Jennbridge

Jennbridge: What contract?

2012-01-22T12:45:00.000-08:00

I opened this 14-16 NT hand the other night in a local team game and partner bid 2♥, a transfer to spades.

♠8xx
♥KQJx
♦ xxx
♣AKJ

After I bid 2♠, he then bid 3♦, a forcing bid showing spades and diamonds. What is my call?

*****************

Although it is usually right to play in your 8-card fit (spades), in this case I had plenty of reasons to rethink conventional wisdom:

My hand was perfectly balanced with no ruffing values
All of my values were in the unbid suits--hearts and clubs
Partner's values were in spades and diamonds--so all suits should be well-stopped.

With all this in mind I bid 3NT and received a club lead.

♠KQ9xx
♥x
♦ AQJxx
♣109

♠8xx
♥KQJx
♦ xxx
♣AKJ

I won in my hand and took the diamond finesse which lost. A club was returned and I played another diamond (all following) to check on the suit break before leading a heart to my king, losing to the ace on my left. LHO gave it best defense by putting me back on the board with a diamond (rather than conceding the contract by putting me back in my hand to cash winners).

After I played the diamonds I exited with the spade king, won the queen, and when I exited with the last spade they had to put me in my hand for the 9th trick. I wasn't particularly worried about a 4-1 spade break because there would have been various endplay opportunities.

All in all, it was a fairly routine hand, but as we were sorting our hands for the next board, we all realized that in a spade contract there were 4 losers: 2 spades, 1 diamond and the ace of hearts. If our opponents played in 4 spades we would have a substantial gain.

Sure enough, when we compared scores we won 12 IMPs as we were plus 600 and our teammates were plus 100 against 4 spades.

See you at the table!

Jennbridge: Play this hand with Wayne

2012-01-19T19:59:00.000-08:00

I always enjoy a well-played bridge hand, even, as in this case, it is against me!

South Deals
N-S Vul

♠ K 4
♥ Q 5 2
♦ A 10 5
♣ 10 7 5 4 3

N
W		E
S

♠ 8 2
♥ A J 3
♦ 7
♣ K Q J 9 8 6 2

West	North	East	South
Jenn			Wayne
			1 ♣
1 ♠	2 ♣	3 ♣	5 ♣
Pass	Pass	Dbl	All pass

5 ♣ x by South

I overcalled 1♠ in theauction and partner cuebid 3♣, showing aspade raise. Against 5 ♣ x I led the ace of ♠ and shifted to aheart, declarer winning the jack. Declarer was Wayne Gordon of Sonoma.How should he play this hand?

Wayne rose to theoccasion by crossing to the ♦ ace, ruffing adiamond, then crossing to the ♠ king and ruffing thelast diamond. Now the stage was set.

He merely exited with aclub and when partner won his singleton ace he was endplayed. A heartreturn could be ducked to the queen for no heart losers and the return ofanother suit would provide declarer with a ruff/sluff. Either way he would make his contract.

South Deals
N-S Vul

♠ K 4
♥ Q 5 2
♦ A 10 5
♣ 10 7 5 4 3

♠ A Q 9 7 6 3
♥ 10 8 6
♦ Q 8 3 2
♣ —

N
W		E
S

♠ J 10 5
♥ K 9 7 4
♦ K J 9 6 4
♣ A

♠ 8 2
♥ A J 3
♦ 7
♣ K Q J 9 8 6 2

Either a heart opening lead or a spade continuation after the spade lead would have disrupted declarer's timing and prevented him from successfully eliminating the diamonds which was necessary for the endplay.

Minus 550 cost us 4 IMPs.

See you at the table!

Jennbridge: Q & A on LTC

2012-01-16T11:30:00.000-08:00

I have been receiving some thoughtful questions about the use of Losing Trick Count and will start addressing them here.

Q. I enjoyed segment #2 of Losing Trick Count and want to review segment #1. Can you please tell me which issue of Bridge Bulletin it's in ?

A. The first article is in the Dec. 2011 issue. This article is important as it explains how to count losers. There is also a complete explanation of how to count losers in my LTC booklet.

Q. Can you use LTC after you open 1 notrump?
Q. Does this apply to an opening bid of 1 NT, followed by a jacoby transfer?

A. Don't use it until you find a fit. When you find a fit you can use it. I will be addressing this in a future article--stay tuned.

Q. I am wondering how the number 24 was arrived at as the number you subtract your losers from!

A. Since the maximum number of losers you can have in your hand is 12 (maximum of 3 losers per suit), then the maximum number of losers between your hand and your partner's hand is 24. LTC operates by deducting the actual number of losers from the maximum number possible to arrive at the number of tricks you can expect to win. (Your 7-loser hand plus your partner's 7-loser hand equals 14 losers. Subtract 14 from 24 to arrive at 10--the number of tricks you expect to win.)

Q. I had trouble with this hand the other day after partner opened 1 spade and next hand bid 2 spades, a Michaels cuebid: Jxx/ AKx/Jxx/AKxx. I counted it as 8 losers and we missed game. Where did I go wrong?

A. First of all, you have 16 points so you definitely want to be in game. I like to think about LTC this way: I use it primarily when I have a decision to make. With a 16-point hand there is no decision, just take steps to get to game. Remember that LTC doesn't replace point count--it is used in conjunction with it.
Secondly, don't forget the adjustments to LTC I wrote about recently in this blog. If you deduct 1/2 loser for each ace, you really have a 7-loser hand.
Finally, you and your partner should adopt some methods to deal with this type of interference. The simplest way is to agree that a bid of 3 hearts (their known suit) shows a limit raise or better in your suit--spades. You would then start with a 3 heart bid and eventually get to a spade game.

Q. Do you still use game tries in your bidding with LTC?

A. Yes--although LTC can be used effectively with various types of game tries, I especially like to use it with help-suit game tries. Many of the hands in my LTC booklet (for sale on this blog) from actual play involve the use of help-suit game tries.

See you at the table!

Jennbridge: Adjustments to LTC

2012-01-04T09:30:00.000-08:00

Now that my second article about Losing Trick Count has appeared in the Bridge Bulletin, I am getting feedback and questions from readers. Thanks for the enthusiastic feedback!  I'll try to address some of the questions in this forum.

It is important to realize that each article is a small snapshot of a larger subject--snapshots which will be spread out over the course of several months. In the articles I purposely present examples in which using LTC enables the optimum contract to be reached while traditional point count methods fail.  Therefore some of the bidding may seem a bit surprising, but it is an effective way to explain and illustrate the LTC principles.

It should be noted that over the years different bridge writers have proposed various adjustments to the basic LTC system. Currently the most widely accepted adjustment pertains to the valuation of aces and queens. It is often recommended to add 1/2 loser for an "unsupported" queen and deduct 1/2 loser for each ace. A queen is "supported" when it it has a jack or 10 with it. The adjustment for aces is consistent with the fact that aces are considered to be undervalued in the point count system.

Using these adjustments would change the loser count of one of the hands in my January LTC--part 2 article. This hand: ♠Qx/♥AK1097/♦AK7/♣J84 was presented as a 7-loser hand, but if one loser is deducted for the two aces, then it is a 6-loser hand.

My advice is to try out LTC for yourself.  Success will dispel any doubts. I love using LTC and have written up a lot of success stories in my Losing Trick Count booklet--hands my partners and I played at all levels. Bob, one of my regular partners who is a Diamond Life Master and NABC champion, started using LTC about 3 years ago at my behest, and is now a True Believer. "It has improved my bidding as well as made bidding easier!" he is fond of saying.

Feel free to leave comments or email questions.

Off to the Monterey Regional. See you at the table!

Jennbridge: Best of 2011

2012-01-01T00:30:00.000-08:00

The big news of 2011 was the publication of my Losing Trick Count booklet and the Bridge Bulletin articles on the subject. There were also many interesting hands played throughout the year and I am happy to present some of my favorite blog posts.

1. Oh wait, here is more big news. I had an interesting squeeze hand published in The Bridge World:
http://jennbridge.blogspot.com/2011/07/jennbridge-bridge-world-letter.html

2. An amusing hand from the Toronto nationals:
http://jennbridge.blogspot.com/2011/08/jennbridge-thats-one-way-to-put-it.html

3. An outrageous hand playing with a student:
http://jennbridge.blogspot.com/2011/11/jennbridge-adventures-with-abbe.html

4. A couple of fun hands from a regional pair game:
http://jennbridge.blogspot.com/2011/06/jennbridge-pitfalls-abound.html

Happy New Year!

Best,
Jennifer

Jennbridge: A 4-loser hand

2011-12-31T10:07:00.000-08:00

Losing trick count principles served us well yesterday as Mary O. and I posted a nice score. We had several good scores in major suit part-score contracts as we were able to judge well and stay out of game.

On this hand I had bigger things in mind (board 23):

♠Q
♥AKJx
♦ AQ10xxxx
♣x

After two passes I opened 1♦ and partner responded 1♥. What would you bid?

****************

As I had only 4 losers I definitely wanted to be in game and slam might very well be in the cards. Various bids are possible, but I took the straightforward path of jumping to 4♥. (4♦ is a possibility, but we hadn't discussed that bid). It turns out that partner held both black aces, 4 small hearts and 2 small diamonds. Hearts broke 3-2 with the queen doubleton onside so she had no heart losers. Her only loser turned out to be the king of diamonds when the finesse lost. Diamonds broke 2-2, however, so she had no trouble taking 12 tricks.

With her 8-loser hand she probably should have made a slam try, but plus 680 turned out to be a good score.

Happy New Year!

See you at the table!

Jennbridge: Uppercut and Trump Promotion

2011-12-27T23:12:00.000-08:00

Larry Hansen, one of my partners, recently sent me this interesting hand, noting that it was a defense that hasn't been written about very much. Thanks Larry!

Hi Jennifer,
I had an interesting Defensive Hand with one of my students earlier in Nov. My student failed to recognize a situation where she needed to lead a suit for me to uppercut, and so I wrote up an article on Uppercuts and Trump Promotions for her and others that I might need to instruct.

But this hand was especially interesting because of a key 2nd hand play which was made which allowed us to reach a situation where both an Uppercut play and a Trump Promotion were in play.

Board 26
East Deals
Both Vul

♠ K J
♥ K 7 6 5 3
♦ K 4
♣ Q J 6 4

♠ 3 2
♥ Q J 10 8 2
♦ 5 3
♣ A 8 5 3

N
W		E
S

♠ A Q 9 8 7 6
♥ A 4
♦ Q J 2
♣ 9 7

♠ 10 5 4
♥ 9
♦ A 10 9 8 7 6
♣ K 10 2

EW played in 2S by E. (The D: designates tricks won by the defense)

S started with the 9H, with the QH winning in dummy.
D: Declarer played a D from dummy, and I decided to play the KD as an unblock in case partner had D's; the KD won.
D: I could give partner a ruff, with a high H, but thought that I would get another entry with a D ruff and so I continued D's, which partner won with the A.
D: Partner led a 3rd D after some thought, and I ruffed with the JS.
D: I now led a H and partner ruffed.

This is where partner faltered, she continued with a C and eventually the defense won a 5th trick in C's
Had partner understood the value of her TS and the fact that I ruffed with the JS, which shouldn't be my highest S, and therefore suggest that an Uppercut was available.

Here's what happens if she continues a 4th D...
I would ruff with the KS and declarer will have to lose 2 more tricks
If declarer over-ruffs, he loses a C and the TS
If declarer pitches a C, then I win the KS and continue with a H to give partner a trump promotion for 2 tricks.

The neat thing about this combined UpperCut and Trump Promotion is that when Declarer has a single loser that he can discard, discarding it does not gain.
Had I not played the KD and continued D, this position does not arise and declarer can hold the loses to 5 tricks.
Larry

Jennbridge: Hands from Seattle

2011-12-15T21:44:00.000-08:00

I had a nice time playing with Farid Assemi in the inaugural Senior Mixed Pairs in Seattle--won by my friends Polly and Patrick Dunn.

Here are a pair of 3NT contracts from the first final session which resulted in good scores. For good measure I'm also including a hand from the same session where I used losing trick count principles--a subject I'm currently writing about in the Bridge Bulletin.

Board 20
South Deals
Both Vul

♠ K 10 9
♥ Q 10 7 3
♦ J 5 2
♣ 4 3 2

♠ A 6
♥ J 9 8 6 5
♦ 10 9 8 4
♣ 6 5

N
W		E
S

♠ Q J 8 5 4
♥ 4
♦ Q 7 6
♣ A Q 9 8

♠ 7 3 2
♥ A K 2
♦ A K 3
♣ K J 10 7

West	North	East	South
	Jenn		Farid
			1 ♣
Pass	1 ♥	Pass	2 NT
Pass	3 NT	All pass

On this board (rotated) Farid found himself in a pushy 3NT contract with the ♦10 lead. Questioning revealed that the 10 lead was from "0 or 2 higher", so he didn't yield to the temptation of playing the ♦J and won in his hand. How to get 9 tricks?

He started on hearts and East showed out on the 2nd heart. After Farid took his 4 hearts he made a key play of leading a ♣ from the board and guessing correctly to play the 10 when East played low. (He told me later that he detected a slight pause in the bidding by his RHO after my 1♥ bid, so had decided to play his RHO for length and/or strength in the black suits.) He later put East in with a spade who, having unattractive options, played on clubs again.

Farid himself will take up the narrative: It is a good hand, but probably more of a lucky hand since RHO's heart shortness and guards in the other 3 suits made success almost automatic. It would probably make a good hand for help with counting tricks and various assumptions needed to succeed. However, I think the crucial lesson is that the lead convention (the ten lead promises 0 or 2 higher) is a double-edged sword; on that hand it cut our opponents.

Plus 600 was worth 39 out of 47 matchpoints.

2. Next is a 3NT contract which I played (hands rotated):

Board 6
South Deals
N-S Vul

♠ J 10 7
♥ A K J 10 6 3
♦ 2
♣ K 10 6

♠ A K 9 8 3
♥ 8 4
♦ A 10 8
♣ Q 5 3

N
W		E
S

♠ 5
♥ Q 9 7 5 2
♦ Q 9 6
♣ 8 7 4 2

♠ Q 6 4 2
♥ —
♦ K J 7 5 4 3
♣ A J 9

West	North	East	South
	Farid		Jenn
			Pass
1 ♠	2 ♥	Pass	2 NT
Pass	3 NT	All pass

We were probably lucky to get to game after my intial pass. Farid made a good decision to bid 3NT rather than 4♥ which would have had no chance.

The opponents started with 3 rounds of spades and I won on the board. I next played the ♥ ace-king and the ♥J lost to the queen. After a long pause East shifted to a diamond and my jack forced the ace. A spade return and a club guess (not really a guess as West needed to have the queen to have an opening bid) and I had my 9 tricks. (2 spades, 3 hearts, 1 diamond and 3 clubs.)

Plus 600 was worth 40 out of 47 matchpoints.

3.  Farid dealt and opened 1♠ and I held: (board 24, hands rotated)

     ♠KJ
     ♥1098653
     ♦ 9763
     ♣9

RHO passed and so did I. LHO bid 2D and partner rebid 2♠. RHO now bid 3♣ and it was my call.

Not much of a hand, but when I counted my losers, there were only 8--which signified to me that the hand had some value. Plus, two honors in the trump suit and a singleton couldn't be all bad, so I ventured a 3♠ call. Partner bid 4♠ and I hoped he wouldn't be too disappointed with my hand. The  ♥ ace was led.

Board 24
South Deals
None Vul

♠ K J
♥ 10 9 8 6 5 3
♦ 9 7 6 3
♣ 9

♠ 6 5 4
♥ A K Q
♦ J 4
♣ J 10 7 6 2

N
W		E
S

♠ Q 8
♥ 7 4 2
♦ A Q 10 8 2
♣ 8 5 3

♠ A 10 9 7 3 2
♥ J
♦ K 5
♣ A K Q 4

West	North	East	South
	Jenn		Farid
			1 ♠
Pass	Pass	2 ♦	2 ♠
3 ♣	3 ♠	Pass	4 ♠
All pass

With the ♠ queen falling doubleton and the ♦ ace onside, it was a routine matter to ruff a club and make 5. Plus 450 was worth 41 of 47 matchpoints.

This was a good session and a fun event. Unfortunately we couldn't carry the momentum into the evening session.

See you at the table!

Jennbridge: Beware the Automatic Play

2011-12-10T14:57:00.000-08:00

I made a 3NT contract in the STAC game yesterday while most other declarers went down. I suspect it had to do with early plays in the spade suit.

Dec. 9 Holiday STAC

Board 18
East Deals
N-S Vul

♠ A 3 2
♥ A J 4
♦ K Q J 9
♣ Q 8 4

N
W		E
S

♠ Q 7 4
♥ K 7 3
♦ 10 6 4 2
♣ A 3 2

West	North	East	South
	Jenn		Larry H.
		Pass	Pass
Pass	1 NT	Pass	3 NT
All pass

As North, I got the ♠ J lead and paused to consider the play.

Obviously several things needed to work to come to 9 tricks. I didn't know where the ♠ K was, but there was no need to do anything drastic at trick one--like covering the ♠ J with the ♠ Q. There would be another chance to play the spades and I hoped that by that time I would have more information.

I won the ♠ A (West playing the 6, the pair playing upside-down attitude signals) and played the ♦ K which East won. She next played the ♠ 9, in tempo, and the moment of truth had arrived. What should I do?

I had two questions: a) how many spades did East have, and b) did she have the king? If East had 5 spades headed by the jack, the ♠ K would fall on this trick so I should duck again. On the other hand, if East had the ♠ K, I needed to play the ♠ Q, regardless of how many spades she started with or I would lose it.

At this point we rely on our knowledge of the players, if any, and our close observation of any mannerisms, including tempo. I finally decided that East might have paused for thought had she held the ♠ K and decided to play West for it. Accordingly, I ducked again and West followed low. A third spade cleared the suit, West winning the ♠ K. West switched back to diamonds. So far, so good.

I cashed my diamonds, and was pleased to see not only the ♥Q well-placed but also the ♣ K.

Dec. 9 Holiday STAC

Board 18
East Deals
N-S Vul

♠ A 3 2
♥ A J 4
♦ K Q J 9
♣ Q 8 4

♠ K 8 6
♥ Q 10 8 6
♦ 8 7 3
♣ K 9 6

N
W		E
S

♠ J 10 9 5
♥ 9 5 2
♦ A 5
♣ J 10 7 5

♠ Q 7 4
♥ K 7 3
♦ 10 6 4 2
♣ A 3 2

The 13th ♠ was left stranded in the East hand and plus 600 was a tie for top.

See you at the table!

Jennbridge: Kibitzing the Reisinger

2011-12-05T20:40:00.000-08:00

I came home early from the NABC in Seattle and had the opportunity to witness some fine play, along with expert commentary on Bridgebase. This hand was particularly impressive.

Reisinger-A Pretty Play

Board 5
North Deals
N-S Vul

♠ 10 9 7
♥ 6
♦ Q 10 8 3
♣ J 7 6 5 3

♠ A K J 5
♥ 10 9 7 2
♦ K 9
♣ A 9 8

N
W		E
S

♠ 8 2
♥ A K Q J 5 4 3
♦ J 5
♣ Q 10

♠ Q 6 4 3
♥ 8
♦ A 7 6 4 2
♣ K 4 2

West	North	East	South
Versace	Padon	Lauria	Bessis
	Pass	1 ♥	Pass
2 ♣	Pass	3 ♥	Pass
3 ♠	Pass	4 ♥	Pass
6 NT	All pass

6 NT by West

First, the bidding. After Versace made a 2/1 game forcing bid, Lauria availed himself of the opportunity to make a jump rebid in ♥, a bid showing a solid suit after a 2/1 bid. After a ♠ cuebid by Versace and a 4♥ bid by Lauria, Versace could envision a large number of tricks and pulled out the master bid: 6NT! This bid was designed to protect his ♦ king, take advantage of any other opening lead and gain that all-important extra 10 points in the BAM event.

A diamond was led and the best was yet to come--the play! South returned a ♥ after winning the ♦ ace and Versace prepared his squeeze. Before running his hearts, he carefully cashed the ♣ ace (a Vienna Coup), and also cashed the ♦ king and the ♠ ace.

Now on the run of the hearts South, forced to make 6 discards, was unable to both hold onto his ♣ king and keep the spades guarded. As the ♣ king had not made an appearance by the time all of the hearts had been played, Versace led the last ♠. The ♠ queen was played perforce and he claimed his slam for a win on the board. His opponents stopped in a pedestrian 4♥.

Not surprisingly, this pair was on the winning Cayne team: http://www.acbl.org/nabc/2011/03/bulletins/db11.pdf

Included in the online commentary during the day was a valuable monologue by expert Karen McCallum, who gave several tips on playing board-a-match, which she referred to as "matchpoints to the 10th degree". I'm writing up her tips to present at a later time.

For good measure there was some humor sprinkled in the commentary, to wit: I don't know their agreements, but it looks like he added some points for (previously) passing!

See you at the table!

Jenn's Losing Trick Count booklet

2011-12-04T00:07:00.000-08:00

Because of my article in the December issue of the Bridge Bulletin, I am getting more inquiries about the booklet I've written on losing trick count. A description of the booklet, a review by a fellow bridge blogger, and ordering information are available by clicking on the links to the right. Here is some additional information from the back of the booklet:

This “boutique booklet” provides a clear explanation of the basics of losing trick count. A dozen of the author’s own deals demonstrate its effectiveness. Jennifer makes an important bidding contribution as she presents a system of combining losing trick count with Bergen raises. From sectional team games to the World Mixed Pairs, she takes the reader through her entertaining and instructive hands. Valuable and enjoyable--a worthwhile addition to any bridge library!

Informative, educational and well written. Clears up several questions I had about the effective use of losing trick count.

Improve your game and win more often! Start using Losing Trick Count today!

See you at the table!

Jennbridge: Live From Seattle

2011-12-03T09:58:00.000-08:00

Enjoying a wonderful NABC here in Seattle. Thanks for the book orders and comments.

From a reader: Read your article in recent ACBL publication. I haven't used LTC, since I typically use: Rule of 20, open 12 point hands sometimes, and use 2.5 Quick tricks with 11 points. Please comment on this. thanks. ..rob

Rob: The guidelines you mention are helpful when deciding whether to open the bidding. We need other guidelines to assist us as the bidding proceeds, however. Many of our decisions revolve around how high to bid once we have located a fit with our partner. This is where losing trick count comes into play. It is used in conjunction with high card points to help us more accurately evaluate our hand so that we can bid with confidence to the right level.

Here is a hand I held recently. My partner opened 1♠ and I held:

♠ K643
♥ 984
♦ AQ1075
♣ 2

How should I respond? Without losing trick count it would be difficult to accurately evaluate this hand.

At the table, I counted my losers (7) which meant that my hand was worth a game-forcing bid. I therefore jumped to 4♣, a splinter showing ♠ support and ♣ shortness, and my partner signed off in 4♠.

These were the hands and partner had no trouble making 4♠.

♠ K643
♥ 984
♦ AQ1075
♣ 2

♠ QJ1098
♥ KQ7
♦ K4
♣ J93

You can change partner's hand any number of ways and he will still have a good chance of making game. We received an excellent score for this hand as many pairs failed to reach game.

I will be writing about this topic in the next few issues of the Bridge Bulletin, so stay tuned.

See you at the table!

Jennbridge: Count Your Losers!

2011-11-26T09:54:00.000-08:00

Partner dealt and opened 1 spade at the club game yesterday (board 27) and I held:

♠ J74
♥ AQ8
♦ Q102
♣ A964

What is your call?

While I had 13 points, I had 8 losers which meant the hand was not necessarily worth a game-forcing bid. Therefore I decided to start with a forcing notrump and try to get more information from partner before my next bid. I can always put the hand in game, make a 3-card limit raise, or perhaps even veer into notrump.

My fearless (reckless?) LHO came in with a double and Bob, my partner redoubled, showing a good hand. RHO bid 2 hearts and it was decision time. As I had hoped, I now had a lot of information.

For starters, the opponents were probably in big trouble. Secondly, LHO had values. Finally, my partner had a good hand as indicated by his redouble. Clearly we belonged in game, but several factors pointed to a notrump game:

My hand was a balanced 4-3-3-3 with no ruffing values.
All of the suits seemed to be adequately stopped.
The partnership possessed extra values so that as many tricks were likely available in notrump as in a suit contract
With the heart bid on my right a heart lead was likely.
The omnipresent and overriding reason: We were playing matchpoints! (so that making that 10 point bonus was all-important)

I decided against punishing the relatively inexperienced opponents and my 3 notrump bid closed out the auction. A heart was led and a suitable dummy greeted me:

♠ KQ1098
♥ K3
♦ AK
♣ Q1083

♠ J74
♥ AQ8
♦ Q102
♣ A964

11 tricks were easily available and we were rewarded with a near-70% board.

My LHO held: A/10742/9853/KJ52.

The keys to the hand were 1) staying out of slam and 2) bidding notrump. My partner admitted that if I had started with a 2 club game-forcing bid, it would have been virtually inmpossible to stay out of slam, and nearly half of the field did, indeed, bid to the slam. (One pair, remarkably, bid and made 6 due to an unlikely endplay. Charlene stripped the red suits and threw her opponent in with the {lucky for her, singleton!} ace of spades who had to then lead away from the king of clubs.)

Don't forget to count your losers!

See you at the table!

Jennbridge: Adventures with Abbe

2011-11-21T23:11:00.000-08:00

Abbe (my bridge student, assistant and friend) and I stayed to play in the Marin Co. unit game after the losing trick count seminar Gene Simpson and I taught yesterday. Here is one of the more memorable hands.

RHO dealt and passed and I innocently opened 1NT:
♠ 952
♥ AQJ
♦ A1092
♣ A104

Abbe, with a flourish, responded 4 ♦, a Texas transfer, and I duly bid 4 ♥. She now bid 4NT, keycard, and I responded 5♦, showing 0 or 3. She now signed off (or attempted to) at 5♥. I found this whole auction unusual, however, and couldn't really figure out what was going on. It did seem to me though, that since I had 3 keycards rather than 0 that I should take another call. So I bid 6 ♥ and everyone passed.

The ♦ king was led and I did my best to conceal my surprise.

♠ J76
♥ K85432
♦ J
♣ KQ3

♠ 952
♥ AQJ
♦ A1092
♣ A104

"Good grief!" I quieted my mind with the declaration that I wasn't down yet. I saw that I could take a ruffing finesse against the ♦ queen and be down only one (for what that would be worth).

I drew a couple of rounds of trump and took the ruffing finesse--the ♦ 10 being covered by the queen and ruffed. I drew a couple more rounds of trump and noted with interest as LHO, a very experienced player with thousands of masterpoints, pitched two diamonds. For good measure I drew the last tump and played off the clubs ending in my hand.

♠ J76
♥
♦
♣

♠ 9
♥
♦ 92
♣

I cashed the ♦ 9 pitching a spade as both opponents followed. Was there really a miracle at hand or had I miscounted? I played the ♦ 2 and pitched another spade as eveyone showed out. Making 6. The ♦ 2 was my 12th trick!

Abbe was starting a small celebration in her seat and I hurriedly scored up 1430 and jumped up from the table for a walk out into the hallway. Ha! Perhaps I have been in a worse slam but, mercifully, I can't remember it!

LHO held: Q4/ 97/KQ765/9762

See you at the table!

Jennbridge: LTC seminar with Gene Simpson

2011-11-13T17:57:00.000-08:00

It's not too late to sign up for the losing trick count seminar that Gene Simpson and I are giving next Sunday in Marin County. Here are the details:

Sunday, November 20, 2011, 10:30A – 12:30P (prior to Unit 508 game)

Terra Linda Rec Center, 670 Del Ganado Road, Terra Linda

$40 per person, includes a copy of Jennifer's LTC booklet.
Contact Jennifer for reservations & info at: jennife574@aol.com.

Losing Trick Count – an alternative method of Bridge hand evaluation guaranteed to improve your bidding.
- Take the guesswork out of bidding!
- Learn how to bid games easily and confidently with no more than 20 points!
- Learn how to stop at a low level despite high point count.

This seminar will present LTC theory along with approximately 20 hands on the benefits of LTC, including competitive bidding, game tries and slam bidding.

If you want to attend and you already have my LTC booklet the price is $30.

See you at the table!

Jennbridge: The Curious Cuebid

2011-11-04T22:54:00.000-07:00

From Jake, traveling bridge pro: Jenn--We should come up with a name for the cuebid that the expert makes in the middle of an auction to try and create a game force and which the student or intermediate player always finds puzzling and invariably ends up ignoring which causes the auction to fizzle out before it reaches its climax.

At the Scottsdale Regional RHO opened one heart and I overcalled one spade with:

♠ Q10xxxx
♥ AK
♦ x
♣ Kxxx

LHO passed and partner got my attention with a bid of 2 clubs. RHO passed and it was my call. What to bid? My hand has gone up in value with partner's 2 club advance and we surely have a game somewhere. In spades? Clubs? Notrump?

As the only forcing bid I could create was 2 hearts, that's what I bid. Partner bid 2 notrump which wasn't much help as I was still unsure where we belonged.

As it was a team game perhaps I should have jumped to 5 clubs as one of my friends suggested, but I hated to give up on spades. So I bid 3 spades, praying that partner would take note of the fact that I inserted a cuebid into the middle of the auction before I rebid my spades.

Nope--he passed. Sigh.

♠ A9
♥ Qxx
♦ xxx
♣ AQxxx

♠ Q10xxxx
♥ AK
♦ x
♣ Kxxx

It was disheartening to see ace-doubleton of spades in dummy and realize that we could make game in either black suit. I actually made 6 as the spades were well-positioned and I was able to pitch my diamond on the queen of hearts.

I finished the match in a funk, dreading the score comparison. When our teammates read the score for the board they announced "Plus 200!" "Win 10" I replied. (Whew!)

It seems that our counterparts had an even worse time of it as they wound up in 3NT, down 4! So instead of suffering a big loss, we actually had an unexpected good result in a rather amusing twist.

Keep Passing the Open Windows!

You too Jake--keep the faith! Good idea--if we give the bid a name maybe that will elevate it to the status of a CONVENTION which can then be noted on the convention card.....

Here are some other suggestions:

Gratuitous cuebid
Conspicuous cuebid
Peculiar cuebid
Critical cuebid
Remarkable cuebid

Any suggestions readers?

See you at the table!

Jennbridge: 2011 World Bridge Championships

2011-10-15T12:59:00.000-07:00

The 2011 World Bridge Championships are underway! They are taking place in the Netherlands from Oct. 15-Oct. 29. For more information check out their website:
http://www.worldbridge.org/tourn/Veldhoven.11/Veldhoven.htm

There will be lots of kibitzing on bridgebase.com with several tables available and a new voice commentary feature. For information see: http://webutil.bridgebase.com/v2/news_fetch.php?id=780

See you at the table!

Jennbridge: A Successful Gambit

2011-10-12T18:18:00.000-07:00

I was playing at Roy Hoppe's club with Dave Neuman today.  Dave made an imaginative bid that worked well. He dealt and held, with neither side vulnerable:

♠ AKQTxx
♥ AJ
♦ Kx
♣ Jxx

He bid 1 Spade. LHO overcalled 2 Clubs. I passed. RHO advanced 2 Diamonds. Back to him. What would you do?

Dave eschewed such mundane bids as 2 or 3 Spades. Instead, he chose to bid 3 Diamonds!  Dave and I have an agreement that when the opponents have bid two suits, a cue bid of one of them shows a stopper in that suit but not the other. So he showed a diamond stopper and asked me to bid 3NT with a club stopper. While it is true that this would only produce the eighth trick if spades ran, he decided to go for it since I might have something else useful that would produce another. I held

♠ xxx
♥ T98
♦ QJx
♣ Q9xx

Not much, but when they didn't find the potentially killing heart lead, it was enough. RHO played the ten to my queen, so the 9 was a second stopper. If he instead won it with the king, there was no defense (hearts cannot be led from his side without setting up 2 tricks in the suit).   I only needed to play a diamond and that was 9 tricks (spades were 3-1). I actually made ten, since when I led a diamond, LHO went up with the ace and I unblocked the king. (If he ducked, there would only be 9 since I wouln't be able to set up another diamond and untangle all the tricks.) +430 was a cold top. +400 would have still been a top; everybody else was in 3 or 4 Spades.

Good luck!

Jennbridge: Accurate Hand Evaluation

2011-10-02T22:53:00.000-07:00

I held this hand today in a sectional team game. None vul., what is your call when partner opens 1 heart?

♠ K9
♥ AJ10
♦ J10xx
♣ KJxx

There are several choices. Many players would start with a game-forcing 2 club bid, followed by a heart raise. The hand contains 13 high card points, but a closer examination reveals 8 losers. This makes it a game-invitational hand, rather than a game-forcing hand.

I responded with a forcing notrump, awaiting further information from my partner. He rebid 2NT, showing a strong hand--a hand suitable for a jump rebid of 2NT. I had the information I needed and jumped to 4 hearts.

♠ K9
♥ AJ10
♦ J10xx
♣ KJxx

♠ 10x
♥ KQxxx
♦ AQ
♣ AQxx

There was a surprise ruff of the opening club lead, but the contract was in no danger as the ace of spades was onside as well as the diamond king.

The bigger surprise occurred when we compared results and learned we had won 10 imps on the board. My (expert) counterpart made the game-forcing 2 club bid with my hand, and when he later showed hearts, his partner bid the hand to the 5-level--down 1!

2. Holding this hand the other night, my partner responded 1NT to my 1 spade opener, then had to decide what to do when I rebid 2 hearts:

♠ x
♥ AJ109
♦ Jxxxxx
♣ xx

Although she had only 6 points, she properly counted her losers (8) and realized she needed to invite with 3 hearts. This got us to a good 20-point game.

♠ x
♥ AJ109
♦ Jxxxxx
♣ xx

♠ AKxxx
♥ Kxxxx
♦ Ax
♣ x

Using losing trick count in the bidding helps you go right in these situations For more information about losing trick count, see my booklet on the subject: http://jennbridge.blogspot.com/2011_04_01_archive.html

Thanks to Memphis Mojo, a fellow bridge blogger who wrote a nice review of said booklet entitled Elevate Your Game: http://pokerandbridge.blogspot.com/2011/08/elevate-your-game.html

Check out Memphis Mojo's interesting bridge/poker/travel blog--complete with photos!
http://pokerandbridge.blogspot.com/

See you at the table!

Jennbridge: Good Kibitzing, Good Reading

2011-09-16T14:56:00.000-07:00

Should be a good Challenge Match this Sunday on bridgebase: USA1 vs. USA2! For more info:

http://webutil.bridgebase.com/v2/news_fetch.php?id=761

Thoroughly enjoying and picking up lots of great tips from Eric Rodwell's new book: The Rodwell Files, Secrets of a Bridge Champion. Order from http://www.masterpointpress.com/ or Amazon.com or buy from your local bridge bookseller.

See you at the table!

Jennbridge: First Trick Decision

2011-09-12T21:16:00.000-07:00

I had an interesting decision to make at trick one last Friday when I found myself in six spades after some vigorous preempting in clubs by the opponents. A club was led and neither I nor my partner had any!

♠ K 10 4
♥ A K 9 5
♦ A K Q 10 6 2
♣ —

N
W		E
S

♠ A J 9 5 2
♥ 8 6 4 3
♦ J 9 7 5
♣ —

6 ♠ by South

What a great looking dummy! The contract should be an easy make, but it is matchpoints so what is my best play for all 13 tricks?

It is important to think about the various possible divisions of spades. If they divided 3-2, the hand would be easy. If RHO had all 5 spades I would have some problems. I decided that it was quite possible that spades were 4-1 with 4 spades on my right. If that were the actual holding, I still needed to play carefully.

If I ruffed in dummy I couldn't pick up 4 to the queen on my right. I therefore made what seemed like an unusual play--discarding a heart from dummy and ruffing in my hand!

When I led a spade toward the king, LHO did indeed turn up with one spade--the Queen! I finished drawing trumps and scored up 1010 for a tie for top.

See you at the table!

Jennbridge: Avoidance Play Pays Dividends

2011-09-08T21:23:00.000-07:00

After a routine auction I found myself in 3NT with a diamond lead.

All Western Open Pairs

West Deals
E-W Vul

♠ Q 10 6
♥ A Q 8 2
♦ 4
♣ K 10 6 3 2

N
W		E
S

♠ A 4 3 2
♥ J 10 6
♦ A Q 10
♣ A 8 4

West	North	East	South
	Bob		Jenn
Pass	Pass	Pass	1 NT
Pass	2 ♣	Pass	2 ♠
Pass	3 NT	All pass

3 NT by South

(Board 22, 9/3/2011, afternoon session, hands rotated.)

I won the diamond king and paused to study the hand. Clearly I needed to work on clubs, and just as clear was the fact that I needed to try to keep East off lead to prevent another diamond lead through my Q10.

Without that consideration, the club ace followed by a club to the 10 would be logical. As this would likely put East on lead, however, I needed to play the ace and king of clubs and hope that West would be on lead after the third round of clubs.

West won the jack of clubs as East discarded a discouraging heart. So far, so good. West, an expert, now paused for a considerable length of time before returning...a diamond! The heart finesse won and the hand produced 12 tricks for a great score. (4C, 3D, 4H and 1 S)

Looking at the hands later, I saw that West had a difficult problem.

All Western Open Pairs

West Deals
E-W Vul

♠ Q 10 6
♥ A Q 8 2
♦ 4
♣ K 10 6 3 2

♠ K 8 5
♥ K 9 4
♦ J 8 6 3
♣ J 9 5

N
W		E
S

♠ J 9 7
♥ 7 5 3
♦ K 9 7 5 2
♣ Q 7

♠ A 4 3 2
♥ J 10 6
♦ A Q 10
♣ A 8 4

It's easy to see why he was reluctant to return a major suit card given his holdings and the bidding. As it turned out, only a heart return would have prevented me from scoring a 12th trick. (Had he returned a spade, I would have had to play the queen!)

This simple avoidance play paid great dividends as +490 scored 32 out of 37 matchpoints.

See you at the table!

Jennbridge: Protect Your Queens

2011-08-29T22:40:00.000-07:00

Larry H. and I kept executing endplays in our STAC matchpoint game on 8/26--for down one!

♠ K7
♥ 742
♦ AQ763
♣ 1082

Not much of a hand, but LHO opens 1S, partner doubles and RHO passes. I start with a jump to 3 diamonds, waiting to hear what partner will do. He bids 3 spades and I bid 3NT. The queen of spades is led and I see the following: (hands rotated from the hand record)

Board 14

♠ A 9 2
♥ A Q 9 3
♦ 9 4
♣ A Q 6 4

N
W		E
S

♠ K 7
♥ 7 4 2
♦ A Q 7 6 3
♣ 10 8 2

3 NT by South

Finessing opportunities all over the place, but not an obvious source of tricks. If I duck a spade, I won't have an entry to my hand to get to the diamonds even if I were to manage to set them up. I need to look elsewhere for tricks.

I win the spade king and lead a club. LHO plays the king and I win the ace. I now try a diamond finesse which loses. I duck the spade return and then win the ace, pitching a diamond while RHO plays an encouraging heart.

I inadvertently lead a heart from my hand and RHO states: "I'll accept that." Clearly she likes hearts, and as I don't have anything better to do, I stay the course and insert the 9. She wins the 10 and returns a club which I win in hand with the 8, LHO showing out.

I am getting a count on the hand and it is not pretty. These cards remain:

♠
♥ AQ3
♦ 9
♣ Q6

♠
♥ 74
♦ A76
♣ 10

I have scored 4 tricks, and the two red aces plus the club queen bring the total to 7. I'll try to scramble an 8th trick.

I lead another heart and LHO shows out. I now know that RHO started with 5 hearts and 5 clubs. I win the heart ace and return to my hand with the diamond ace, forcing a discard (a club) from RHO. Next comes a club to the queen and I exit with a club. RHO wins, and with only hearts remaining, cashes the king and is forced to give me my 8th trick with the heart queen.

Nice endplay, below-average result. We have 25 points between us, but all the suits break miserably and some East-West pairs are getting in trouble bidding too many spades.

Here are all the hands:

Board 14
South Deals
None Vul

♠ A 9 2
♥ A Q 9 3
♦ 9 4
♣ A Q 6 4

♠ Q J 10 6 5 4
♥ 8
♦ K J 10 5 2
♣ K

N
W		E
S

♠ 8 3
♥ K J 10 6 5
♦ 8
♣ J 9 7 5 3

♠ K 7
♥ 7 4 2
♦ A Q 7 6 3
♣ 10 8 2

3 NT by South

It was important to not sacrifice the queen of hearts but to try to arrange an endplay so that it would be a winner.

**News flash: The second edition of my Losing Trick Count booklet has been printed. It has some new content as well as an expanded explanation of using LTC with Bergen and constructive raises. I have a handout prepared on this subject and will give it to anyone who is interested.

See you at the table!

Jennbridge: A 16-Point Slam (If You Can Make It)

2011-08-13T20:11:00.000-07:00

This hand came up the other night on Bridge Base Online. My partner (not Jenn) had a chance for a great result, but he mis-timed the play. See if you can do better.

He held:

♠ KJ9542
♥ void
♦ AKT42
♣ 76

He opened 1 Spade. The auction proceeded Double, 4 Spades, pass back to him. He decided to take a gamble and bid 6 Spades! LHO led the king of hearts, and he looked at:

♠ AT87
♥ JT96432
♦ 6
♣ 4

♠ KJ9542
♥ void
♦ AKT42
♣ 76

How would you play it? (Hint: it isn't as easy as it seems)

To make it on a cross-ruff, you have to avoid an overruff, as either opponent with Qx will return a trump so you will be a trick short. Alternatively, you can see if you can set up a long diamond and score 9 ruffing tricks, or set up dummy's hearts.

To set up the hearts, you have to play RHO for Qx. Then you can draw 2 rounds of trump, ruff a heart, play the diamond AK pitching a club, ruff a minor in dummy and run the heart Jack. LHO wins and dummy is high. This line would have succeeded.

Trying to set up a long diamond and score 9 trump tricks is an illusion. Try it. You will end up either losing to an overruff and trump continuation, or run out of trumps and end up losing 2 clubs.

The best line seems to be to go for the straight cross-ruff. This succeeds when RHO has at least 3 diamonds and the queen of spades. The play would go:

Heart ruff low
Diamond ace
Diamond king pitching a club
Diamond ruff low in dummy
Heart ruff low
Club ruff low
Heart ruff low
Club ruff low
Heart ruff with the 9
Ruff fourth diamond with the Ace.
Heart ruff with the Jack (and hope it isn't overruffed)

That's 11 tricks, and trick 12 is the spade King.

Good luck!

Jennbridge: That's One Way to Put It!

2011-08-08T21:10:00.000-07:00

Here's a hand from Toronto which resulted in some amusing repartee.

Wernher Open Pairs--First Qual. Session

Board 1
North Deals
None Vul

♠ A K J 10 5 4
♥ 4
♦ A 9 8 2
♣ A 3

♠ Q 8
♥ J 9 7 6 5 2
♦ 10 5
♣ K J 2

N
W		E
S

♠ —
♥ A
♦ K J 6 4 3
♣ Q 10 9 8 7 6 4

♠ 9 7 6 3 2
♥ K Q 10 8 3
♦ Q 7
♣ 5

West	North	East	South
	Jenn		Bob
	1 ♠	2 NT	4 ♠
Pass	Pass	5 ♣	Pass
Pass	5 ♠	All pass

The hapless East player led a club which I won. I cashed the ace of spades, ruffed a club and drew the last trump with the king of spades. Now the stage was set for a heart lead. I didn't know exactly what would happen when I led a heart, of course, but when East won his ace and sat there in agony for a couple of minutes, it wasn't hard to envision the situation.

He finally, defeatedly, threw a diamond on the table. When my queen held, he said: "I knew I was scr---d!" We all laughed and scored up 480 for 26 out of 38 matchpoints.

Perhaps he should have led his stiff ace of hearts. As declarer it was imperative to make the routine play of ruffing the club to strip the hand and set the stage for the endplay.

See you at the table!

Jennbridge: One To Lose Sleep Over

2011-08-06T15:36:00.000-07:00

Jenn and I were retired from the Spingold early and were kibitzing the Nickell-Levine Spingold match. Levine had a small lead going into Board 63, the penultimate board.

South Deals
Both Vul

♠ Q
♥ Q 8 6
♦ 10 8 5 3 2
♣ A 10 5 4

♠ A K J 9 8 4 3
♥ J 7 3
♦ —
♣ 9 6 3

N
W		E
S

♠ 10 7 6 5
♥ 10 5
♦ Q J 7 6 4
♣ J 2

♠ 2
♥ A K 9 4 2
♦ A K 9
♣ K Q 8 7

West	North	East	South
Bob Hamman	D Clerkin	Zia Mahmood	J Clerkin
			1 ♥
3 ♠	Dbl	4 ♠	4 NT
Pass	5 NT	Pass	6 ♦
Pass	6 ♥	All pass

Opening lead: Spade Ace (after considerable thought). Then Zia led the 9 of clubs to trick 2.

I'm not sure what the 4NT and 5NT bids meant, but they ended up in a playable spot. When Zia took quite a while before making his opening lead, this might have alerted declarer to the possiibilty of LHO holding a void, else why would he have a problem leading the ace of spades? Perhaps an inference could have been drawn that he was considering an underlead to his partner for a diamond ruff.

Declarer won the club in his hand and played the ace of hearts, getting only small cards. He had a choice of playing for LHO to have a stiff diamond honor or playing RHO for both honors. He chose, correctly, to play RHO for both. To do this, he needed two entries to dummy and a 3-2 heart split. But instead of playing the king of hearts and another heart to the queen, declarer inexplicably played to the heart queen without first cashing the king, and when he led a diamond to his 9, Zia ruffed it and down went the slam and the match along with it. At the other table the result was 5S doubled down 2 for -500. So instead of winning 14 IMP for making the slam, Levine instead lost 11 for a 25-IMP swing. That's a tough one that will haunt the Levine team for a long time.

Good luck! (By Bob Klein)

Jennbridge: Ain't It Grand?

2011-08-01T22:29:00.000-07:00

Home from Toronto with plenty of great hands to report, along with some interesting tourist experiences. On a lovely trip to Niagara Falls I learned that 34 million gallons of water flow over the falls every minute!

In the second qualifying session of the Wernher Open Pairs, I picked up this hand. (Bd. 13--hands rotated.)

♠ 5
♥ K10542
♦ Q9
♣ AKQ109

RHO dealt and passed and I opened 1 heart. Partner bid 2NT, Jacoby and I responded 3 spades, showing shortness. He now bid 3NT, which I interpreted as a space-conserving bid, probably looking for a club cuebid.

I obliged by bidding 4 clubs and he launched into 4NT, RKC. I responded 5 hearts, showing 2 keycards and he now bid 5NT! What's my call and why?

-----------------------

The 5NT bid in this situation serves a dual purpose. It ostensibly asks for kings (either number of kings or specific kings, depending on agreement), but at the same time it confirms possession by the partnership of all the keycards plus the queen of trumps and issues an invitation to bid a grand slam with a suitable hand. A suitable hand includes one with undisclosed values or a good source of tricks.

I studied my hand. While I had only 14 points, I had a source of tricks in the club suit. Next I counted my losers and realized that I had only 5 losers, which is a hand that should be strong enough to produce a slam opposite an opening bid. So not only did I have a source of tricks, I had undisclosed strength. I jumped to 7 hearts and received a heart lead.

Wernher Open Pairs

East Deals
Both Vul

♠ A 7 4 3
♥ A Q J 6
♦ A 8 7
♣ J 4

♠ K 8 6 2
♥ 8 7 3
♦ 4 2
♣ 7 6 5 3

N
W		E
S

♠ Q J 10 9
♥ 9
♦ K J 10 6 5 3
♣ 8 2

♠ 5
♥ K 10 5 4 2
♦ Q 9
♣ A K Q 10 9

West	North	East	South
	Bob		Jenn
		Pass	1 ♥
Pass	2 NT	Pass	3 ♠
Pass	3 NT	Pass	4 ♣
Pass	4 NT	Pass	5 ♥
Pass	5 NT	Pass	7 ♥

7 ♥ by South

I drew trumps in 3 rounds, cashed the diamond ace, pitched dummy's losing diamonds on my clubs and ruffed my last diamond, making 7.

I thought we had a nice auction, but was pleasantly surprised to get 32.5 out of 38 matchpoints.

For more information about losing trick count, click on this link to view my booklet on the subject:
http://jennbridge.blogspot.com/2011_04_01_archive.html

See you at the table!

Jennbridge: A Hand from Louise

2011-07-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

Here is a hand from one of my old friends from Cincinnati who I'll call Louise. Louise is part of a group of well-to-do housewives who play day-bridge. She has exceptional skills which she doesn't tout, preferring to fit in with her friends, who range in skill from average to above-average. They don't discuss hands nor do they pay undue attention to results. They attend local sectionals and occasional nearby regionals for a few days, preferring to spend time with their families. Louise will be sending in hands from time to time.

Jennifer, this may be a good hand for your blog. I especially liked it because it was against the nastiest pair at the club and we got a top! I opened one notrump with this hand.

♠ K9x
♥ A10xx
♦ AKQx
♣ xx

Partner transferred to spades and then bid clubs. I jumped to 4 spades and got a spade lead.

♠ AJxxx
♥ xx
♦ x
♣ AQxxx

♠ K9x
♥ A10xx
♦ AKQx
♣ xx

I ducked the spade to my nine and took the club finesse. RHO won and returned a heart. I won the ace and cashed the ace and king of diamonds, pitching a heart from the board. When I then cashed the spade king the queen came down doubleton on my right (to the apparent dismay of Mrs. Nasty). A club to the board followed by a club ruff set up the clubs. Now I simply ruffed a heart to the board and drew the last trump, making 6. Mrs. Nasty said "it always makes 6" and I, of course, didn't say anything, but I knew that Mr. Nasty's lead was a big help. When the scores came in we saw that we had a cold top!

By the way, Jennifer, I'll bet you and your partners have some fancy agreements for an auction like this. Should I have rebid 3 spades after partner's 3 club bid or jumped to 4 spades? What if I like clubs?

Finally, I love your Losing Trick Count booklet and am encouraging all of my partners to order their own copies from your blog. Makes difficult hand evaluations a breeze!

Thanks Louise, and thanks for the great hand. It is especially fun to get good boards off opponents like that!

We play that after a transfer and a rebid of a new suit, a jump to 4 of the transferred suit shows a fit with a minimum, (fast arrival) while a bid of 3 of the transferred suit shows a hand willing to cooperate in a slam investigation. For example, 1NT, 2H (transfer), 2S, 3C, 3S shows a good hand with a spade fit, while a jump to 4S shows a hand without slam interest.

If you are interested in partner's second suit--in this case clubs--you cuebid. For example, 1NT, 2H (transfer), 2S, 3C, 3H shows a hand with a heart control which would cooperate in a slam investigation in clubs.

Of course, if you're not particularly interested in either suit you simply bid 3NT.

Hope you're having a great summer and look forward to hearing from you again. Keep an eye on the Spingold in Toronto next week--we're playing in it!

See you at the table!

Jennbridge: 26 Tricks

2011-07-18T22:42:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of hands from the first session of the Sonoma sectional held recently in which Bob and I posted a 70% plus game!

1.

Board 4
West Deals
Both Vul

♠ 9 7 2
♥ K 9 7
♦ K 5
♣ A 10 6 5 2

♠ J 8
♥ 6 5
♦ A Q J 7 2
♣ 8 7 4 3

N
W		E
S

♠ 10 6 4 3
♥ 2
♦ 10 8 6 4 3
♣ K Q J

♠ A K Q 5
♥ A Q J 10 8 4 3
♦ 9
♣ 9

West	North	East	South
	Jenn		Bob
Pass	Pass	Pass	2 ♣
Pass	2 ♦	Pass	2 ♥
Pass	3 ♥	Pass	4 NT
Pass	5 ♥	Pass	6 ♥

6 ♥ by South

Bob got a heart lead and, looking for that extra trick at matchpoints, played the ace of clubs followed by a club ruff. When the queen and jack of clubs appeared, it cost nothing to lead a heart back to the board to ruff another club. The hoped-for club holding appeared as the king was ruffed out, making the remaining clubs on the board good. He was then able to pitch his diamond on the club ten, and either ruff or pitch his 4th spade, and make 7. This was worth all 25 matchpoints.

Post-game calculations revealed that the specific holding of KQJ when missing 7 cards in the suit was a little less than 2%. Looking for that favorable card combination, despite it being a low percentage chance, however, can make a big difference in your score!

2.

Board 9
North Deals
None Vul

♠ A K J 10 8 7 5 2
♥ —
♦ J
♣ Q J 8 4

♠ Q 3
♥ J 9 7 4 3
♦ Q 10 7
♣ 6 5 2

N
W		E
S

♠ —
♥ A Q 10 8 5
♦ K 9 8 6 4 2
♣ K 9

♠ 9 6 4
♥ K 6 2
♦ A 5 3
♣ A 10 7 3

West	North	East	South
	Jenn		Bob
	1 ♠	2 ♦	3 ♦
Pass	3 ♥	Pass	4 ♠
Pass	4 NT	Pass	5 ♥
Pass	6 ♠	All pass

6 ♠ by North

I opened 1S, East overcalled 2D, Bob bid 3D, showing a limit raise or better, and I had to decide how to proceed. I have a 4-loser hand and partner is showing no more than 8 losers so we are in the slam zone. How can I find out about controls?

I decide to bid 3H, control-showing, although I am aware that partner may interpret it as a help-suit game try. I am, of course, desperate to hear a club cuebid. No luck--partner jumps to 4S.

Now what? My hand is so good that I can't let the auction die without a fight. Plus it against my principles--I figure that if you don't give these powerful hands the respect they deserve, the Card Gods may punish you with an eternal supply of 4-3-3-3 ten counts!

I bid 4NT, keycard and partner shows 2 aces. I bank on one of them being the ace of clubs and jump to 6 spades. I win the diamond lead, draw trump, take the club finesse and make 7.

What an easy game...:-) Plus 1010 is worth 23.5 out of 25 matchpoints.

See you at the table!

Jennbridge: Changes Brewing

2011-07-16T12:30:00.000-07:00

Jennbridge has a new, updated look after 4 years. Plus, the Jennbridge archives have been streamlined and much of the old material set aside for editing for future publications.

Expect some new contributors! While on a recent visit to the midwest to visit family, I stopped in at my old bridge club in Cincinnati and played on a team with some friends. They were interested in my Losing Trick Count booklet as well as this blog and agreed to send me hands from time to time. As these are interesting characters, as well as fine players, this should be fun.

We will be hearing from, among others, Jack, the local club professional, a brilliant player and my first teacher. When I first made it to the Cincinnati bridge club in the late 80's after some years of social bridge, I was quickly shuttled to Jack for private playing lessons to get my game in shape, thus being spared agonizing years of mediocre play. Jack doesn't have much sympathy or patience with the average local players and can be found at the racetrack when not at the bridge club.

On a final note, I am collecting questions on the Losing Trick Count booklet and will publish FAQ in due course. Also, I'll be giving a free question and answer session at the Bridge Gallery. Send in your questions and stay tuned.

See you at the table!

Jennbridge: Bridge World Letter

2011-07-14T08:50:00.000-07:00

The Bridge World has published a letter of mine in the July issue and titled it Temporarily a Trump Squeeze. It pertains to a hand I wrote up in my blog as http://jennbridge.blogspot.com/2009/09/tres-elegant.html. They have given me permission to reprint it here.

Temporarily a Trump Squeeze

To The Editor:
As South, playing in three spades, I had lost three tricks, was on lead, and had a complete distributional count here:

♠ J 8
♥ —
♦ 7
♣ K J 3

♠ —
♥ —
♦ J 6 3
♣ ? ? ?

N
W		E
S

♠ Q
♥ J 7 4
♦ —
♣ ? ?

♠ 5
♥ —
♦ A 10
♣ A 10 9

After I cashed the club ace-king and the queen failed to drop, I led a trump, and West was squeezed on the next trick.
Jennifer Jones Santa Rosa, CA

This apparently-uncommon form of squeeze (sometimes necessary; leading a trump would fail if there were no club tenace) matches the current usual definition of "trump squeeze", which is: "a squeeze in which the ability to ruff after the squeeze is consummated is essential", for North must be able to ruff after West unguards a minor. Bridge lexicography is one tough game--almost as tough as bridge itself! We are inserting "in a menace suit" after "ruff" in our definition in the Glossary at www.bridgeworld.com. So today this is a stepping-stone trump squeeze, but tomorrow it will be a fratricidal simple squeeze.

I agree--I'd rather try to execute the play than handle the lexicography! For a complete description of the hand see my original blog entry: http://jennbridge.blogspot.com/2009/09/tres-elegant.html

For more information on The Bridge World, go to: http://www.bridgeworld.com/

See you at the table!

Jennbridge: Use It or Lose It

2011-07-07T22:32:00.000-07:00

Recently I picked up, in first seat with both vulnerable:

♠ x
♥ KTx
♦ KQJxx
♣ AT98

I opened 1 Diamond. LHO passed, Jenn, my partner, bid 1 Spade, and RHO intervened with 2 Hearts. The hand isn't strong enough to rebid 3 Clubs or 2NT, so I passed. Jenn now reopened with a double and I bid 3 clubs. She then cue bid 3 Hearts, and I bid the obvious 3NT. LHO led a high spot card in hearts, and I looked at:

♠ A Q x x
♥ x
♦ A 10 x
♣ Q J x x x

N
W		E
S

♠ x
♥ K 10 x
♦ K Q J x x
♣ A 10 9 8

West	North	East	South
			1 ♦
Pass	1 ♠	2 ♥	Pass
Pass	Dbl	Pass	3 ♣
Pass	3 ♥	Pass	3 NT

3 NT by South

Looking at the two hands, I was somewhat sorry that we didn't get to 6 Clubs, which requires the same club finesse to make as does 3NT. (You only have 8 winners in no-trump without more than 1 club trick). However, the combined hands aren't that strong in high cards, so I just tried to do my best in 3NT. I played dummy's heart, and RHO played the jack, which I won with the king. I am now making either at least 12 tricks, if the club king is onside, or going down. So I went to the board in diamonds and took the club finesse (I played the queen, so if it won, I could repeat it easily). RHO had Kxx of clubs, so I ran the clubs, then the diamonds. As I played all these winners, RHO was getting more and more uncomfortable. When I took my last diamond at trick 11, this was the position:

♠ A Q x
♥ —
♦ —
♣ —

♠ x x x
♥ —
♦ —
♣ —

N
W		E
S

♠ K x
♥ A
♦ —
♣ —

♠ x
♥ 10
♦ x
♣ —

I played a low spade on the last diamond, and RHO essentially conceded, pitching a spade and making it obvious that she had the king and was squeezed. (If she pitches the ace of hearts instead, my 10 is good.) So I made seven for a great matchpoint score.

So the moral of this story is, sometimes you have to use it (an ace) or you lose it, even in no-trump.

Good luck!

Jennbridge: Bidding Strong Hands

2011-07-03T16:50:00.000-07:00

There was a fair amount of discussion after the game Friday on the best way to bid this strong hand (board 19). Bob, my partner, opened 2 clubs and I held the following:

♠ x
♥ AJ1098x
♦ AJxxx
♣ x

We generally bid 2 diamonds "waiting" in response to 2 clubs, reserving the cheapest 3-level bid for the rare "second negative" bid. If we have a suit we want to tell partner about (5-card suit with 2 of the top 3 honors, or 6-card suit with 3 of the top 5, for example) we go ahead and bid it. Therefore, I bid 2H.

Partner now bid 2S and I showed my second suit, 3D. Pard now bid 3NT. Should I carry on, and if so, how?

I decided that with two aces and two good 5 card suits, I was worth another call opposite a 2 club opener, so I bid 4NT, quantitative. Pard now jumped to 6NT and got a club lead.

♠ x
♥ AJ1098x
♦ AJxxx
♣ x

♠ AKQxx
♥ Q
♦ Kx
♣ AKJxx

The play was not difficult. He overtook the queen of hearts with the ace and knocked out the heart king. He now had 3C, 2D, 3S and 4 heart tricks.

We have never adopted the bid of 2H showing a double negative and 2N showing hearts for several reasons:

2D waiting works quite well, is still used by many top pairs, and "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"!
2H as a second negative comes up rarely and takes away the opportunity to bid hearts naturally. (It also requires firm follow-up agreements, which, in my experience, many pairs don't have.)
2NT showing hearts is the worst part of it as it "wrong-sides" the notrump, takes up a lot of valuable space and requires even more elaborate follow-up agreements.

When possible, keep things simple.

See you at the table!

Jennbridge: A Bidding Challenge

2011-07-01T22:32:00.000-07:00

Playing matchpoints, both vulnerable, RHO passes and you hold:

♠ A
♥ T875432
♦ 64
♣ QJ3

Do you bid or pass? If you bid, what do you bid?

I prefer my preempts to be sound in front of an unpassed partner, particularly in second seat. So I passed. LHO passed, and partner, in fourth seat, opens 2NT! Now what? Do you put partner into 4 hearts or try for slam? If you want to try for slam, how would you do it?

I took the low road and made a Texas transfer of 4 Diamonds and passed partner's 4 Heart reply. The hand has 7 losers, and I didn't see a good way to describe this hand to partner. There are two possible ways to try for slam: (1) transfer with 3 Diamonds, and raise partner's 3 Heart rebid to 4 Hearts; (2) make a Texas transfer of 4 Diamonds, then over partner's 4 Hearts, cue bid 4 Spades. (1) probably wouldn't have worked, but (2) would have at least gotten partner interested, as she held

♠ J85
♥ AKJ
♦ A74
♣ AK83

After an unspecified slam try, it would be hard to move toward slam because of the 3 quick spade losers. However, after partner makes a Texas transfer followed by a cuebid of 4 Spades, I would bid slam with these great hearts and outside controls.

So did you come up with the winning sequence? If you look at the combined hands, you will see that all it takes to make a GRAND slam is for LHO to not hold all three missing hearts, about an 85% chance. Six hearts is a lock. Yet out of 8 pairs, only one got as far as 6 Hearts. I think that this is a sufficiently difficult problem for consideration in Bridge World's Challenge the Champs, so I submitted it.

Good luck!

Jennbridge: Lightner Double

2011-06-17T09:24:00.000-07:00

I had the opportunity to make a Lightner double the other night playing in a team game on BBO.

Lightner Double - A Double of a slam bid, to request partner to make an unusual lead. Typically anticipates the player making the Lightner Double can generate the setting trick by ruffing the lead of a long side suit.

The double excludes the normal lead of the suit bid by the defenders, excludes the lead of a trump and often calls for the lead of Dummy's first bid suit. The opening leader is expected to work out the correct lead based on the auction and her holding.

Bridge base: Lightner Double

East Deals
E-W Vul

♠ A Q J 4
♥ A Q J 8 6
♦ A 4
♣ A 10

♠ 9
♥ K 10 5 4 3
♦ Q 9
♣ K J 6 4 3

N
W		E
S

♠ 8 7 6
♥ —
♦ K J 10 8 7 3 2
♣ Q 9 7

♠ K 10 5 3 2
♥ 9 7 2
♦ 6 5
♣ 8 5 2

West	North	East	South
Bob	x	Jenn	x
		3 ♦	Pass
Pass	Dbl	Pass	3 ♠
Pass	4 NT	Pass	5 ♣
Pass	6 ♠	Dbl	All pass

After I opened 3 diamonds the opponents bid strongly, and, it seemed to me, confidently to a spade slam. From my point of view the slam was likely to make, and our best chance to beat it would be for me to get a heart ruff at trick one. Left to his own devices, partner would probably lead my suit, diamonds, and we wouldn't have another chance to set it. Accordingly I doubled, asking for an unusual lead.

Partner duly led a heart. Declarer finessed and I ruffed. The slam went down a couple of tricks and we got a good score. As it turns out, it wasn't a good slam and would have gone down anyway, but the benefits outweigh the risks for this action. Setting a slam which would otherwise make generates a huge payoff, versus a small loss if the doubled contract makes.

Bob pointed out later that he had to choose between his two 5-card suits for the opening lead and he chose correctly. He reasoned that I was more likely to be short in hearts based on the takeout double and his own heart holding. I further pointed out that it was more likely that I had club length and heart shortness for my opening diamond preempt, rather than heart length and club shortness.

Stay alert for these great opportunities!

See you at the table!

Jennbridge: Declarer Play Problem

2011-06-15T19:57:00.000-07:00

Here's a cute hand from a NAOP qualifier today. (Board 12, hands rotated.) Holding the South cards, I opened 3 hearts after RHO passed. Bob, my partner, raised to 4. The ace of diamonds was led.

♠ AKJxxx
♥ xx
♦ QJ10xx
♣

♠ Q10x
♥ AQJxxxx
♦
♣ xxx

I ruffed the diamond and studied the hand. How would you play it?

****************

I first think about ruffing a couple of clubs, but that would still leave me with a club loser and unable to take a heart finesse.

What about a loser on loser play--throwing a club on a diamond honor? That line has risks--getting to the board for the play and getting back to the board for the heart finesse. There has to be a better way. Plus, this is matchpoints, so the maximum number of tricks is the goal.

Any other ideas?

***************

How about this? Lead the queen of hearts from my hand, in order to maintain trump control! Yes, this is it. LHO won the king of hearts and returned a trump. I scored up 680 for all the matchpoints. Once LHO wins the king of hearts she has no recourse. Of course, if she started with more than 2 hearts she can cause me trouble by refusing to win the king.

See you at the table!

Jennbridge: Matchpoint Matters

2011-06-10T22:46:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of hands from the evening session of the pair game at the Sacramento regional. (Board rotated.)

Board 16
North Deals
E-W Vul

♠ K 10 4
♥ Q 10 5
♦ 9 8 4
♣ Q 9 6 3

N
W		E
S

♠ A 8 6 5 3
♥ A K J 9
♦ A K J
♣ K

West	North	East	South
x	Bob	x	Jenn
	Pass	Pass	2 ♣
Pass	2 ♦	Pass	2 NT
Pass	3 NT	All pass

Looking at 23 of the finest, I opened 2 clubs. Bob responded 2D, waiting, and raised my 2NT bid to 3NT. A low club was led and my king won. I paused to assess matters and was pleased with the contract. It was likely that we were on our way to a good matchpoint result.

At trick two, I led a spade to the 10. RHO won and returned a diamond. I won the ace and noted the encouraging signal on my left. I now starting running my major suits, spades breaking 3-2 and hearts breaking 3-3.

A funny thing happened in the end game. LHO thought she was being squeezed in diamonds and clubs and ended up pitching the ♦ queen. I figured her for the ace of clubs as well as the diamond queen and was surprised when I saw the whole hand:

Board 16
North Deals
E-W Vul

♠ K 10 4
♥ Q 10 5
♦ 9 8 4
♣ Q 9 6 3

♠ Q 7
♥ 8 4 3
♦ Q 10 2
♣ J 10 8 5 2

N
W		E
S

♠ J 9 2
♥ 7 6 2
♦ 7 6 5 3
♣ A 7 4

♠ A 8 6 5 3
♥ A K J 9
♦ A K J
♣ K

Plus 690 was a cold top. Opening or rebidding notrump on hands like this generally works well for me. Since we play puppet stayman, we usually find our major suit fit when it is important to do so. We needed the 690 score as there were a few 680s.

******************
On the very next board (hands rotated) I opened 1 club and Bob bid 2 clubs, inverted minor. I then jumped to 3NT showing a strong notrump. (Our opening notrump range is 14-16.)

Board 17
East Deals
None Vul

♠ A 10 8
♥ 10 9 8
♦ K 8 4
♣ A J 6 4

N
W		E
S

♠ Q 7 4
♥ A 6 3
♦ A Q 6
♣ K Q 8 2

West	North	East	South
x	Bob	x	Jenn
		Pass	1 ♣
Pass	2 ♣*	Pass	3 NT
All pass

A low heart went to the king which I ducked. The 4 of hearts was returned which I won with the ace. I then played 4 rounds of clubs and West discarded the nondescript 6 of spades, while East discarded the 2 of hearts. I followed this with 3 rounds of diamonds, ending in dummy. With 8 tricks in, these cards remained:

Board 17
East Deals
None Vul

♠ A 10 8
♥ 10
♦
♣

N
W		E
S

♠ Q 7 4
♥ 6
♦
♣

If East had the spade king, I could lead low toward my queen and score 10 tricks. If I made that play and West had the spade king, however, I would hold myself to 9 tricks. I studied the hand some more. I knew that West had 2 hearts and (I believed) 2 spades left. I had to guess the location of the spade king to get that most prized possession: the extra trick at matchpoints. I knew the players and tried to read the situation.

After a minute or two I finally led my heart, throwing in West who cashed her remaining heart and led a spade. The moment of truth. I ducked and East followed with the 9, my queen winning!

Board 17
East Deals
None Vul

♠ A 10 8
♥ 10 9 8
♦ K 8 4
♣ A J 6 4

♠ K 6 2
♥ Q J 7 5
♦ 10 7 2
♣ 10 9 5

N
W		E
S

♠ J 9 5 3
♥ K 4 2
♦ J 9 5 3
♣ 7 3

♠ Q 7 4
♥ A 6 3
♦ A Q 6
♣ K Q 8 2

Plus 430 was worth 15.5 matchpoints out of 17.

See you at the table!

Jennbridge: Pitfalls Abound

2011-06-07T16:56:00.000-07:00

We missed winning a two-session pair game at the Sacramento regional last week by only one matchpoint! Here are a couple of hands from the first session on June 3, 2011.

Beer Card Alert!

Board 24
North Deals
None Vul

♠ Q 10 6 5
♥ 8
♦ K 10 7 6 5 3
♣ Q 10

N
W		E
S

♠ A 7 3
♥ A Q 2
♦ A Q J 4 2
♣ 8 2

4 ♠ by North

Somehow I landed in 4 spades from the North. Bob opened 1 diamond with the South cards and I responded 1 spade. Now the opponents got into the auction and some lively bidding ensued before subsiding with a 4 spade bid from Bob. The opponents cashed their two clubs and switched to a heart.

I wasn't thrilled with my prospects. In truth, I figured the board rated to be a disaster. I first had to decide whether to take the heart finesse and also had to decide how to play spades.

As I would almost certainly go down if the heart finesse lost, I went up with the heart ace. I then played the spade ace followed by a spade to the ten which forced the king. A heart was returned which I ruffed. One slight chance remained. I cashed the queen of spades and all followed, ridding the deck of spades!

I showed my hand, which now contained only diamonds and saved the beer card (the 7♦ ) for the last card played. Whew! This netted 15.5 out of 17 machpoints. The pair that beat us played 4 spades doubled, collecting 590!

Board 24
North Deals
None Vul

♠ Q 10 6 5
♥ 8
♦ K 10 7 6 5 3
♣ Q 10

♠ J 9 8
♥ K J 10 9 4
♦ 9 8
♣ J 9 3

N
W		E
S

♠ K 4 2
♥ 7 6 5 3
♦ —
♣ A K 7 6 5 4

♠ A 7 3
♥ A Q 2
♦ A Q J 4 2
♣ 8 2

4 ♠ by North
Plus 420

*********************************

Steal a Trick!

Board 25
North Deals
None Vul

♠ Q 4
♥ K 9
♦ A 7
♣ A J 10 8 7 4 2

♠ A J 8 3
♥ Q 7 5 3 2
♦ K 9 5
♣ 5

N
W		E
S

♠ 10 7 6
♥ A J 6
♦ Q 8 4 3 2
♣ 9 3

♠ K 9 5 2
♥ 10 8 4
♦ J 10 6
♣ K Q 6

West	North	East	South
	Jenn		Bob
	1 ♣	Pass	1 ♠
Pass	3 ♣	Pass	3 ♦
Pass	3 NT	All pass

Before East led, he asked about Bob's 3 diamond bid and I replied that it was forcing. He then led the 3 of diamonds, the jack was covered by the king and I won the ace. I was pretty certain that East started with 4 or 5 diamonds including the queen, so that I had a second stopper.

I still didn't have 9 tricks, however. It was a nice contract, but needed some work. I couldn't afford to lead a diamond early in an effort to set up a 9th trick, for fear that west could get in with the ace of spades and lead a heart through my K9. This was to be avoided at all costs.

I studed the hand for a minute, trying to come up with a plan.

I decided to try to steal a spade trick early, before the opponents really knew what was going on. I therefore led a club to the king and led a spade off the board. This had the element of surprise in addition to the fact that many defenders are reluctant to go up with their ace looking at the king in the dummy.

When my queen of spades won, I started running my clubs. Not unexpectedly, both defenders started getting uncomfortable, particularly East. He had to make 5 discards while retaining his queen of diamonds and trying to protect his heart holding. When he released his last spade I knew I had him.

It was then a simple matter to throw him in with the queen of diamonds, forcing him to lead a heart to me at the end. 1S, 1H, 1D and 7 clubs comes to 10 tricks. Plus 430 was a tie for top.

True, the defenders could have done better, but if you give them enough rope, sometimes they will hang themselves!

See Bob's comments on the bidding below. See you at the table!

Jennbridge: Twice Burned

2011-05-26T21:50:00.000-07:00

East couldn't really avoid the first endplay on this hand, but could have sidestepped the second one.

South Deals
None Vul

♠ Q 8 6 4
♥ Q 10 9 7 4
♦ 7 5
♣ K 5

♠ 10 9
♥ J 8 2
♦ J 9 8 2
♣ J 9 4 3

N
W		E
S

♠ K J 7
♥ 5
♦ A K 10 6 3
♣ A 10 8 7

♠ A 5 3 2
♥ A K 6 3
♦ Q 4
♣ Q 6 2

West	North	East	Jenn
			1 NT
Pass	2 ♦	Pass	2 ♥
Pass	Pass	Dbl	Pass
3 ♣	Pass	Pass	3 ♥
All pass

3 ♥ by South

At team play recently, I got a heart lead and had to figure out how to avoid losing 5 tricks. RHO had hesitated briefly after the 2D transfer bid and then she doubled. Therefore I knew she had diamonds and values. I should be able to endplay her in the diamond suit.

I drew trumps ending in my hand and led the queen of diamonds. RHO won the ace, cashed the king and had to either lead a black suit or give me a ruff/sluff. Most players are reluctant to give up a ruff/sluff, so she returned a spade which I ducked to my queen. A spade to the ace revealed the 3-2 break, so I exited with a spade to RHO. Endplayed again, she cashed her club ace and I made my contract.

The defenders could have prevailed by giving me a ruff/sluff. RHO knows her partner has at most 3 points, so I must have the spade ace. She needs to defend more carefully to take the 5 tricks she has coming. Of course LHO could have made life easier for the defense by leading something other than a trump.

See you at the table!

Jennbridge: A Defensive Lapse

2011-05-09T22:55:00.000-07:00

I have played several hands recently where it has been possible to make good use of the opponents' possession of the outstanding high trump. Here's an example from STAC week. I held the South cards and declared 4D. (Hands rotated for convenience.)

May 3, 2011 Spring STAC

Board 16
North Deals
None Vul

♠ 9 5 3
♥ A K Q J
♦ K J 10 7 2
♣ 2

♠ Q J 7 6
♥ 8 5 2
♦ 9
♣ K Q 8 6 4

N
W		E
S

♠ A 2
♥ 10 7 4
♦ A 4
♣ A J 10 9 5 3

♠ K 10 8 4
♥ 9 6 3
♦ Q 8 6 5 3
♣ 7

4 ♦ by South

RHO opened the bidding and the opponents bid clubs until we bought the contract at 4D. A club was led and East then played the ace of spades followed by another spade. Clearly I have to lose the ace of diamonds, and probably another spade, but look what happened in the play.

After winning the spade king, I went to the board with a heart and led a diamond off the board. East ducked! (Don't ask me why I played it this way--sometimes it pays to make odd moves.)

Now look at East's predicament--she has endplayed herself. I run the hearts, and, when she declines to ruff in, I simply throw her in with a diamond. She has to return a club and give me a ruff/sluff, allowing me to ruff in my hand and pitch my losing spade from the board.

Plus 130 was a good score with these cards. Stay alert--a defensive lapse can be costly.

See you at the table!

Jennbridge: Whaddya call an 8-card suit?

2011-05-05T21:44:00.000-07:00

I picked up an eye-opener on Tues. in a STAC game playing with Lynn B.

♠ x
♥ Kx
♦ AKJ108xxx
♣ Ax

At favorable vul., RHO passed and I opened 1D. LHO bid 3S and partner bid 4H. RHO passed and it was back to me.

The good news is that partner has values (and hearts!). With my 4-loser hand I am thinking seriously of slam. Originally I was thinking of a diamond slam, but now, at matchpoints, I must consider hearts. I put off my decision by bidding RKC Blackwood, seeking additional information.

Partner answers 5H, showing 2 controls (aces since I have the heart king) without the queen of hearts.

Had her response been 5S, showing 2 controls with the queen of hearts, I probably would have bid 6H. In this case, however, having been tipped off to the fact that suits were likely to break badly by the 3S preempt, I veer back to diamonds and bid 6 diamonds. All pass.

A surprising 5 of hearts is led (must be a singleton!) and I view the dummy:

♠ Axx
♥ AJ9843
♦ x
♣ xxx

♠ x
♥ K6
♦ AKJ108xxx
♣ Ax

As I study the hand, it looks like I can set up the heart suit for a pitch, which should take care of my losing club. Therefore my main concern is the diamond suit, although it occurs to me that if LHO has only 1 heart, she probably has more than 1 diamond. It also occurs to me that we have landed in the right contract.

The heart 8 is covered with the 10 and I win the king. The AK of diamonds reveal a 2-2 break, drawing the trumps. A heart to the ace followed by the jack of hearts, covered and ruffed, sets up the heart I need for the club discard. I now return to dummy with the ace of spades and pitch my losing club on the heart 9.

STAC Tues. aft

Board 32
West Deals
E-W Vul

♠ 2
♥ K 6
♦ A K J 10 8 6 5 4
♣ A 3

♠ 8 5
♥ Q 10 7 2
♦ 9 2
♣ K Q 10 9 4

N
W		E
S

♠ K Q J 10 9 7 4
♥ 5
♦ Q 7
♣ J 7 5

♠ A 6 3
♥ A J 9 8 4 3
♦ 3
♣ 8 6 2

West	North	East	South
	Jenn		Lynn
Pass	1 ♦	3 ♠	4 ♥
Pass	4 NT	Pass	5 ♥
Pass	6 ♦	All pass

6 ♦ by North

Made 7 — +940

Plus 940 was a top. Only one other pair bid the diamond slam and they made only 6. About half of the field went minus (presumably bidding the doomed heart slam) and there were a couple of 420's for heart games and a 440 for 13 tricks in diamonds.

Interestingly, with the diamonds coming in, 6NT also makes: 8D, 2H, and the two black aces.

So the answer to the question--"Whaddya call an 8-card suit?"--is an old tongue-in-cheek bridge adage: TRUMPS!

See you at the table!

Jennbridge: Losing trick count

2011-05-04T22:57:00.000-07:00

I've been asked to say more about my new booklet. The reason I wrote about losing trick count is because it is such an important and valuable concept and the literature is somewhat sparse. I have noticed that some bridge players pay lip service to the principles without fully understanding them, while others have Klinger's book but have never quite made it through it.

With this in mind, I tried to take what I deem to be the most important elements and set them down in a concise fashion. The first part of the booklet explains how to count losers, when to count losers, etc. and includes an "optional refinement" section on incorporating losing trick count with elements of Bergen raises. The second part of the booklet presents actual hands played at both matchpoints and team play which illustrate the principles.

Here are additional excerpts from the booklet describing how I came to use and appreciate losing trick count after my introduction to it in the 1990's:

We added an losing trick count (LTC) component to our bridge discussions and analyses of the hands. In nearly every instance where we did not bid to the optimum contract, we noted how the proper use of LTC would have enabled us to do so.

This booklet explains the basics of LTC and includes actual hands played at all levels of competition from the local duplicate to the World Mixed Pairs. Using only these basics will greatly fine-tune your bidding and hand evaluation. For a more in-depth treatment of LTC see Ron Klinger’s book and his website at http://www.ronklingerbridge.com/.

I am pleased to report that I have been receiving favorable comments on both the appearance of the booklet as well as the substance. To read the introduction and view the cover see my last post: http://jennbridge.blogspot.com/2011/04/jennbridge-losing-trick-count-booklet.html

To order your copy of Losing Trick Count click here: http://jennbridge.blogspot.com/2011/04/ordering-information.html

See you at the table!

Jennbridge: Introducing Jenn's Losing Trick Count Booklet

2011-04-29T22:54:00.000-07:00

Losing Trick Count

The Quick and Easy Method to Better Bidding

and Hand Evaluation

Take the guesswork out of bidding. Move to

Mastery from Mystery

Jennifer Jones

Here is how my new booklet on losing trick count looks. Of course, the booklet doesn't have the cool feature of the queen of spades flipping from studious to sultry and back again.

I have been using losing trick count for at least 10 years and find it so valuable that sometimes I wonder how I ever bid a hand without it! I decided to put my experience down in writing and this is the result.

From the introduction:

As bridge players we would love to be able to bid every game and slam that makes and avoid those that don’t! We know how many high card points it supposedly takes to make game and slam and find ourselves occasionally feeling uneasy when things don’t quite “add up”. We take 10 tricks when we’re in a part-score and 12 tricks when we’re in game. Or we bid game or slam with the “correct” number of points and go down. We vaguely wonder whether there is a better way. The answer is YES! Losing Trick Count is a superior method of hand evaluation which, when used in conjunction with the high card point system, will dramatically improve your bidding accuracy.

Using the losing trick count method takes the guesswork out of bidding and enables you to get to the best contract consistently. Plus, it is easy to learn, easy to use and you can use it on your own--even if your partner has never heard of it!

If you want to polish your game as well as have more fun at bridge, I urge you to start using losing trick count today!

This 32 page booklet sells for $9.95. To order your copy of Losing Trick Count click here: http://jennbridge.blogspot.com/2011/04/ordering-information.html

See you at the table!

Jennbridge: Off-Shape No-Trump Openings

2011-04-28T15:44:00.000-07:00

I have recently been experimenting with 1NT openings that aren't the classic 4333, 4432 and 5332 patterns with some success. I have found that many 5422 patterns are often best handled with a 1NT opening, and even some 6322 hands with a long minor are good 1NT openings. Here is an example from a recent club game.

As dealer I held the following hand:

♠ xx
♥ Axxx
♦ Qx
♣AKQJx

This hand has a difficult rebid if it is opened 1 Club and partner responds 1 Spade. It is too strong to rebid 1NT or 2 Clubs. It isn't strong enough to reverse with 2 Hearts. The value bid, 3 Clubs, is awkward as it suppresses a good heart suit. So I opened it 1NT. Jenn bid 2 Clubs, Stayman, I showed my heart suit, she invited with 2 Spades, showing 4 spades and invitationl values, and I accepted with 3NT since I had such a nice source of tricks. (Note: Jenn and I have an agreement that with both majors, we show hearts first. So she can invite with 2 Spades since I might have both majors. If she invites instead with 2NT, she is denying 4 spades.)

LHO led a small diamond, and I looked at:

♠ Q9xx
♥ Kxx
♦ K9xxx
♣ T

♠ xx
♥ Axxx
♦ Qx
♣ AKQJx

RHO played the ten of diamonds and I won with the queen. Now, if LHO has the ace of diamonds, likely given the lead, I was a favorite as I could see 5 clubs, 2 hearts and 2 diamonds for my 9 tricks. The opponents would have to cash out 4 spade tricks without blocking the suit, which isn't easy with this holding in dummy. So I led a diamond at trick 2 to LHO's ace. LHO actually shifted to a heart, so the hand was over as I quickly claimed my 9 tricks for a good score.

Good luck!

Ordering Information

2011-04-25T22:27:00.000-07:00

To order Jenn's booklet Losing Trick Count, send a check for $12.95 for each booklet (which includes shipping and handling) to:

Jennifer Jones
1275 4th St., Suite #175
Santa Rosa, CA 95404

Outside U.S. and Canada please send a check for $13.95.
Email: Jennife574@aol.com

Be sure to include your name and address--thanks!

Jennbridge: A One-Loser Wonder

2011-04-25T20:43:00.000-07:00

I picked up this marvelous hand at the club this week:

♠ AQ7632
♥ AKQ654
♦ void
♣ A

This hand has one loser: the king of spades. (Technically, the hand may have 1.5 losers since the queen isn't supported.) Unless the hand is a massive misfit, with responder holding few if any cards in the majors, I'd like to play this hand in a slam in one of the majors, and be able to ask partner if she has the spade king. So how should I approach it?

One way would be to open 1 Spade, then rebid 6 Hearts. Partner should take a preference, and with the spade king, at least consider bidding seven. Another way is to bid open Spade, then jump shift to 3 Hearts, then, if partner takes a preference to spades, you have an ideal bid available - 5 Diamonds, which is exclusion Blackwood with spades agreed. If she shows one keycard, it has to be the king of spades so you can bid 7 Spades comfortably. However, there is one big problem with that approach: it may get passed out in 1 Spade! You have 19 HCP, so there is no assurance that anyone at the table will be able to bid.

I decided not to risk being passed out in 1 Spade, so I opened 2 Clubs. Jenn, my partner, bid 3 Diamonds, which made things awkward by taking up a level of bidding. Her bid showed a good suit with at least 2 of the top 3 honors. While this bid is often useful, here it didn't help at all. I bid 3 Spades, and she raised to 4 Spades. Now I couldn't bid 5 Diamonds, since this wouldn't be exclusion Blackwood (it isn't a jump). So I did the next best thing - I bid 4NT, RKC for spades. I decided that if she showed one keycard, it would most likely be in diamonds since she already showed a hand with high diamonds. (I considered bidding 5NT, which would be the grand slam force; however, we had not discussed how to distinguish between no high honor and one. If we had, then 6 Clubs would deny a high honor and higher bids would show one.) She actually showed no keycards, so I bid the obvious 6 Spades. The king of clubs was led, and I looked at:

♠ JT8
♥ void
♦ KQJ965
♣ 8642

♠ AQ7632
♥ AKQ654
♦ void
♣ A
How should I play it? This was a matchpoint game. Should that influence my play? If it were IMPs, would I play it differently? Consider the play at each form of scoring.

Since Jenn had no hearts, I had to ruff at least one to establish them. If I ruff only one, I could lose a heart trick if the suit split 5-2. But if I ruff 2 hearts, I could lose one or even 2 spade tricks.

Since it was matchpoints, I took my best shot at making seven, since it seemed as if most of the field would bid this slam. I ruffed a heart and ran the jack of spades. I was planning to continue with the ten if the jack held. This makes 7 whenever RHO has Kx or Kxx and hearts are 4-3. Another line would be that if the jack holds, ruff a minor card, ruff another heart, ruff another minor card and cash the spade ace. This makes 7 when RHO has Kx of spades and hearts split 4-3 or 5-2. but loses a spade trick when RHO has Kxx of spades.

LHO actually won the king of spades, and could have set me if he continued with a second spade, because hearts were in fact 5-2. However, he didn't find this play, as he had no way of knowing I had this distribution. So the slam made.

It isn't easy to see which line of play is best at IMPs. The odds that the line of play I chose would result in a set are roughly 15% (50% spade king offside X about 30% of a 5-2 heart split.) If I were to ruff a heart, ruff a minor, ruff a second heart then run the jack of spades, I would lose if LHO has the king (but not Kxx) and also enough hearts so he can then play one for RHO to ruff. If I were to instead ruff a second heart then play the jack of spades to the ace and then a second spade, I would lose to K9x of spades in either hand. The latter seems intuitively too likely to occur so that line seems wrong. I don't have a good idea whether the odds favor ruffing 2 hearts and running the jack, or ruffing only one and running the jack. Perhaps a reader can comment.

Good luck!

Jennbridge: Decision time

2011-04-13T08:49:00.000-07:00

I had a difficult slam decision in the first match of the Sunday swiss teams at the Marin sectional.

At favorable vulnerability, Bob, as dealer, opened 1C and I responded 1S with this hand.

♠ AJ10xxx
♥ AKx
♦ x
♣ 9xx

Partner rebid 2C and I had to manufacture a forcing bid, so I bid 2D. (Some pairs play this bid as artificial and forcing so they can handle just this type of situation. We didn't have that specific agreement, but have decided to add it.)

Now Bob made a key bid: a jump to 3S. This should show a good hand (within the constraints of his previous bidding) with 3 card spade support. Now I have a serious decision to make.

I review the bidding and try to picture partner's hand: at least 6 clubs and 3 spades. I note that I certainly have the red suits covered. I consider whether we would be safe at the 5-level if a blackwood bid didn't elicit the response I hoped for. I have 7 losers, but my long spades, red suit controls and partial fit in clubs convince me to move toward slam.

In response to 4NT, Bob bids 5S, showing 2 key cards plus the queen of trumps, and I bid 6. LHO, after asking about my diamond bid, leads the king of diamonds.

♠ KQx
♥ Jx
♦ Ax
♣ KQ8765

♠ AJ10xxx
♥ AKx
♦ x
♣ 9xx

At first glance, this slam looks pretty good. As long as there is not a terrible layout in the club suit (RHO holding AJ10, A10x or the like) it should come home.

I win the ace of diamonds, play ace and king of hearts and ruff a heart high. I now draw trumps and lead a club to the king with the ace winning on my right. (I am careful to leave the diamond on the board in case the club king wins and I need a way back to my hand to lead clubs a second time.) RHO returns a diamond which I ruff. When I eventually lead another club, the jack is played on my left as clubs break 2-2.

Plus 980 was worth 11 IMPs as the opponents didn't bid the slam. Note Bob's jump to 3S which encouraged me to look for slam. Be on the lookout for opportunities to make descriptive bids to help partner.

See you at the table!

Jennbridge: Scrambling at IMPs

2011-04-11T19:38:00.000-07:00

We entered the last round of the Sunday Swiss teams at the Marin sectional in third place, close behind the first and second place teams who were playing each other. If we could score a big win and the other match was fairly close, we could win. We kept up our part of the bargain by a near-blitz and sored up 19 victory points. Unfortunately one of the top two teams trounced the other so we ended up in 2nd place--1 victory point away from the win.

This hand from the last match had me worried. At unfavorable vulnerability in first seat I passed.

♠ 10
♥ AQx
♦ Qxx
♣ QJxxxx

Bob opened 1S and I responded 1NT, forcing. He now jump shifted into 3D. I bid 3NT which ended the auction. The ace of clubs was led.

♠ AKxxx
♥ Kx
♦ AKxxx
♣ 10

♠ 10
♥ AQx
♦ Qxx
♣ QJxxxx

I could see immediately that 6 diamonds would be a good bet. I lost the top 2 clubs and scored up 660. I was relieved to learn that not only did the opponents fail to bid 6D which would have caused us to lose 12 IMPs, they got to the terrible contract of 6NT which caused us to gain 13 IMPs!

Whew. We discussed the various ways we could have bid the diamond slam, but the singleton club is the key and it is hard to diagnose.

********************

Here is a fun hand from an earlier match.

♠ KJx
♥ KQ98xx
♦ 10xx
♣ x

None vul., in first seat I opened 2H and all passed. I got the ace of diamonds lead and saw this:

♠ A10x
♥ void
♦ QJxx
♣ KQxxxx

♠ KJx
♥ KQ98xx
♦ 10xx
♣ x

Sigh. Not too promising. The first order of business is to false-card in the diamond suit and hope for a spade shift. Therefore I discourage in diamonds. (If the opponents are playing upside down signals, I play a high diamond; with standard signals I would play a low one.) I got the spade shift I was looking for as RHO played the queen and I won the king. I next led my club to the king which won! Good--now I'm in the position to scramble some tricks--the only thing you can do with a hand like this.

I ruffed a club back to my hand, led a spade to the board, ruffed another club, led another spade and ruffed a third club, as LHO started with 4. I now have 7 tricks and am entitled to at least 1 more heart trick. I exited with a diamond and in the end game I actually scored 2 more hearts as the heart ace was on my right. Plus 140 was good for 5 imps as our teammates defended 2 hearts correctly and beat it.

Look for ways to score your low trumps when you're scrambling for tricks.

See you at the table!

Jennbridge: Benefit of Balancing

2011-04-04T08:55:00.000-07:00

It was a good day at the club as Larry Hansen and I held all the cards, bid and made nearly all our games and a slam, and posted a 71.8% game. Here is a hand we defended.

♠ KQx
♥ Qx
♦ J9xxx
♣ 10xx

While I was looking at this uninspiring collection, RHO opened 1D, LHO bid 1H and RHO rebid 1NT. The bidding went pass, pass to partner who balanced with 2C. The bidding went pass, pass again and LHO thought for a while and bid 2NT.

Partner's bid got me off to the best lead of a club. In with a diamond, I returned a club and declarer couldn't come to 8 tricks. Down 1 was a tie for top. Nearly half the field scored 120 which could happen, especially if I made the unfortunate lead of a diamond. Larry held 8-10 points including QJxxx of clubs and the ace of spades.

Don't be afraid to balance. It can pay off in more ways than one: you can buy the contract and improve the score, or you can get partner off to the right lead if you defend.

See you at the table!

Jennbridge: 2 on Defense

2011-04-01T20:44:00.001-07:00

It was a good day at the club as Larry Hansen and I held all the cards, bid and made nearly all our games and a slam, and posted a 71.8% game. Here are a couple of the few hands we defended.

1.
♠ KQ10x
♥ K87x
♦ xxx
♣ xx

I passed, LHO opened 1 club, partner jumped to 2S and RHO bid 3H. I bid 3S, LHO bid 4H and all passed. I led the king of spades and saw this dummy:

♠ —
♥ —
♦ —
♣ —

♠ 6
♥ 10 9 x
♦ A K x x
♣ A x x x x

N
W		E
S

♠ —
♥ —
♦ —
♣ —

♠ K Q 10 x
♥ K 8 7 x
♦ x x x
♣ x x

Larry played the nine of spades which, looking at the singleton spade in dummy, I interpreted as a suit preference for diamonds. I duly shifted to a diamond and declarer won the ace on the board. He called for the 10 of hearts, partner followed with the queen and declarer won the ace. Although I had noted the heart spots when I saw the dummy, I now inspected them even more closely.

Declarer continued with a heart to my king and, with only the 9 of hearts on the board I saw that I would be entitled to a second trump trick if I forced the dummy to ruff. I therefore played another spade and we scored a spade, 2 hearts and a club. Beating the contract was worth 83% of the matchpoints.

Always take note of the spots, or intermediate cards, particularly in the trump suit!

2.
♠ KQx
♥ Qx
♦ J9xxx
♣ 10xx

While I was looking at this uninspiring collection, RHO opened 1D, LHO bid 1H and RHO rebid 1NT. The bidding went pass, pass to partner who balanced with 2C. The bidding went pass, pass again and RHO thought for a while and bid 2NT.

Partner's bid got me off to the best lead of a club. In with a diamond, I returned a club and declarer couldn't come to 8 tricks. Down 1 was a tie for top. Nearly half the field scored 120 which could happen, especially if I made the unfortunate lead of a diamond. Larry held 8-10 points including QJxxx of clubs and the ace of spades.

Don't be afraid to balance. It can pay off in more ways than one: you can buy the contract and improve the score, or you can get partner off to the right lead if you defend.

See you at the table!

Jennbridge: A Tough Hand from the Vanderbilt Semifinals

2011-03-23T17:46:00.000-07:00

Watching the Vanderbilt on BBO is always interesting. It is possible to see great plays and also amazing blunders by the top experts playing in these matches. In the finals, amazingly, there was a hand where both pairs bid to a grand slam missing the ace of trumps! I won't write about that hand, which no doubt will be discussed in all the bridge magazines.

Here is a hand from the semifinals that presented a challenge in both bidding and play. At the table I was watching, Michael Kamil held it. In third seat, he held::

♠ AKQJT8
♥ J
♦ void
♣ QJT985

Partner dealt and opened 1 Heart. He replied 1 Spade. Partner now jump shifted to 3 Diamonds. What do you bid? Kamil made the interesting bid of 5 Spades. This bid was likely never discussed, but a likely meaning is that he is asking partner to bid slam if he has a control in clubs, the unbid suit. Partner duly bid 6 Spades with:

♠ void
♥ AQT765
♦ AQT98
♣ A7

♠ AKQJT8
♥ J
♦ void
♣ QJT985

This auction cried out for a club lead, which was duly made. Now, how should he play it?

There are three possible lines: (1) duck; (2) win the ace and play another club; (3) win the ace, ruff a red card and draw trumps, then knock out the king of clubs.

If you try line (3), you succeed whenever spades are 4-3. You can draw trump in 4 rounds, play a low club to knock out the king, and can ruff a red card and use the long clubs. You also succeed if RHO has the stiff king of clubs when spades are 5-2. However, if spades are 5-2 and the king of clubs doesn't fall, you cannot get back to your hand to use the clubs because you will have used all your trumps.

If you try line (1), you succeed whenever LHO has the king of clubs, whether spades are 4-3 or 5-2. You will also succeed when RHO has Kx or Kxx of clubs when spades are 5-2. This line loses when the opening lead is a singleton, as you will go down immediately with a ruff. If so, and trumps are 4-3, then line (3) would succeed while this line fails.

Line (2) is inferior to either of the other lines, since you will go down whenever either hand holds Kxx no matter how spades split.

It is hard in the heat of battle to calculate the odds here. Kamil actually chose (3), unwilling to go down right away, and went down when the full deal was:

Vanderbilt Semifinals

North Deals
None Vul

♠ —
♥ A Q 10 7 6 5
♦ A Q 10 9 8
♣ A 7

♠ 5 2
♥ 4 2
♦ K J 7 6 3 2
♣ 6 3 2

N
W		E
S

♠ 9 7 6 4 3
♥ K 9 8 3
♦ 5 4
♣ K 4

♠ A K Q J 10 8
♥ J
♦ —
♣ Q J 10 9 8 5

West	North	East	South
	1 ♥	Pass	1 ♠
Pass	3 ♦	Pass	5 ♠
Pass	6 ♠

6 ♠ by South

If he had chosen either (1) or (2), he would have succeeded.

At the other table, Geoff Hampson reached 6 Spades on a different auction and got a heart lead. On this lead, the play was easy. He ducked the heart, losing to the king, and eventually was able to draw trumps and throw all his losing clubs on dummy's hearts and ace of diamonds.

Good luck!

Jennbridge: Great Plays

2011-03-18T18:58:00.000-07:00

We kibitz the Vanderbilt in order to "be there" when great plays take place. Did you see this hand last night?

Vanderbilt round of 16

Board 50
North Deals
None Vul

♠ 10 9 8 6 4 2
♥ Q 10 4
♦ A K Q 4
♣ —

♠ J 7 5
♥ K 6
♦ 10 9 8 6
♣ K 8 7 6

N
W		E
S

♠ —
♥ A J 9 8 7 5 3
♦ J 7
♣ A 9 4 3

♠ A K Q 3
♥ 2
♦ 5 3 2
♣ Q J 10 5 2

West	North	East	South
Zia	x	Hamman	x
	Pass	4 ♥	Dbl
Pass	5 ♠	Pass	6 ♠

6 ♠ by North

North-South reached a seemingly cold slam and Bob Hamman led the ace of hearts. Zia found an ingenious way to defeat it!

--------------------------

He threw the heart king under the ace, looking for all the world like he started with a singleton heart. Now when Hamman continued hearts, the declarer, not unreasonably, ruffed with the ace, promoting Zia's jack!

See you at the table!

Jennbridge: Kibitz Vanderbilt

2011-03-14T21:45:00.000-07:00

Live from Louisville, kibitz the Vanderbilt on Bridgebase starting Wed., March 16 at 10:00 a.m. The action will continue through the finals on Sunday, March 20.

(We would have been there but we opted instead for a short, fun trip to Scottsdale to see the SF Giants in spring training!)

See you at the table!