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!
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Jennbridge: A Successful Gambit
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!
♠ 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!
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Jennbridge: Accurate Hand Evaluation
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!
♠ 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!
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