Posted 6:25 PM by Floyd

Here are more hands from yesterday's club game with my friend Eric.

***** Board 4 - Both Vul - 2nd chair *****

I held AKxxx x xxx K8xx. RHO passed, and I made a light opening of 1. LHO overcalled 2. Eric bid 3 and I regretted opening my mouth. I raised to 4 and Eric bid 4. This I could pass and happily did.

LHO led the Q and here is what I bought:

xxx KJT AKJT Axx

I won the club on the table, since RHO was the only one who could take club ruffs (there being no entry to RHO's hand). I led a high spade and LHO dropped the jack. This looked ominous. I led a heart, hoping she would duck, but LHO stepped up with the ace and led the J.

I played the other high trump and LHO showed out, pitching a heart. Now what? At imps it would be easy; diamond hook, heart king, and run the diamonds, hoping LHO had Qxx of diamonds. By the time RHO ruffs in I will have pitched my club losers. But at matchpoints I was reluctant to play for the miracle, as it could easily lead to down 2.

So I exited in trumps. This ensures down one and if RHO started with two clubs, he will be endplayed and I will make no matter who has what in diamonds. Unfortunately RHO cashed a club. More unfortunately, LHO had Qxx of diamonds.

Now granted that I'm a moron and a bad guesser, there is no reason for me to be in 4. 3N makes 4 on this hand with no trouble, and 3N is what partner should bid over 2. He has bad trumps and two slow stoppers, and 3N is one trick lower.

***** Board 6 - Favorable - 4th chair *****

I held AK Ax Q9xx Kxxxx and heard it go P - P - 1 to me. I overcalled 1N. Then LHO bid 4, and Eric doubled!

I led the K and here is what tracked in dummy:

xxx Txxxx AKJ8x -

Visions of sticks and wheels danced in my head. I pulled a second trump and led a diamond. I wasn't worried about the diamond suit; my fourth diamond was a stopper and even if declarer ran my diamond lead to his ten, partner was presumably still there with diamond shortness and a third trump. I wasn't worried when declarer pitched a heart of the A. I wasn't worried when declarer pitched a club on the K -- wait a minute, a club?

I was still blinking when declarer spread his hand and conceded a club for 790. LHO's idiotic raise had caught declarer with 66 shape; I needed to cash my ace of hearts -- surely one of the worst defensive plays one could make in the abstract -- to beat the hand.

***** Board 12 - Unfavorable - 2nd chair *****

Here is another 3N versus 4 of a major decision. My partner held Axxxx xx J8xx Ax. I opened 1 and he responded 1. I bid 3N. We hadn't discussed what 3N would be after 1 - 1, but after a minor opening, 3N would show a good long minor, shortness in responder's suit, and around an 18 count. With my partner's hand, do you pass 3N or pull to 4?

I think you should prefer the trump game for the following reasons: You have weak spades, and you have a ruffing value in clubs. But I don't think Eric's choice of pass is badly mistaken, and anyway he may have felt unsure of the meaning of 3N.

The board had a happy ending: I had K AKJTxx AKx Jxx. (Another reason I am reluctant to criticize Eric's pass is that 3N on Jxx of clubs is a little wacky.) LHO led the T and I covered. RHO produced the queen and I won with the ace.

I figured that the opponents would lead more diamonds if I let them in. So I unblocked my spade and led hearts from the top. RHO won her queen and played another diamond. I won, cashed my hearts, and led a diamond toward the 8 for my 11th trick. (I can't build this trick if I finesse hearts, so spurning the finesse did not cost me. Anyway +660 was worth 6 matchpoints out of 8.)

***** Board 13 - Both Vul - 1st chair *****

This hand is about abusing bad players.

I held QT9x AQT8 xx 8xx and passed. LHO passed, partner opened 1, and RHO overcalled 1. I bid 1N (again, prefer notrumps to a major when you have strength in their suits) and everyone was content.

LHO led the nine of hearts. Dummy was

Axx xx Axxx AQJ9

I won the ten and led a club to the queen. It held. I decided to play a spade, figuring that RHO would not be able to stand it if he had the king; if he ducked smoothly I would insert the ten. He did pop king, and played another heart back.

I played the eight and it won. Then another club to the jack drew the ten from RHO.

I played off the ace of spades and another spade to my queen. RHO pitched a diamond on this, so I knew he was 2542. I could have cashed the heart ace and taken the club hook for +180, but I wanted more. RHO was sure to have the K -- he has shown up with only seven points in the other suits -- and I figured he would never throw it away.

So I hooked the club and cashed the ace of clubs. RHO threw a heart and a diamond (note that he can pitch his hearts away too, as I have no hand entry. I played ace and a diamond and he kept the king, so I scored my two hearts at the end for a swinish +210 and a top board. (An utterly unnecessary 210; 180 would have been a top.)

***** Board 17 - None Vul - 1st chair *****

This was my favorite board of the day. I held 4 KJ T87632 QT64. I passed, LHO opened 1, Eric overcalled 1, and RHO raised to 2.

I couldn't double for penalty because double would have been takeout. So I passed. LHO passed, and Eric reopened with a double. This I could pass and did.

LHO bid 3! I guess when she saw Eric double she assumed there would be more bidding and didn't see my pass! Eric passed, managing not to smirk too much, and of course I doubled.

Eric led A (A from AK) and this dummy appeared:

QT953 864 A95 J8.

The defense was fairly easy. Eric switched to the T and it went low, king, ace. LHO played a diamond to the ace and got the bad news (Eric pitched a spade). Heart to the jack and queen, heart toward the eight; Eric played 9 and a fourth round of hearts.

I overruffed dummy's nine and played a trump. Declarer won and still lost a spade, a club, and a trump at the end. But which trump?

Among young bridge players -- that is, players under 45 -- there is the legend of the Beer Card. The Beer Card is the seven of diamonds. If you take the last trick with this card -- and don't pitch a trick to do it -- your partner owes you a beer. As the contract was doubled, winning the last trick with 7 would net me two wonderful beers.

But -- there is also the Scotch! Some friends from California play that if you take the last trick on defense with the two of trumps, your partner owes you a bottle of Scotch.

If you have a beer and a Scotch, what is that? Why, a Boilermaker of course! I first heard the term from über-bridge/gaming-geek Jeff Goldsmith, and as a Purdue graduate I couldn't be prouder to have finally quaffed my own.

(By the way, the re-raise cost declarer one matchpoint out of eight. +300 was a top for us.)

***** Board 20 - Both Vul - 2nd chair *****

Here is another board on which we defended 3 doubled. On board 17 we had a lock to beat the contract, whereas on this board -- well, you'll see.

I held Kxx x 9xx QJxxxx -- and a sane person might say at this point, "clever of your partner to double 3." RHO opened 1 and I passed. LHO bid 1, partner passed, and RHO rebid 2. This was passed around to partner, who doubled.

RHO passed and I bid 3. This was passed around to RHO, who bid 3.

At this point I doubled. Before you call for a veterinarian with a tranquilizer gun, let me explain the mitigating circumstances: On the previous hand RHO had bid 2 over my partner's 1 opening holding 4324 shape; he had an easy takeout double. His partner raised to 3 and they went down one. This was a near bottom, as at other tables partner's hand had bid a strong notrump and played there. We had already been fixed by other bad players in earlier rounds, and this hand put me on tilt. So I cracked 3, figuring that he didn't have his bid, and he was a bad player anyway.

I led the stiff heart and dummy greeted me with

Qxxx KJ9x QTx xx

A typical club game fix: The player with no right to bid his hand three times catches a dummy with good support. Partner won the ace of hearts and put a low heart back (declarer playing the ten and queen on the first two tricks). I ruffed and led a club. He won the king and played the ace of clubs. Here's where I get what I deserve; partner cannot imagine a 6421 club layout after I double, so we lose the chance to ruff off another winner. But the ace of clubs cashed!

Declarer ruffed high on the next heart lead and pulled trumps. Partner showed out on the second round, so declarer was 3262 and still had to lose a spade for +200. This was a top; if I had gone to Axl Rose's anger management class and then bid 4, that would make for 130 and also a top.

***** Board 23 - Both Vul - 3rd chair *****

Let's conclude with the Michael Jordan Board. Test your defensive skills.

You hold 8xxx 98 AJx AJT9. You hear the following uncontested auction by the opponents, starting with RHO:

LHO   RHO

1   1

2   2

2N    3N

Let's say you lead the J. This may work out badly if honor-doubleton of clubs appears in dummy, but I'm a fish who likes fourth best. Here is the dummy:

Axx AKJ72 xxx xx

Partner wins your lead with the king and returns the three. Declarer had Q72, so you cash four club tricks on the go. Declarer pitches a diamond from hand, a spade and a heart from dummy. Now what?

If you cash the ace of diamonds, declarer is down one and you get 3 matchpoints on an 8 top. There is no reason to grab your ace here. Where could it go? You don't even need to count any tricks, just look at the dummy: Where could the losing diamonds go? On a five-card spade suit?

I returned the 9. Declarer led a diamond to the king and I considered ducking, but I won and played another heart. Declarer finessed this, lost to partner's queen, and claimed for -200. This was worth 6 matchpoints for us.