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There are lots of people who play SO SLOWLY you don't know what they're thinking about. Ever. Other people think about valid bridge problems. You can take some of that offline, though. Say you know RHO has 5 spades, 3 hearts, and 2 clubs. 13-(5+3+2) = 3, so he has 3 diamonds. Easy, right? Everybody knows that. But not everybody memorizes it. If you memorize all the distributions, then you don't need to do math. If you're slow at arithmetic, that can speed up your game a lot. Next time, just say 5...3...2...THREE, without the math. So, memorization is great. Sometimes. The problem memorization, as with anything, is overdoing it. If you memorize something that doesn't always apply (like 2nd hand low, say) you give yourself a mental block. That's a bad idea, though arguably still better than playing super slowly. I gave myself a mental block to pitch a loser on a loser. A few months ago I built a winner and pitched my loser on the loser but I should have pitched a potential winner on the loser, then pitched my loser on the established winner. It was SUPER costly when the cards hit the 1% chance where it mattered. And my partner expressed his...discontent. It came up again this weekend, and I got it right. Yay me, for overcoming my learning disability. BTW, I wrote up this deal using bridgebase's deal viewer. Pretty neat, huh?
http://tinyurl.com/df5hju
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In the August, 2007 ACBL bulletin, Marty had an article about this card combination: 9865 AJ432 There's a similar one in the 2001 Encyclopedia of contract bridge (AJ9xx opposite xxxx) but that's a little different since you can't pick up KQT7 onside with the actual holding. He says "if East-West clubs split 2-2, your play doesn't matter." That means he'll play the ace on either the first or second trick. He then says that when RHO plays the 7 he'll play the ace, because QT7 and KT7 are twice as likely as KQ7. He finishes by saying you should finesse the jack if RHO plays the T instead of the 7. Ok, fine. Not to mention this was in the intermediate players section, and he specified that RHO is a "normal" intermediate player. Still, against an expert, is it right to play the ace? If RHO will play the T from T7 (and why wouldn't he?) you can finesse the J and then cash the ace (remember, he claimed all doubletons), but now a T from QT7 or KT7 picks up a second trick for RHO. The encyclopedia gives different probabilities of picking up the suit for one loser, and different lines of play, based on whether RHO will falsecard the T from those three holdings. Well done, ACBL! It also gives a probability of picking up the suit when RHO will split from KQ7. That's pretty optimistic. If you're not sure you'd find this falsecard, as RHO, at the table, just remember it the way I do: play upside down count. Current Mood:  sleepy
Current Music: I Fought the Law - The Clash
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I rarely enjoy a 4/5 place in the one session unit swiss teams, especially with a blitz in the wrong column. This time was different. I played two strip squeezes! 7) 1st, both Jx AQxx - AKJxxxx 1C-2H-P-P, 3C-P-P-P LHO starts by giving her partner a heart ruff, and you play 3C: Axx T98 Txxxxx Q Jx AQxx - AKJxxxx RHO returns DK. Now what? I pitched a spade, ruffed the next diamond (LHO played the ace), cashed CQ (both follow), so I could afford to ruff a diamond high (lho pitched a heart), and draw another trump, both following. Now I can claim 10 tricks! LHO has to be 3=6=2=2, so I can cash two more trumps and he cannot afford to pitch two more hearts, coming down to KJ tight, or I can establish my hearts, so he must pitch a spade. Then SA, S ruff, small heart endplays him. I suppose, if he's classy, he'd duck the heart and say "Lucky, lucky" 14) 4th, unfavorable AT8 xxx Kxx AQTx 1C-1H-1S-P, 1N-P-3N-P, P-P LHO leads HK and you play 3N with: KQ76 A9xx QJx Jx AT8 xxx Kxx AQTx Weird. You have 13 opposite 13, both jacks are working, two tens are working, and 3N is terrible. I ducked the first two hearts, and won the third (RHO pitched two discouraging clubs). Shoot, no club finesse here. Now, I admit, the deal is a bit flawed. I had to use my Jedi powers to get RHO to win one of the first two rounds of diamonds, then not switch to a club. No problem. She ducked the small diamond from dummy, won the second, then cleared her (entryless) diamonds. Yay. Now four spades, one heart, two diamonds, and a lead away from CK give me nine tricks. LHO pitched a club on the third diamond, btw. It looks like LHO is 3=5=2=3 or 2=5=2=4. I don't have the entries to cash a high spade then finesse the ten, but 1=5=2=5 with a stiff SJ isn't that likely anyway. What's percentage? A priori a finesse is better than a 3-3 break, though it's better to play spade from the top if you have another entry to dummy (I didn't). Still, as the Hideous Hog said, ceteris is never parabis. Does the auction suggest LHO has a tenth high card point? Or a side four card suit? I broke the tie by deciding not to go down two (spade finesse losing, LHO cashes hearts for down one, exits safely with a spade, and gets CK for down two). So I cashed SA, K, Q (RHO shows out, oh well) and threw LHO in with a heart. Strip squeeze for -50, but I won two IMPs! Current Mood:  happy
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Someone from the club asked me to play, and just a few weeks later I sat west in the unit game. Here are a few somewhat interesting deals: 2) 3rd, favorable Q64 9754 K6 T972 P-P-? This seems like a clear 1S opener, so why mess around? P-P-1S-2D, 3D-P-? It's absolutely clear to bid 3S if you don't want to give away the show. I passed, hoping LHO would be green enough (even though he's red) to pass. I got my wish, once again confirming that it's EXTREMELY important to wish for the right thing. Pard got out, miraculously, down four, -200. They can make 5N. There was a 660 for north/south, and any notrump part score would have been worth 210 for them, but nobody got there. Sheesh. One stupid matchpoint for us. The best laid plans of mice... 3) RHO was running her trumps in four of a major after playing club, club, club ruff. Our clubs were 4-4, so I had to decide when to pitch my last club, so pard would know it was safe to pitch hers. I could do it early, middle, or late. I picked middle, and that was wrong. I haven't studied this theory enough. With one regular partner, I would pitch it right away, since she would go into the tank, literally, forever if I made things tough early. 22) 3rd, unfavorable Qxxx JTxxx ATxx - P-P-? This seems like a clear 1H opener, so why mess around? We bid, uncontested: P-1H, 1N-2D, 4D-P 1N was not forcing. I later suggested 2S was available as a strong diamond raise. Pard was a bit quacky for a four level bid, regardless: AJT Qx J9xxx QJx Qxxx JTxxx ATxx - CT-J-K-? I found SKxx in the pocket, 3-1 diamonds with a stiff honor, and there was no trump promotion, so I scored +130, for a top. And here's a "bridge" story you'll love. I decided to play Frankenstein (the doctor, not the monster) and put together two players to be my GNT teammates. After about 70 phone calls, I arranged for one to drive 3.5 hours to play pairs with the other, then play teams with me the following day. Spiffy. Then I read in the unit column in the forum (not my unit, btw, so I'm probably one of three people in the world reading another unit's column) that the sectional was cancelled! Sheesh. Current Mood:  silly
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I met Les Bart at a nationals. He gave me a handout on his convention, and I'd heard good things about it, so I read a few Bridge World articles and decided to give it a try. I moved a few calls around, and here's what I play now. a) 1S-1N is semi-forcing, so I can pass if I won't accept a balanced invite or a three card limit raise. b) 1S-1N, 2C can be 5=3=3=2. 1S-1N, 2D promises four. c) 1S-1N, 2C-2D asks opener to rebid as if I had a weak hand with at least six hearts. If he bids above 2H, it shows interest in game opposite that hand. If he bids 2H and I pull, different bids show different hand types (duh) and cancel the previous message. d) 1S-1N, 2C-2H shows five hearts and another place to play (2 spades, 5 diamonds, 4 clubs or, maybe, 1=5=4=3). Opener pulls to 2S with short hearts, then responder tries another strain. 1S-1N, 2C-2H, 2S-2N shows 1=5=4=3, and wishes partner luck on finding a decent home. e) If you have 1=4=5=3 you are in trouble. I recommend you pass 1S, even with a seven count, especially at matchpoints. I just watched some juniors land in their 5-1 spade fit, down three, and they were LUCKY because of the random pull from their 3-2 club fit! Seriously, if you're lucky pard will pass 1N, or rebid something other than 2C, or have at least four clubs. I'm not usually that lucky. f) I prefer to play 1S-2N is game forcing, balanced. Then 1S-3C is a forcing raise, 1S-3N is a strong notrump, and 1S-1N, 2C-3N is the "Invite" with long clubs and 0-1 spade. Here's what the bids through 3N mean. A "bid" of 2C after 1S-1N, 2C is really just a pass. Hope that's not too confusing:
| Over 1S | Over 1S-1N, 2C | Over 1S-1N, 2C-2D, 2H |
|---|
| 1N | Semi-forcing | | |
| 2C | GF | To play | |
| 2D | GF | Marionette to 2H | |
| 2H | GF | Flexible | To play |
| 2S | 3+ spades, about 7-10 | 2+ spades, about 5-7 | 2 spades, about 8-10 |
| 2N | 4 card game forcing raise | Balanced invite, 1-2 spades, 2-3 clubs | Balanced invite, 4+ clubs |
| 3C | Invite, long clubs, 0-1 spade | 5+ clubs, about 8-9 | 5+ clubs, about 10-11 |
| 3D | Invite, long diamonds, 0-1 spade | 6+ diamonds, weak | Invite, long diamonds, 2 spades |
| 3H | Invite, long hearts, 0-1 spade | Invite, 6 bad hearts, 2 spades | Invite, long hearts, 2 spades |
| 3S | 4 card limit raise | 3 card limit raise | 4-3-3-3, choice of games |
| 3N | 13-15, flat, 3 spades | 6+ clubs, 0-1 spade, lots of shape, about 8-9 | "Invite", long clubs, 2 spades |
Current Mood:  productive
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"Defend With Your Wife" Get it? Like the Kantar book, Defend With Your Life. But it's a defensive problem from my wife. Oh, nevermind... She played this at the club 3rd, unknown vul Kx Jxx xxx Q98xx 2D-X-2H-P P-3C-? 2D was Flannery, four spades, five hearts, 11-14 HCP She doubled, led a small heart, and saw this dummy: xxx QT9xx Jxx Ax T1: Hx-9-K-Cx - T2: CJ-x-x-x - T3: Cx-x-A-Hx - T4: DJ-x-x-x - T5: Dx-x-A-x - T6: DK-x-x-x - T7: DQ-Cx-Hx-Hx | T8: ? I objected to the duck at trick two, since RHO, while nutty enough to bid 3C on JTxxx, might not lead the jack on the first round from that holding. Regardless, it's your play to trick eight. BTW, it was clear that she had taken the winning action at the table. Declarer has six tricks pointed his way, and still has CKT. If I let him score both clubs and a spade, he'll make his contract. Pard has shown ???? AKxxx xxx x and I haven't seen any spade honors. He has 4-7 points in spades, so either Axxx, AJxx, AQxx, or AQJx. If he has SAQJx we can cash four spades and I'll get a promotion at trick 12 for down two. If he has SAQxx, I'll ruff the fourth spade (or not) for for down one. If he has SAxxx we're going -470. But what about SAJxx? I looked up, beaming, and announced I was cashing SK, then exiting a heart regardless of pard's attitude. That forces declarer to ruff (promoting my club as our third trick) and endplaying declarer into leading up to pard's spade holding (AQ or AJ) for down one. If pard has SAQJ, we'll get down two regardless. Wife: -470. Pard had a minimum, with SATxx. Len: Why this problem? Wife: I set the contract. Len: ? Wife: I exited a heart, he played back SQ and I won. I exited a club and he had to lead up to pard's SAT. Len: WHY didn't he cash CK? Jo: I don't know. Len: ZOMFG! Jo: ... Len: And you give up on down two if pard has SAQJx Len: \/ Current Location: Work
Current Mood:  quixotic
Current Music: None
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Board 50) 1st, favorable, you are Bob Hamman
K763 8 7652 QT52
The opps bid 1S-2H, 2S-4C, 4S-5S, P
Pard leads HJ and dummy tables:
AJ4 KT7432 98 A
HJ-A-8-C4
D8-7-K-A
S8-J-K-2
S3-Q-D4-4
C3-7-A-2
HK-S6-S9-5
C8-9-SA-5
At this point dummy and you hold:
- T7432 9 -
7 - 652 QT
Dummy leads H2 and you play...?
N.B. Among other things, your convention card states:
a) We do not like to signal, period.
b) Count is not given unless it classic long suit entry situation.
So pard's playing up the line in clubs is not relevant. Also, his D4 discard is discouraging. I'm not nearly good enough to use this carding style, since I'd go wrong frequently. As it happens, Hamman pitched a small diamond, giving up trick 11 (the game going trick).
Since I'm a lousy guesser, in this position I would have pitched my trump. Declarer can overruff and cash his last trump, but I'll see pard's pitch before I have to commit myself.
Pard won't know what to do, either, since we don't give count, but at least it'll be his fault if we go wrong. As it happens, since he's down to - Q9 T J6 he can safely pitch a heart (allowing me to stew and go wrong) or a helpful diamond (that can't give away the game going trick).
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Each year our district holds one four session swiss team event, with about half the field qualifying for the second day. I only got to the regional for the last two days (having a job can be inconvenient) so this was the only event I got to play. When I saw that one of my teammates had already won two bracket I ko's, I was despondant: we were already mathematically eliminated. Luckily, things worked out an we won. Yay. Normally I'd describe all the heroics I went through to win the event, all by myself, against my teammates's best efforts to defeat me, but that didn't happen this year. Despite their occasional -100 in 6DX off a cashing AK, Richard and Warren brought back tons of good results. Jo and Bob (playing with each other or with me) were generally sound despite an almost complete lack of agreement between Bob and either of us. I didn't do anything special though I (and I alone, it seems) think I kept my errors fairly infrequent and low cost. Mostly, I'd like to thank Margie, Bob's lady friend, for allowing him to keep us company. I have two comments now: 1) On the way to Sacramento there were several electronic signs on the highway stating: NB I-5 closed I thought that was weird. NB is an abbreviation for the Latin Nota Bene, meaning "Note well". If you already knew that, well, you're special. I just found that out recently, and only because I correspond with an Australian lawyer. Still, isn't that weird? Who talks that way in California? A little while later Jo suggested that, just perhaps, the sign meant that North Bound Interstate Route 5 was closed. Hmm... 2) Here's the only hand I liked from today. Maybe I'll pick out a few from yesterday, for later. 3rd, unfavorable T Q94 AQ98 KJ986 1C-P-2C-X 2S-X-3D-P 3S-P-3N-P P-P Notes: a) 2C was a limit or better raise, forcing through, at least, 3C, if pard remembers b) On Monday, at the club, in a similar auction, an indiscreet pass of 3SX led to -800 against our vulnerable game. No way was I passing 2SX, and 3C wasn't forcing, so I tried 3D c) I pointed out to RHO, a good player, that, at the club, they ALWAYS double 3S to remind pard they'd doubled 2S. It's true. On a small spade lead, play 3N at IMPs: AQ7 T87 T3 AQT74 T Q94 AQ98 KJ986 On the auction I certainly don't want anything to do with 5C, so I'm glad we stopped in 3N, though I have my doubts about my chances. I ducked the first spade to the jack and, on the small heart return, ducked the the A. That was quite lucky. The played a heart back to the K and cleared hearts, all following. Now what? It turns out that the pointy kings are on your left, but the DJ is on your right, doubleton. At another table, played by my partner's hand, they got a spade lead into the AQ and, on a double diamond finesse, took ten tricks. On my auction, I was pretty sure DK was off (it was) and LHO had another heart to cash (he hadn't) so, instead, I decided to take the spade finesse, since it pretty much had to be on. Unfortunately, I didn't have a spade to lead (I'd ducked at trick one) so I just ran my clubs and, in the four card end position, LHO had to come down to Kx in each pointy suit. I through him in with SA, SQ and he led into my diamonds (that seems classier than DA, DQ and finessing the spade on the way back). +600 on a strip squeeze. Jo pointed out, helpfully, that if I'd played SQ at trick one I could have made 10 tricks on the same double diamond finesse she observerd. I suggested that, just perhaps, DJ might have been off, and I might have gone down. Two more comments: Good thing about this tournament: At check-in, the Doubletree hotel gives you a hot oatmeal-chocolate chip cookie. YUM! Bad thing about this tournament: The secion top prizes are glasses with some insignia denoting the tournament. Every year, once the sunday swiss ends, they give away any remaining glasses. By the time the four session swiss (the Marquee event) ends, there are no glasses left for the champs! This is my third win and I've yet to score a glass! Well, this time I felt lucky, so I grabbed one Saturday night on spec, but still... Oh, btw, if you're interested in people who really know how to play, check out the international team trials at www.usbf.org. Current Mood: Pumped
Current Music: Redondo Beach - Morrissey
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