All News

was 7NT the place to be?

Emphatic Win at the National Swiss Pairs.

The National Swiss Pairs took place at the Christchurch Bridge Club over the past week-end with 62 pairs coming from as far away as KeriKeri and Invercargill (though strangely only two pairs from Top of the South and limited numbers from Otago-Southland) plus Ido Millet, a visitor from USA.

10 matches of 10 boards produced many interesting hands of which the following are a small selection:

The Value of Aces and Jacks

Fast-track back to Friday night when a talk was being given at the Franklin Bridge Club about Hand Evaluation. “ Aces….they are worth more than 4 hcp while jacks are really worth far less than one”. Prophetic words….not!

Back to reality and Round 4 and South held:

 864

J

 AT543

AT63

and observed and took part in the following sequence with both sides vulnerable:

West              North             East                South

                                                2                 Pass

2¹                 3                3                   5

Pass                Pass               6                  All Pass
¹ negative response to game force opener

and you are in the spotlight:

Meanwhile, you are contemplating your best hand of the day and are about to open 2 yourself when your right-hand opponent, opens 1. This is your hand and the sequence so far:

West              North             East                South

                                                Pass                Pass

1                    x                    Pass                2NT               

Pass                3                  Pass                3NT

Pass                ?

As North, you hold:

 A

 AQ72

 AKQ75

 AQ4

There’s nothing fancy about 2NT…a plain game invite with about 10-11 hcp and a spade hold. Your 3 was an attempt to get something inspirational out of partner…but, no, as expected a mundane 3NT was the result. So, what next?

(please do not say you will check the backs of the cards to ensure West’s are not a different colour. You have already done that and as far as you can see, they come from the same pack as yours!)

Do you want to beat a slam?

If so, then listen to the bidding and you should realise that declarer is unlikely to have many, any clubs or else is committing a kind of bridge “hari kari”. So, you start off with your red ace….and this is what you see:

 

Trick 1 goes A 2 8 K. So, to trick 2? Do you loan East one of your clubs? Is East missing three aces? The answer to the second question surely is “no”. If you continue diamonds and the king is a true card, you could be setting up dummy’s jack…but there again you might not…

 

So, you not only had to select the right ace to lead but then resist the temptation of cashing your second ace.   7 pairs bid 6 but only Jan Alabaster- Pam Livingston and Theo Smits – Andrew Purves defeated the slam.

No Good for “500” or Bridge

So, what was your bid in the second problem? You have either a combined 35 or 36 hcp between your two hands. (“Thanks for opening”, you said to East) So, looking at the North-South hands below, you would like to be in a grand slam but looking at the East-West cards, you would wish you were a level lower. Why? A lack of those “worthless” jacks, bowers…sometimes, here, their worth would be a weight in gold!

Was the owner of this car parked in the club car-park one of those in 7NT? Maybe then they might change their mind!

Just one jack, any jack, would have given North-South 13 tricks (as would a 3-2 diamond or a 3-3 club break) but their opposition miserly kept them all to themselves. There was no hope. Rather surprisingly, only 7 out of the 31 North-South pairs bid 7NT and could complain of bad luck. It would be very unkind to say that one should not bid a grand slam with a “jack-less” hand.
The identity of the West player who opened 1 can be obtained with the deposit of a vast sum of money. She…sorry, they, deserved better…or did they!You may find her picture in this article.

Beware the danger hand

Clear Winners	5th Overall
Peter Newell and Martin Reid, clear winners over the weekend	Michael Ware and Tim Schumacher They tempted Peter Newell to go for an overtrick. Shame they were not playing Pairs!

One of those 7 pairs was Martin Reid and Peter Newell. That was an unlucky set-back for them en route to winning the event by a huge 36 vps and in the process winning all 10 matches. Peter showed excellent technique in bringing home his 3NT contract on the following board after receiving the potentially contract-breaking spade lead from East:

To make his 9 tricks, Peter needs to score 3 diamond tricks and two tricks in every other suit. He has to lose to the A and may have to lose a club trick in the process. The danger is that if the club finesse fails, it loses to the presumed danger hand (East). At some tables, North won the spade lead in hand with the jack and played a diamond to the king and ace. Back came a second spade and whether or not the spade finesse was taken, East could subsequently win the lead with the K… and spade tricks defeated the contract.

Peter foresaw this danger and won the opening lead with the queen in the South hand and took the club finesse immediately. If it lost, East was not in a position to continue spades and Peter could then knock out the A in comfort to make his contract.

Except it did not go that way! East, Tim Schumacher, ducked in tempo when the Q was played. Thus, Peter turned his attention to diamonds, knocking out the ace. Back came a spade from Michael Ware (West) and declarer finessed. Tim won to play a third spade. Peter cashed his diamond winners to leave the following 5- card ending. (Remember that the club finesse had won!)

 Tim (East) discarded a spade and the 5.

Peter cashed his top two hearts and exited a heart to West. Michael led 8 and Peter was given the chance for an overtrick. (Remember the club finesse worked!) Peter remembered he was playing Teams style and settled for 9 tricks, which became 10. Nice try, Tim.

The top 10 places were:

1	Martin Reid- Peter Newell	156.85
2	Fiona Temple – John Kruiniger	120.82
3	David Dolbel – Richard Solomon	120.35
4	Jan Alabaster – Pam Livingston	119.32
5	Tim Schumacher- Michael Ware	118.33
6	Rachelle Pelkman – Murray Wood	117.81
7	Charles and Anthony Ker	116.87
8	Anne-Marie Russell- Ido Millet	116.76
9	Murat Genc – Arleen Schwartz	116.24
10	Saul Sheehy – Graeme Tuffnell	114.66

 To view all results click on this link

Great result for Fiona and John	6th place	High finish for Ido and Anne-Marie
2nd overall for Fiona Temple and John Kruiniger	Rachelle Pelkman and Murray Wood	Ido Millet is a visitor from USA  He and Anne-Marie Russell played well to finish 8th

When 5 tricks became 9

Never give up. There can be a way. These could be the words Pamela Livingston might have said to herself when as West, she arrived in the following 3NT contract: