
	South ♠ QJxxx ♥ xxx ♦ Kxx ♣ 9x

Opening lead was ♦Q, won by K in hand.  I believe that next two tricks were ♠AK.  Next was a club from dummy, won by ♣K.  Diamond return to ♦A in dummy.  Second club to ♣A.  Now heart underlead to ♥A, and cash of ♦J for the set.  Nice defense.

But had Rodwell led ♥Q early (scissors coup), the transportation between defenders would have been snipped.  East has both club entries and no way to get to West to cash the third diamond.  Meanwhile two of declarer’s red suit losers could be pitched on good clubs in dummy and the remaining heart loser ruffed.  I believe at the other table a trump was led and so, without the diamond attack, timing was with declarer and 4♠ made.

Nickell at the helm

March 18th, 2011  ~  Jeff Lehman  ~  2 Comments 

Nick Nickell and Ralph Katz earned a nice swing in Vanderbilt Round of 8 by bidding aggressively and then bringing home a game contract opposite a tame 1NT at the other table.

I did not catch all the spot cards, but this is my general recollection:

Dealer: Vul:	North ♠ xxx ♥ QJxx ♦ KJxx ♣ Ax
West ♠ AQ97 ♥ KT ♦ AQT ♣ Txxx		East ♠ KT8x ♥ A98x ♦ xxx ♣ xx
	South ♠ Jx ♥ xxx ♦ 98x ♣ KQJ9x

♣A, then ♣to K, then switch to ♦9, to T, and J.  Then small spade exit to ♠J and Q.

Now club ruff to dummy, ♠ overtaken to hand, and another club ruff.  That’s seven tricks in.  North (Stansby) was responsible for protecting both red suits and calmly blanked his ♦K to come to a small spade, all four hearts, and the stiff diamond.  Reading the earlier ♦9 perfectly, Nickell went up with ♦A drew the last trump and claimed.

Not so obvious shift

March 14th, 2011  ~  Jeff Lehman  ~  12 Comments 

Because it takes a bit of memorization, I do not play “obvious shift” defensive signaling except in one partnership.  But I do like that signaling, taken from the Granovetters’ book Switch in Time.

Dealer: West Vul: None	North ♠ T72 ♥ K4 ♦ T54 ♣ KT832
West ♠ Q94 ♥ 8762 ♦ 8763 ♣ 76		East ♠ 865 ♥ AJT5 ♦ AKQ2 ♣ Q4
	South ♠ AKJ3 ♥ Q93 ♦ J9 ♣ AJ95

Coup, coup, who do you coup?

March 12th, 2011  ~  Jeff Lehman  ~  2 Comments 

Another hand from my e-mail archives from an old club game.

Holding ♠9, ♥Q87632, ♦KT53, ♣K8, I passed as dealer.  LHO passed also and partner opened 2NT.  RHO passed.  Needing a good board (what else is new?), I chose to leap to 6♥.  LHO led the ♠Q.  Partner — bless him — put down a most suitable dummy.

North ♠ AK6 ♥ AKT5 ♦ AJ9 ♣ Q63

South ♠ 9 ♥ Q87632 ♦ KT53 ♣ K8

Having won the spade lead in dummy, I realized that I can make my contract without having to guess diamonds if I can guess which opponent holds the ♣A.

• If East holds the ♣A, and I lead a club through him, he is faced with two bad choices.  If he ducks the club lead, I will win the ♣K and eliminate my club loser by pitching my remaining club on the other top spade in dummy.  Alternatively, if East rises with the ♣A, I will, after unblocking my ♣K, be able to pitch two diamonds from my hand on the ♣Q and ♠A in dummy.
• If West holds the ♣A, and I lead a club through him, the same situation arises.  If he ducks the club, I will win the ♣Q and later pitch my ♣K on the ♠A.  Alternatively, if West rises with the ♣A, I will, after unblocking my ♣K, be able to pitch two diamonds from my hand on the ♣Q and ♠A in dummy.

The play of leading a club through the hand with the ace is known as Morton’s Fork coup.  Morton was a tax collector for the king.  If you looked as though you had riches when he came to visit you, he would look to collect a share of those riches on behalf of the king.  If, on the other hand, you looked as though you had no riches, then, he reasoned, you must be frugal and he would look to collect a share of what you must have saved.  A gotcha, either way!

Of course, at bridge, unlike the world of vassals, one has to commit to a decision: here, which opponent to play for the ace.  At the table, I chose, after drawing trumps, to play a club from dummy.  My ♣K lost to the ace and West continued with the ♠J, won in dummy.  I later lost a diamond finesse, failing by one trick.  The whole hand was:

Dealer: South Vul:	North ♠ AK6 ♥ AKT5 ♦ AJ9 ♣ Q63
West ♠ QJT852 ♥ 4 ♦ 8642 ♣ AT		East ♠ 743 ♥ J9 ♦ Q7 ♣ T97542
	South ♠ 9 ♥ Q87632 ♦ KT53 ♣ K8

I never did ask West why he failed to open 2♠.

Why a bad boy can get the girl

March 12th, 2011  ~  Jeff Lehman  ~  No Comments 

One of the attributes of successful bridge players is that they know when to break “the rules”.  Not the rules found in the ACBL game regulations, of course, — there is another name for players who break those rules — but the general rules for telling partner about the location of your high cards and your distribution in key suits.

Here is a hand (taken from my old e-mail archives) from a club game of a year or two ago to illustrate:

You are East.  After a 1NT-3NT auction of the opponents, your partner leads a fourth best ♦3.  What is your defensive plan as East?

Dealer: Vul:	North ♠ JT73 ♥ Q8 ♦ 9 ♣ AQT873
West ♠ ♥ ♦ (3) ♣		East ♠ Q652 ♥ T76 ♦ AK85 ♣ J6

If you are a good boy, one who follows the rules, you will win Trick 1 with your ♦K (lower of touching honors) and return the ♦5 (fourth best).  But if you are a bad boy, one who breaks the rules when it suits your purposes, you will win the ♦A at Trick 1 (presumptively denying ownership of the ♦K) and return the ♦8 (third best).  Here was the whole hand:

Dealer: Vul:	North ♠ JT73 ♥ Q8 ♦ 9 ♣ AQT873
West ♠ 98 ♥ J953 ♦ J7432 ♣ K4		East ♠ Q652 ♥ T76 ♦ AK85 ♣ J6
	South ♠ AK4 ♥ AK42 ♦ QT6 ♣ 952

If you play as would a good boy, declarer might guess to play the ♦Q at Trick 2, soon wrapping up the contract with three overtricks and winning the prize (or “girl” to hark back to the title of the post).  But if you play as does a bad boy, chances are declarer will play the ♦T, losing to partner’s ♦J, after which partner can play a diamond to your ♦K, and, with the suit conveniently unblocked, partner can run the suit when you return your ♦5, taking the first five tricks.  And you “win the girl”!

Best bid ever? A memorial to Chuck Eagle

March 11th, 2011  ~  Jeff Lehman  ~  3 Comments 

Sometime in the mid 1970’s, I played in the Spingold in Chicago, where I was attending law school.  With my not yet being even a Life Master at the time, my team was probably seeded last in the field.  Accordingly, I was not much surprised to see our first opponents (in a head-to-head match) be the world champions of Jeff Meckstroth, Eric Rodwell, Bobby Levin, Russ Arnold, and the sponsor, the late Bud Reinhold.  Neither was I surprised at our being slaughtered.  Still, the memories of that experience are overwhelmingly positive.  Part of that is because of the great playing conditions and the integrity and skill of the competition.  And part of that is because of my memory of a bid by my teammate, the late Chuck Eagle.

Chuck was definitely the best player on my team of Iowa bridge players; he had won many tournaments in partnership with one of the Clerkins from Indiana.  But here is the hand that defines my memory of Chuck.

Allow me to present the hand from the perspective of Rodwell and me, who held the same cards at opposite tables.

Our partners opened 3♦ and we held, if memory best serves:

Both Rodwell and I chose to respond 6D.  That ended the auction at my table and we scored up our slam, losing only the ♣A.

At the Meckwell table, Chuck doubled 6♦.   That bid was passed back to Rodwell.

I understand that this guy Rodwell is a pretty good player … good enough to recognize a Lightner double when he hears one.  So, rather than lose a heart ruff on opening lead and then the ♣A, Rodwell ran to 6♥.  But Chuck doubled that call, too.  Now being on lead, Chuck led a small diamond (!). Time to show the complete hand:

Dealer: Vul:	North ♠ x ♥ xxx ♦ KQJxxxx ♣ xx
West ♠ QJx ♥ x ♦ xxx ♣ QTxxxx		East ♠ KTxxxx ♥ xxx ♦ — ♣ Axxx
	South ♠ Axx ♥ AKQJTx ♦ Axx ♣ x

Down one.  I wish I had been at the table to see Meckwell’s reaction!

That’s my candidate for best bid ever: an offside Lightner double!

The Club Jack stars at the club Swiss

March 10th, 2011  ~  Jeff Lehman  ~  1 Comment 

First the favorite …

Vulnerable against not, South opened a 14½ to 17 1NT as dealer and played it there.

I led the ♥2 and saw this dummy.

	North ♠ QT5 ♥ 97 ♦ QJ842 ♣ Q54
West ♠ K973 ♥ KT42 ♦ 7 ♣ KJ86

Declarer chose to play the ♥7, topped by the ♥8 and won by the ♥Q.   Tricks 2, 3, and 4, were ♦T and ♦9 ducked nicely by partner and a third diamond won by partner’s ♦K (our 1^st trick).  I discarded two spades up the line.  Partner returned the ♥6 and I topped the ♥J with the ♥K.  What do you lead in this position?

	North ♠ QT5 ♥ — ♦ J8 ♣ Q54
West ♠ K9 ♥ T4 ♦ — ♣ KJ86

You were dealt 10 HCP, dummy has 7, declarer has 14½ to 17.  That leaves 6 to 8½ HCP for partner.  You know he already has shown ♦AK and so he has very few, if any, more high cards.

Declarer does not possess as much information as you do, of course, about the allocation of high cards between your hand and partner’s.  Can you take advantage?

At this point I switched to the ♣J!  Declarer eyed this and played small from dummy, winning the ♣A.  Now he played a spade: 2, 9, T, and won by partner’s ♠J.  Partner returned a heart:  3, 5, ♥T (our 4th trick), pitch from dummy.   I returned a small club and declarer ducked this in dummy, allowing partner to win his ♣T, for our fifth trick.  Partner cashed the ♦A for our sixth trick and returned a club where I could cash two more for +200!

	North ♠ QT5 ♥ 97 ♦ QJ872 ♣ Q54
West ♠ K973 ♥ KT42 ♦ 7 ♣ KJ86		East ♠ J62 ♥ 863 ♦ AK53 ♣ T72
	South ♠ A84 ♥ AQJ5 ♦ T96 ♣ A93

Declarer had guessed poorly, from Trick 1-on.  Still, we did well to force the guesses.

And now, my least favorite hand …

Lew Gamerman, a long-time rubber bridge player who has turned to duplicate bridge with great success over the last few years, held this hand:

He heard this auction:

What call would you now make?

Lew chose to pass!

	North ♠ K98753 ♥ Q96 ♦ T7 ♣ K7
West ♠ QJ6 ♥ T853 ♦ 943 ♣ 852		East ♠ T ♥ AJ742 ♦ 8652 ♣ T43
	South ♠ A42 ♥ K ♦ AKQJ ♣ AQJ96

Well-judged.  As you can tell, the bidding by my side was, well, rambunctious and there was a bit of partnership confusion by advancer about the meaning of the 6♣ call, but I give credit to Lew for recognizing the value of his ♣J.  Had his partner owned ♠KQxxx, the spade slam would have been dependent upon avoiding a 4-1 trump split, while the club slam – even if the ♣K were singleton – offers a better chance.  Lew was rewarded even though our teammates avoided the doomed spade slam.

Ruff, ruff; the ruff is tough

March 10th, 2011  ~  Jeff Lehman  ~  1 Comment 

A friend sent me this hand from last night’s club game, an event in which I did not play.

North ♠ Q2 ♥ JT984 ♦ KJ3 ♣ T92

South ♠ AKT95 ♥ AK75 ♦ T54 ♣ K

Your reach 4♥, via this auction:

The opening lead is a fifth-best ♣3. East wins the ♣A and returns the ♣4.  What is your declarer plan?

At matchpoints are you tempted toward the line to a possible twelve tricks?  If each major is good for five tricks, two club ruffs can be added for twelve tricks in total.  Just ruff the club low, draw all trumps in two rounds, lead to ♠Q, ruff the last club and then play on spades.

Should you give in to temptation?

… Not on this hand:

	North ♠ Q2 ♥ JT984 ♦ KJ3 ♣ T92
West ♠ 8763 ♥ — ♦ A876 ♣ Q7653		East ♠ J4 ♥ Q632 ♦ Q92 ♣ AJ84
	South ♠ AKT95 ♥ AK75 ♦ T54 ♣ K

The winning line is to ruff the club high.  Then lead a small heart toward dummy’s honors.

Let’s first assume that East wins the ♥Q .  No matter what he does next, you will emerge with at least four trumps plus the club ruff already taken and five spades; you will even win one more if East continues a second club.

Even if East rejects the gift of the ♥ Q, you have an answer: ruff a second club, high again, and then play your remaining small heart to dummy.

On a 18 top, +450 was 17+, +420 was 14+, -50 was 6-, and -100 was 1+ (the + and – presumably resulting from some factoring).

This is my first blog posting, so please forgive me if I have tripped up in some blog-specific way that experience will help eliminate.  Tripping up in bridge analysis, however, will probably recur.  Hope you enjoy.