Posted 5:48 PM by Floyd

Bridge Geekery: Let's Reverse

I will report on the sessions in reverse order, because the first session's hand records are in my wife's car. The first three boards were all interesting.

Board 4 I held - AQJT9 AQJ542 K4. I opened 1D and when partner responded 1S, I reversed into 2H. Partner bid 2S, forcing, so I bid 3H to show 6-5. Sherry bid 3N and now I think I should pass. I do have an exceptionally powerful hand, but partner should know what to do with the hands that make a slam. Spades are not a problem for notrump as partner should have five and they should not be five small.

But I bid 4D and when partner bid 4H I passed. Here was the dummy:

AJT82 K6 9 J9832

LHO led the CQ and it went small, ace, and -- I told you I was asleep in the afternoon -- small. RHO returned a club. Fortunately RHO had started with a doubleton.

On hands like this it's important to set up your side suit. I played the ace and queen of diamonds. LHO ducked and RHO ruffed.

RHO returned a club. Now I fell asleep again, and ducked. LHO ruffed but did not return a trump. When he played a diamond I woke up: Ruff high, cash the spade ace, ruff to hand, lead a diamond. LHO had the 8 and 7 of hearts so my six stood up. Making 4.

I don't think much of this line upon reflection. How about this: Diamond ace, diamond ruffed with the king, spade ace, heart to hand, pull trumps, diamond queen. This line needs hearts 4-2. If diamonds are 3-3 or 4-2 I make five, but even on the 5-1 rail I make four.

Board 5 was an illustration of how not to bid. My RHO had Kxx Kxxx xx AKxx. Her partner opened 1S and she bid 3S forcing. (Not my choice with three trumps but let that pass for now.) Her partner bid 4C and as my friend Jo would say, "she went into Blackwood." The response was 5H (two aces), which told her nothing. She bid six. Justice was served when my partner cashed the ace and king of diamonds.

Blackwood is pointless on this hand. She should sign off; her partner is clearly bidding shortness and is probably void, so her hand is not working.

Sherry and I do not even play Blackwood, and so far it has not hurt us. We did bid a slam off two aces once, but the wrong lead was made and we scored it up anyway!

(That reminds me of one a great story about Kit (Keeping it Together) Woolsey. He was about to declare 7N when RHO doubled. Woolsey pulled out the blue card (redouble), turned to the opening leader, and said "Your job is to find your partner's ace." Making seven!)

Board 6 was not at all interesting in the biding or play; it was interesting in the bar six hours later. I held QJxx x A5432 953. RHO opened, LHO showed hearts and diamonds, and he was off two diamonds. He had Kx of spades opposite dummy's ace. Later that evening we were looking at the hand records, and I saw that my hand had the king of spades. The board was fouled in our section; the other section presumably had the board made correctly. But the hands were matchpointed across the sections, so I was competing against eight pairs who had the king of spades!

I liked board 11 even though I probably got a bad score. I held A74 A53 J63 KQ52. RHO passed and I opened 1C; partner bid 1H. Then RHO doubled. I rebid 1N; LHO bid 2D, partner finished the proceedings with a leap to 3N.

LHO led the D8 and partner tracked this dummy: K96 J942 A7 AJ43.

I couldn't imagine how I could come to a ninth trick. If dummy's hearts had the eight I could play a heart to the eight, then the jack off (heh heh) the dummy. This is an "intrafinesse", requiring Tx on my left. Or I could play RHO for KQ tight.

As it was all I could do was hope RHO had the KQ of hearts and all the spade intermediates. I ducked the diamond, won the continuation, and cashed three clubs. Then I exited a diamond, hoping that the run of the diamonds would squeeze RHO. But LHO had the QTx of spades so I was down one.

On Board 13 Sherry did very well. She held 8762 98 AQJ2 QT7 in second, all vul. RHO passed, she passed, LHO passed, I opened a 15-17 1N, and RHO bid 2H. Sherry bid 3H Stayman, and when I bid 3S she reasoned that I could bid 4S with a maximum and passed.

I should have gone down, but my RHO did not double 3H with Ax of hearts. This was a clear error; she and her partner were both passed hands, so there is no way that her partner will bid again. The heart lead would beat me but on a diamond lead I made three.

Board 18 was thievery, pure and simple. I held T632 QT942 Kx xx. At favorable, it went P - P - 1D to me. I jumped to 2H, LHO made a negative double, and partner bid 4H! LHO bid 4N, which he meant as natural, but LHO made a Blackwood response and RHO passed. This was down one while 3N was easy. Partner's hand for the jump was 9x J53 T9 AQT542.

Board 19 was amusing. I held this rock: AK8 T3 A5 AKJ742. Second seat, unfavorable, it went pass to me. 19 HCP but a good six-card suit, so I was about to open 2N. But then I thought, "That's ridiculous. I can run nine tricks opposite practically nothing. I'll open 2C and rebid 2N." But then I thought, "That's ridiculous. Partner will still have no idea when raising me is right." So I opened 2C (strong, artificial, and forcing), rebid 3C over 2D, and rebid 3N over 3D.

Partner produced QT2 762 KQ9862 Q. (Yes, that's a 3D bid.) LHO led the heart 5, and there was one card I did not want him to have -- the heart four. Fortunately hearts were 4-4 and I made 3N.