August 2005

♠
♥
♦
♣

Editor: Matthew Granovetter

The Magazine for People Who Love to Play Bridge

In This Issue:
Tenerife
The European Championships by Pietro Campanile — Page 10

Also (click to go to page):

2 The Red Herring Forum 9 It Happened Last Night

by Andrew Robson
3 We Shall Never Surrender
by Migry Zur-Campanile 20 Improve Your Game
by Gene Benedict
6 The Red Pencil
Light Preempts 22 Bridge Yesterday
a letter from Victor Mollo
7 A Defensive Problem
by Eddie Kantar 27 Switch in Time Forum

8 Results: Summer Nationals 31 Hand of the Month

32 Between Sessions:
Save the Deuce

NOTICE: Please share this issue of Bridge Today eMagazine with you partner. Better still, give him a
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club membership. Thank you! — Matthew and Pamela Granovetter
Bridge Today • August 2005 page 2

The Red Herring Forum

From Martine Lacroix, Montréal (Qué-

bec) Canada

Here is a hand played on a mini-tourney

on OKbridge where many declarers went
down on the lead of the ♣4.

South dealer North Many declarers crossed to dummy in

All vul ♠62 hearts or diamonds to play a trump.The ♠J
♥KQ72 lost the queen. West cashed the ♣Q and
♦AK54 gave partner a ruff. The ♠A was the setting
♣J97 trick.
West East
♠Q5 ♠A84 Without the ♣J in dummy, all the de-
♥J4 ♥ 10 8 6 3 clarers would have found the winning line.
♦J763 ♦ Q 10 9 2 At trick 2, cash the ♦A-K, discarding a club,
♣Q8542 ♣K6 then play a trump to the jack. Now declarer
South is able to overuff the third club. It’s really
♠ K J 10 9 7 3 simple, but that ♣J was a red herring.
♥A95
♦8
♣ A 10 3

South West North East What is a red herring?

1♠ pass 2♦ pass
2♠ pass 4♠ (all pass) A red herring is a hold-
ing you don’t always need,
Opening lead: ♣4 and would often be bet-
ter off without! Send
The ♣4 went to the 7, king and ace. your red herring hand to
[Readers, can you spot the red herring?] matt@bridgetoday.com.
Bridge Today • August 2005 page 3

“We shall never surrender!”

by Migry Zur Campanile

One of the most famous speeches ever You are the declarer in 4♠ on the lead of
made in this century was the one in June the ♦7.
1940 where the British Prime Minister, North
Winston Churchill, came up with the epic: ♠ K Q 10 6
“We shall never surrender!” at a moment ♥ Q 10 6
where France had just been overrun by the ♦KJ2
“Blitzkrieg” and only a miracle seemed to ♣763
be able to stop the Nazi war-machine from ♦7
rolling over England and the rest of the free South (you)
world. That defiant spirit of fighting to the ♠AJ542
end and never giving up are an indispens- ♥953
able character trait of any successful bridge ♦A3
player. How many times do we find our- ♣A98
selves in a seemingly hopeless contract? Do
we despair and play through it quickly or As always you start out by counting los-
do we try to find the one layout, however ers: two clubs and two or three hearts de-
unlikely, where the contract makes? pending on the position of the ♥J. It looks
like your only options are to go one or two
Here is a chance to test your mettle: down but ..wait.. first insert the ♦J and,
[Go to top of right-hand column.]
surprise, it holds. One of your losers has just
disappeared. All it takes now is that the ♥J
to be well placed or does it?

North Is there any chance, however slim, to

♠ 10 6 make the contract even if the finesse of the
♥ Q 10 6 ♥J loses?
♦—
♣763 You cash the ♠K, then the ♦A and go to
dummy with a trump, East discards a dia-
South (you) mond. You discard a club on the ♦K, West
♠AJ5 following with the ♦Q and the key moment
♥953 has arrived. How should you continue?
♦—
♣A9
Bridge Today • August 2005 page 4

North ing a club to the ace and then exiting with

♠ 10 6 the ♣9. That might help us in two ways:
♥ Q 10 6 the first is to force one of your opponents
♦— into opening the hearts to your advantage
♣763 (for instance if East holds ♣K-x and ♥A-K-
J-x) the second is that it takes out an exit
South (you) card from East if he holds ♥K-J or ♥A-J
♠AJ5 stiff. East plays the ♣J on the low club from
♥953 dummy and you win the ace, West follow-
♦— ing low. OK, you’re about to play the ♣9,
♣A9 but wait. You would like East to win the
trick, since if the ♥J is with East, he cannot
Before trying for the heart finesse, you play the suit (while West can to the defend-
can give yourself an extra chance by play- ers’ advantage).

So you should return to dummy with the ♠ K Q 10 6

♠10 and lead a second club from dummy. ♥ Q 10 6
East doesn’t know exactly what you have ♦KJ2
left in clubs and may rise with an honor. In ♣763
fact, East does play the ♣Q and West fol- ♠873 ♠9
♥K8742 N ♥AJ
lows with the 10. Now East plays the ♣K W E
and you ruff. ♦Q87 S ♦ 10 9 6 5 4
♣ 10 4 ♣KQJ52
East wasn’t endplayed, as you hoped, ♠AJ542
but you still have more than a 50% chance. ♥953
Undaunted, you play a heart to the 10. ♦A3
East, unlucky for you, has the jack, which ♣A98
he makes, but he looks rather unhappy, and
after cashing the ♥A, he can’t do anything Notice that by playing the second round
but to give you a ruff and discard. of clubs toward your hand, you made it
more difficult for the defenders. Had you
If you had played hearts before clubs, won the ♣A and played the ♣9, West’s 10
East would have had only to cash his two would hit the table, and East could smartly
hearts and then play clubs to beat a contract play low, to get partner to return a heart.
that had become laydown by a fortunate set That would be a nice play. Then East could
of circumstances. Here is the whole hand: cash a second heart and exit with a high
club. As you played it, East had to play
low from his remaining ♣K-Q-5-2 to let
his partner win the trick with the 10. He
wasn’t up to this.
Bridge Today • August 2005 page 5

Next case: lack of intermediate spots in spades means

North two seemingly unavoidable losers in the
♠A7652 suit. [Editor’s note: You could play East for
♥AQ92 Q-10 or K-10 doubleton, leading low from
♦J8 the ace and later the jack, but this loses
♣87 your chance of finding K-Q doubleton or
singleton king or queen with West.]
South (you)
♠J93 Can you see any other chances to make
♥ K 10 6 5 3 this contract?
♦A2
♣AKQ There may be a chance but you have to
play for it very carefully to avoid giving the
After partner opened 1♠ in first seat on defense the option to defeat you. Take the
rather slender values you find yourself in diamond lead with the ♦A, go to dummy
the very ambitious contract of six hearts. with the ♥A and immediately play the ♠A
West leads the ♦6. (you will see why later), then cash a second
top heart from dummy, noting that East
The first thing you realize is that short of does not follow and, therefore, trumps are
finding exactly the ♠K-Q stiff or West with 3-1. Continue with a club and cash the
singleton king or queen, there “seems” to be ♣A-K-Q, discarding a diamond from dum-
no legitimate way to make the contract. The my, ruff the remaining diamond and lead a
spade.

You hope one opponent is now hold- Do you see now how important it was to
ing a singleton honor (it does not matter cash the ♠A so early? If you delay that un-
which). Then you’ll receive a ruff-sluff on til after cashing the clubs, any half-awake
the return, discarding your losing spade and East would throw his ♠K under your ace
trumping in dummy. This was the whole and West would score two spades. At trick
hand: three, instead, it would take a very good
♠A7652 player, indeed, in the East chair to antici-
♥AQ92 pate the danger and unblock so early the
♦J8 doubleton honor (especially if it is the ♠K).
♣87
♠ Q 10 8 ♠K4 A further point is that if the trumps were
N
♥874 W E ♥J 2-2 and West held K-x or Q-x of spades, the
S
♦Q96 ♦ K 10 7 5 4 3 hand is cold. You might not have noticed
♣ J 10 6 5 ♣9432 this position initially, but the same line of
♠J93 play will endplay West — and he cannot
♥ K 10 6 5 3 counter by unblocking, since your next
♦A2 spade play will be from dummy toward
♣AKQ your J-9.
Bridge Today • August 2005 page 6

The Red Pencil

by Matthew Granovetter

Light Preempts Opener Responder

♠Qxxxxxx ♠x
Over the years I’ve had some success ♥x ♥AKxx
with light preempts, but not a lot. I recently ♦xxx ♦Axx
decided to switch back to the old-fashioned ♣Jx ♣Axxxx
seven-card suit preempt — you know
— with two of the top three honors — that 3♠ (3NT) ?
sort of thing.
Somehow they always made these 3NT
It doesn’t come up as much as six little contracts, with 22 HCP, that I pushed them
but it seems to put partner in the catbird into. Partner was never pleased.
seat, where partner likes to be. And I don’t
cringe anymore after preempting 3♠, hear Opener Responder
LHO bid 3NT and get ready for partner to ♠x ♠Axx
lead his ♠K into my jack-nine-eight se- ♥xx ♥Axxx
quence. ♦AQJxxxx ♦Kx
♣xxx ♣Jxxx
Let’s look at a few examples where disci-
plined preempts work, and the light variety 3♦ 3 NT
just don’t do anything good for you....
How nice, nine tricks, and partner is
pleased with my dummy. In former days, if
Opener Responder it looked like this:
♠AKxxxxx ♠x
♥x ♥AKxx Opener Responder
♦xxx ♦Axx ♠x ♠Axx
♣Jx ♣Axxxx ♥xx ♥Axxx
♦QJxxxx ♦Kx
3♠ 4♠ ♣ 10 9 8 7 ♣Jxxx

Nice, huh? Responder takes a chance 3♦ ?

that opener can bring six tricks to the ball-
park with his hand. Before I switched, the If partner passed, they reached 4♠. If
hand was this: partner bid, we went down six.

More on next page. This is illuminating.

Bridge Today • August 2005 page 7

Opener Responder Opener Responder

♠xx ♠AKQx ♠x ♠Axx
♥xx ♥ K Q J 10 ♥xx ♥ A K J 10 x x
♦Qx ♦Axxx ♦AQxxxxx ♦x
♣ K Q 10 x x x x ♣A ♣xxx ♣AKQ

3♣ 6♣ 3♦ 3♥
3♠ 4♣
OK, requires a bit of luck after a dia- 4♦ 4 NT
mond lead, but not that much luck is need- 5♦ 5♠
ed. Would you ever dream of bidding 6♣ 6♥ pass
before this article? Now consider the 3NT
contract that others were in and imagine This time responder has hearts. He is still
if the ♦K was over the queen.... Yes, 6♣ enchanted with the 3♠ call. He cuebids
is much better because it pays off a higher 4♣ and hears a 4♦ cuebid (the ace for sure,
bonus score when it makes. since opener has shown two top honors).
Responder bids Blackwood and then 5♠ to
Now here are some tools to go along with ask for the ♥Q (must be because the ♦Q or
your new disciplined preempts. The main ♦K is known).
tool is that a response may be natural or
looking for a cuebid. Opener Responder
♠x ♠AK
Opener Responder ♥xx ♥xxxxxx
♠x ♠Jxx ♦xx ♦AQx
♥xxx ♥Ax ♣KQxxxxx ♣AJ
♦AQxxxxx ♦Kxx
♣xx ♣AKQxx 3♣ 3♦
3♠ 3 NT
3♦ 3♥
3♠ 6♦ Opener has no control in hearts, so re-
sponder signs off in 3NT.
The 3♥ bid is natural until proven
otherwise, but in the meantime it elicits a Some pairs may want to play this method
cuebid from opener. Just what responder only after a 3♣ or 3♦ opening. Enjoy.
wanted to hear.

A Defensive Problem ♠QJ8 ♥A6 ♦942 ♣AKJ93

by Eddie Kantar
South West North East
You’re playing in an expert 1♥ 1 NT 2♦ pass
game on the Internet and you 4♥ pass pass double
pick up the following hand as (all pass)
West with neither side vulner-
able at imps. First of all, what do you lead? And then
we’ll go from there.
Bridge Today • August 2005 page 8

Have you selected your lead? These were

the four hands:

North This was actually an opening lead prob-

♠K72 lem, but I didn’t want to give away the
♥5 show. Your partner is Don Krauss, one of
♦ K J 10 6 5 3 Bob Hamman’s very first serious partners.
♣742 He has resurfaced at the bridge table after
West East (Don Krauss) way too long an absence. Don came up
♠QJ8 ♠ 10 6 5 4 3 with this double hoping it would inspire
♥A6 ♥Q87 a diamond lead, He expected his partner
♦942 ♦7 to have a trump entry and give him some
♣AKJ93 ♣ 10 8 6 5 ruffs. As it happens, a diamond lead is the
South only defense. After a diamond lead taken in
♠A9 dummy, declarer leads a trump to the jack
♥ K J 10 9 4 3 2 and ace. You return your lowest diamond
♦AQ8 (after having led the deuce), Don ruffs, leads
♣Q club and ruffs your diamond return. Down
one. Krauss is back.... in spades!
South West North East
1♥ 1 NT 2♦ pass
4♥ pass pass double
(all pass)

Grand National Teams Results: Summer Nationals

First: Howard Perlman, Chuck Berger, Perry John-
son, Michael Zerbini
Second: Jim Mahaffey, Barnet Shenkin, Eric Rod-
well, Jeff Meckstroth, Gary Cohler, Michael Seamon
Life Master Pairs
First: Pat McDevitt and Stephen Gladyszak
Second: Zia Mahmood and Walid Elahmady
Senior Swiss
First: Jerry Bare, Gene Freed, Jim Murphy, Mike
Savage
Second: Grace Hunt, John Sutherlin, Nancy Passell,
Fred Hamilton, Thomas Peters, John Zilic
Mixed Board-a-Match Teams
First: Hemant Lall, Petra Hamman, Peggy Kaplan,
Steve Beatty, Rozanne Pollack, Marty Fleisher
Second: Barbara Sonsini, John Sutherlin, Tobi So-
kolow, Mark Lair, Rhoda Walsh
Open Swiss Teams
First: Peter Bertheau, Fredrik Nystrom, Fulvio
Fantoni, Claudio Nunes, Christal Henner-Welland,
Michael Kamil
Second: Pratap Rajadhyaksha, Steve Landen, Martin
Harris and Jacob Morgan.
Wager Women’s Knockouts
First: Lynn Baker, Kerri Sanborn, Lynn Deas, Beth
Palmer, Daniella von Arnim, Sabine Auken
Second: Candace Griffey, Joan Eaton, Kathy Baum,
Peg Waller, Val Colvalciuc, Betty Ann Kennedy
Spingold
First: Russ Ekeblad, Ron Rubin, Eric Greco, Geoff
Hampson, Bard Moss, Fred Gitelman
Second: Tom Carmichael, Michael White, Joel
Wooldridge, John Hurd, Dan Gerstman, Bryan
Maksymetz
Bridge Today • August 2005 page 9

It Happened Last Night

by Andrew Robson
To bid and make a grand slam after one
opponent has opened the bidding and his
partner has responded in a new suit at the
two-level is almost unheard of. But such an
occurrence actually took place last night at
my bridge club in London (arobson.co.uk).
Here is the hand:

West dealer North cards (Acol), so East chose to reply 2♣ rather

N-S vul ♠A9 than support spades. All the players got
♥A3 their money’s worth after that - with North
♦J965 making bids that might tactfully be termed
♣ Q 10 8 7 5 inconsistent: passing over 5♠ then emerging
West East a round later with 7♦. But the proof of the
♠ K 10 8 7 6 3 ♠QJ2 pudding was in the eating...
♥ Q J 10 9 6 4 ♥72
♦Q ♦2 West led the ♠7 against 7♦, and declarer
♣— ♣KJ96432 paused for thought. Making 12 tricks was
South easy — he could trump his third heart in
♠54 dummy — but how could he discard his
♥K85 second spade? It would have to be on dum-
♦ A K 10 8 7 4 3 my’s clubs. Do you see how he did it?
♣A
Declarer won the ♠A and crossed to the
West North East South ♦K, drawing the two missing trumps. He
1♠ pass 2♣ 2♦ cashed the ♣A, noting West discard, then
2♥ 4♦ 4♠ 5♦ crossed to the ♥A to lead the ♣Q. East
5♠ pass pass 6♦ covered with ♣K and declarer ruffed. He
6♠ 7♦ (all pass) cashed the ♥K, ruffed the ♥5 in dummy,
then led the ♣10. East covered with ♣J so
West opened light, but his hand did satis- declarer ruffed (with the ♦A) and crossed
fy the Rule of 20 - “open the bidding when back to dummy by leading the ♦4 to the
your high card points added to the number ♦9. He next led the ♣8 and East covered
of cards in your two longest suits is equal with ♣9. He ruffed, led the ♦7 to ♦J and
to 20 or more.” His 1♠ only promised four tabled the established ♣7, on which he
discarded the ♠5. Grand Slam made!
Bridge Today • August 2005
The Second European Open Championships
by Pietro Campanile
Made wiser by the many problems that
plagued the first edition of this champion-
ship two years ago in Menton, first and fore-
most the lack of air-conditioning in a town
which enjoyed an average daily tempera-
ture of 34º C., the European Bridge League
selected the Canary Islands, and namely
Tenerife, as the host for its second edition.
The venue was the five-star “Mare Nos-
trum” complex, which offered the players
luxurious accommodation and a wealth of
facilities together with spacious and air-con-
ditioned (yes!) playing halls.
Despite the superior playing conditions,
past experience and perhaps the relative
inaccessibility of the venue (a four-hour
flight from Madrid and a connection from
wherever one comes from is a lot more
travel than a lot of people would consider
acceptable for a “European” event) caused a
drastic drop in the number of participants.
Nevertheless the quality of the field was not
in question, numbering dozens of world and
European champions like Meckstroth and
Rodwell (defending their Pairs title), Zia
Mahmood, Michael Rosenberg, all the top
Italian pairs and many, many others.
page 10
The event that kicked off the champi-
onship was the Mixed Teams, and it soon
became clear that the trend, which saw in
its previous edition the top favorite teams
(on paper at least) getting unceremoniously
knocked out, would continue.
By the time we reached the semifinals
stage, teams including Meckstroth, Bocchi,
Rosenberg, Zia and many other champions
were already out of contention.
The final was disputed between two
Scandinavian teams, Goldberg from Swe-
den (Lars Goldberg, Ulla-britt Goldberg,
Bengt-erik Efraimsson & Helena Svedlund)
and Erichsen from Norway (Boye & Tonje
Brogeland, Espen & Helen Erichsen, Tor &
Gunn Helness), the latter an unlikely assort-
ment of husband-and-wives partnerships,
proving that such combinations can achieve
success (are you reading this, Migry?).
Let us start the bridge action with an
interesting deal from the match between
the defending champions Welland (Jill
and Bobby Levin, Roy Welland, Henner
Welland, Michael and Debbie Rosenberg)
and Kowalski (Kowalski, Miszewska, Panina,
Rosenblum, Sarniak , Tuszinski).
Bridge Today • August 2005 page 11

Board 5. North ued the round of cuebids. Over 4♠ Rosen-

North dealer ♠762 blum might have contented himself with
N-S vul ♥J9763 5♦ but instead went on with an optimistic
♦ 10 8 5 5♠ (was he really thinking 7♣ could be on
♣32 the cards simply thanks to his ♥AK?) and
West East Panina closed the auction with 6♣. The
♠ Q J 10 ♠AK8 contract in itself is not that bad as long as
♥ A K 10 ♥4 you don’t mind a slam on a finesse; unfortu-
♦963 ♦AQJ2 nately for the Russians the ♦K was in the
♣ 10 8 7 5 ♣KQJ94 wrong place but somehow declarer managed
South to cope with that!
♠9543
♥Q852 South started off with an aggressive
♦K74 diamond lead, which declarer took with the
♣A6 ♦Q. Declarer drove out her ♣A and South
exited with a spade. Panina at this point
In the open room the Welland team had only to hope against hope that the ♦K
reached 3NT making 11 tricks, but Larissa was onside despite the ominous indications
Panina and Michael Rosenblum had differ- supplied by the play at the first trick, but
ent ideas and were soon engaged in a com- before committing herself to what appeared
plex Polish Club auction, which got them to be a hopeless finesse she carried out the
to a more ambitious spot. time-honored ploy of running her trumps.
Trying to clarify the position, North dis-
Rosenblum Panina carded his two remaining diamonds start-
West North East South ing with the ♦10, but South seemingly did
— pass 1♣ pass not notice her partner’s carding and, feel-
1 NT pass 3♣ pass ing to be on the receiving end of a red-suit
3♥ pass 3♠ pass squeeze, decided to cunningly blank her ♦K
4♥ pass 4♠ pass and hold on to her hearts. Unfortunately
5♠ pass 6♣ (all pass) declarer could still count to 13 and must
have been rather bewildered at noticing
One club was Polish showing a variety of that only one diamond was outstanding.
hands, 1NT was natural, 9-11 HCP and de- The ♦A soon took care of that and an un-
nied a four-card major. 3♣ is GF and clari- expected 11 imps rolled in for Kowalski.
fied opener’s hand showing 18+ HCP and 5+
clubs. 3♥ was a cuebid agreeing clubs and The following board caused a lot of
3♠ implied a diamond control and contin- swings across the field in the round of 32:
Bridge Today • August 2005 page 12

Board 12 North At a few other tables the Einsteinian

East dealer ♠85 axiom that “Everything is relative” was
N-S vul ♥QJ7 extended to the concept of what is and isn’t
♦Q32 a stopper. In the match between De Bot-
♣ Q J 10 9 7 ton and Kowalski the bidding proceeded
West East along similar lines: South opened 1♦ and
♠AQJ94 ♠ 10 7 6 3 2 West overcalled 1♠, North bid 2♦, and East
♥K852 ♥A93 jumped to 3♠. Nick Sandqvist for De Bot-
♦854 ♦ 10 7 ton trusted his singleton ♠K and quickly
♣5 ♣642 bid 3NT as South. Everyone passed, and on
South the unimaginative low spade lead declarer
♠K had +660 to reward his cheeky bid. In the
♥ 10 6 4 other room the wily Pole, Apollinaire Kow-
♦AKJ96 alski, also bid 3NT after the same auction,
♣AK83 but Janet De Botton (West) was not ready to
give up just yet and bid 4♥ as the knowl-
edge that the ♠K was on her right and that
A majority of the N-S pairs were warned partner was short in diamonds meant that
by E-W interference that 3NT might not be 4♠ would either be a make or a cheap save.
such a sound spot and ended up mostly in North tried 4NT, everybody passed, but the
5♣, a contract that has three top losers and suspicious Janet led the ♠A for down four!
seems destined to fail. However, the defense
lost its way at many tables and did not cash The Norwegian early domination of
out its three winners. The problem was this championship was confirmed when
solved very neatly in the match between the Tor Helness and his wife managed to com-
American O’Rourke Team and Goldberg. plete a stunning double, winning also the
Against 5♣ by South, bid after an overcall Mixed Pairs competition with an average of
and a preemptive raise in spades by East- 57.76%, ahead of Willard- Mouiel (France)
West, West (Disa Eythorsdottir) led the ♠A, with 57.42% and, in third place, Michael
denying the ♠K, and Meckstroth (East), and Debbie Rosenberg (USA) with 55.63%.
realizing that South had to have a singleton Let’s see a board that exemplifies the win-
♠K, followed with the ♠10, playing upside- ning approach of the Norwegian pair:
down count and normal suit preference.
Once South dropped the ♠K on the ♠A, it
was easy for West to switch to the heart fol-
lowing the suit preference indication given
by her partner.
Bridge Today • August 2005 page 13

Board 22 North went surprisingly to the Norwegians Svend-

East dealer ♠8762 sen-Langeland who had only managed to
E-W vul ♥KQ87 qualify through the backdoor of the B
♦J987 Semifinal.
♣A
West East The Open Teams was the last event
♠AKQJ5 ♠943 in the busy Championship schedule and
♥9642 ♥ J 10 included a wealth of competitors divided in
♦ 10 ♦K42 many groups of 7-8 teams from which the
♣832 ♣QJ974 top four would go on to contest an 8-round
South Swiss, from which would emerge 27 of the
♠ 10 32 teams admitted to the round of 32. The
♥A53 teams excluded from the Swiss A would
♦AQ653 have one last chance to get back in conten-
♣ K 10 6 5 tion through the Swiss B, where only the
top five teams, however, would go on to the
West North East South round of 32.
Trapani T. Helness Popa G. Helness
— — pass 1♦ The high pace of the competition and
1♠ double 2♠ 3♣ the relatively small number of boards
3♠ double (all pass) played caused many fancied team to bite
the dust at a surprisingly early stage of the
North’s double is a typical match-point competition. Among the illustrious casual-
action to protect the likely plus in their ties to fall before the round of 16: the Ital-
diamond partscore, and South did very well ian Lavazza team with Bocchi and Duboin,
to pass the double: a winning decision no Welland with Zia and Rosenberg, Rubin
doubt heavily influenced by the vulner- (the designated USA 2 team for the upcom-
ability position. Tor led the ♣A and imme- ing Bermuda Bowl), and O’ Rourke with
diately switched to a trump. Declarer took Meckwell. The exclusion of the Lavazza was
in hand and tried to set up a heart ruff, particularly controversial as it arose after
but Tor was having none of it: He jumped an allegation of cheating by one of its pairs
in with the ♥Q and played another trump, (Buratti-Lanzarotti) against Migry’s team
On the next heart, Tor played low and his was upheld by the Appeals Committee re-
wife won the ace, cashed the ♣K and gave sulting in the exclusion of the whole team.*
her husband a ruff. Now Tor fell from grace
and led the ♦J instead of a third trump, so
declarer covered and later scored a heart *One of the players in question, as dummy, alleg-
ruff for down three –800. It was still a 97% edly peeked into one of his opponents’ hands and
score for the winners. then put three fingers on his arm to indicate to his
partner, the declarer, that there were three trumps
The Senior events were dominated by to his right. Declarer then picked up the trump suit
Italy, which won the Teams with Forna- in a slam, with J-x-x-x-x facing A-K-9-x, leading the
ciari and the Pairs with Abate-Morelli. The jack through the Q-10-x. For more details about
Ladies teams was convincingly won by the this matter, we refer readers to the Bulletins of the
French national team (D’Ovidio, Gaviard, European Championships: http://www.eurobridge.
Cronier, Willard), while the Ladies Pairs org/competitions/05Tenerife/Bulletins.htm
Bridge Today • August 2005 page 14

In the round of 32 Migry had a surprise cious +420 and a gain of 8 imps when Ozdil
victory over the highly fancied Rubin team, was left to play in 3♣ down one at the
due to represent the USA in the next Ber- other table. Orange 1 – Ozdil 54-25.
muda Bowl. Unfortunately she was then
eliminated in the next round after a close Board 22 North
match to Ozdil (Ozdil-Ginossar; Bakhshi- East dealer ♠AK87
Holland), which went on to contest a final E-W vul ♥K75
place against the Orange 1 Team (essentially ♦A4
the Dutch National team: Jansma-Verhees, ♣ A 10 9 6
Bakkeren-Bertens, Muller-De Wijs). The West East
second part of their semifinal proved to be ♠9542 ♠Q
the “thriller” of the tournament. We take ♥QJ8 ♥432
up the action halfway in the second part of ♦KQ7 ♦J986532
the match. There are only seven boards left ♣KJ5 ♣Q8
to play and Orange 1 has accumulated a South
seemingly insurmountable 37-imp lead: ♠ J 10 6 3
Orange 1 – Ozdil 54-17. ♥ A 10 9 6
♦ 10
Board 21 North ♣7432
North dealer ♠ K 10 9 8 5
N-S vul ♥Q83 The contract reached at both tables was
♦973 4♠ but that was after rather different auc-
♣ A 10 tions:
West East
♠QJ7 ♠A4 West North East South
♥ K J 10 7 6 5 ♥942 Holland De Wijs Bakhshi Muller
♦Q82 ♦AKJ5 — — pass pass
♣8 ♣9752 pass 1♣ 1♦ double
South 1 NT pass 2♦ double
♠632 pass 2♠ pass 3♠
♥A pass 4♠ (all pass)
♦ 10 6 4
♣KQJ643 Bakhshi (East) found the best lead of a
heart, and declarer had no reason not to
West North East South finesse the spades on the first round, the
Holland De Wijs Bakhshi Muller percentage play in case West holds four
— pass 1♦ pass spades to the Q-9. Eventually declarer lost
1♥ 1♠ pass 2♠ a spade, a heart, two
3♥ pass 4 ♥! (all pass) clubs and another
trick when he ran
No doubt influenced by the way the out of trumps in the
match had been going, Bakhshi-Holland in end position for 4♠,
E-W was the only pair in the semifinals to down two.
get to the unbeatable 4♥. Declarer lost the
David Bakhshi
obvious three tricks and chalked up a pre-
of London
Bridge Today • August 2005 page 15

At the other table there was no diamond wards it. This created a problem for Jansma
overcall and Ozdil ended up declaring 4♠ who had to choose between several unat-
after this auction: tractive options: a club lead was out of the
question while a red-suit lead could turn
Board 22 North out disastrous with most of the points in
East dealer ♠AK87 North, giving declarer the chance to avoid
E-W vul ♥K75 any guessing in the chosen suit. Eventually
♦A4 Jansma opted for what he thought was the
♣ A 10 9 6 safest lead: the ♠4.
West East
♠9542 ♠Q Ozdil did not take long to work out that
♥QJ8 ♥432 on this auction Jansma would never have
♦KQ7 ♦J986532 led a spade if he held the ♠Q, so he rose
♣KJ5 ♣Q8 with the ♠A dropping Verhees’s singleton
South ♠Q. Having got off to such a great start,
♠ J 10 6 3 Ozdil threaded very carefully to make sure
♥ A 10 9 6 of his contract: He ducked a club, took with
♦ 10 the ♦A the diamond return and continued
♣7432 with ♣A and a club. Jansma took his ♣K
and tried cashing the ♦Q, but declarer was
West North East South now home and dry: he ruffed the diamond,
Jansma Ginossar Verhees Ozdil drew two rounds of trumps, went to dum-
— — pass pass my with the ♥K and took the last trump,
pass 1♣ pass 1♥ claiming ten tricks for a further 11-imp
pass 2 NT pass 3 ♥ (1) gain. Orange 1 – Ozdil 54 – 36.
pass 4 ♦ (2) pass 4♠
(all pass) The next two deals gave back to Orange
1 three overtrick imps to give them a 21-
(1) 4♥ and 4♠ imp lead with four boards to go but Ozdil
(2) Please bid 4♠ was not finished yet.

The first important decision was Ginos-
sar’s 4♦ bid, letting his partner be declarer.
An excellent move given his holding of
♥K-x-x to go with partner’s second suit and
the unsupported aces in the minors, which
meant that it would be best if the lead went
through the North hand rather than to-
On board 25 a pushy Dutch contract
was aggressively doubled by Bakhshi-Hol-
land and went two down -300, while Ozdil-
Ginossar succeeded in stopping at the two
level with 2♠ an easy make. That was 9
more imps for Ozdil: Orange 1 – Ozdil 57-
45 with only two boards to go, since board
26 turned out to be flat.
Bridge Today • August 2005 page 16

Board 27 North At the other table Ozdil seemed to be

South dealer ♠AQ9872 heading towards the impossible 6♠ until…
None vul ♥ 10
♦J9 South West North East
♣KJ63 Ozdil Jansma Ginossar Verhees
West East 1♥ pass 1 ♠ (1) pass
♠ K 10 6 ♠54 3♥ pass 3♠ pass
♥A ♥76432 4 ♣ (2) pass 4 ♥(2) pass
♦ K 10 8 7 5 ♦6432 4 NT (3) pass 5 ♦ (4) pass
♣ 10 9 7 2 ♣Q8 6 ♥! (all pass)
South
♠J3 (1) 5+ Spades
♥KQJ985 (2) Cuebid agreeing spades
♦AQ (3) RKCB
♣A54 (4) 1 or 4 keycards out of 5

This hand exemplifies in my view why
bridge is such an unpredictable game. If we
look at North-South we can see that their
best fit and likely trump suit is spades, with
a combined holding of eight cards; more-
over the missing ♠K is onside and the suit
divides with a friendly 3-2 split. On the
other hand, a spade contract is limited to
ten or eleven tricks after East leads a dia-
mond, since declarer will likely lose a dia-
mond and a heart at least. The best chance
to make 12 tricks is actually in hearts,
where N-S has only seven cards and the suit
splits 5-1!
At the table where the Dutch were N-S
the final contract was 4♥, after Holland in
West had interfered with a 1NT overcall,
showing minors, on South’s strong 1♣ open-
ing.
When Ozdil agreed spades with his 4♣
cuebid, Ginossar was faced with a tough de-
cision. He felt that they might have enough
for slam but could not bid 4NT because
of his diamond weakness, Therefore, he
resolved to make a possibly nebulous 4♥
cuebid, an unusual step since a singleton
opposite partner’s strong suit can hardly
be considered a useful asset. When Ginos-
sar showed only one ace, Ozdil must have
realized that his partner’s 4♥ could not be
based on the ♥A, since that would mean
that his spade suit would be at most queen
high, hardly likely when he showed inter-
est in slam, and, therefore, decided to revert
back to his chunky heart suit despite the
danger of a possible 6-1 fit but with the im-
portant plus of protecting his ♦A-Q, rather
than trying his luck in 6♠ with a poten-
tially weak trump suit.
Bridge Today • August 2005 page 17

Board 27 ♠AQ9872 passive club lead. Quite understandably the

South dealer ♥ 10 Dutch champion, worried by what sounded
None vul ♦J9 like a huge double fit, decided to lead the
♣KJ63 ♦5. Ozdil must have been truly delighted
♠ K 10 6 ♠54 both by the lead and by the priceless single-
♥A ♥76432 ton ♥10 in dummy, which meant that he
♦ K 10 8 7 5 ♦6432 had a fairly easy time gathering 12 tricks
♣ 10 9 7 2 ♣Q8 despite the 5-1 trump split. However, the
♠J3 slam is makeable also after the ♣10 lead,
♥KQJ985 which will help declarer in guessing the
♦AQ club suit, since the lead is unlikely to come
♣A54 from Q-10-9-x or Q-10-x. The slam brought
another 11 imps to Ozdil who was now only
That put Jansma (West) once again in a one imp behind the Dutch before the last
terrible bind: Essentially he had to choose and decisive board! Orange 1 – Ozdil 57-56.
between an aggressive diamond lead and a

Let’s move behind the South seat of the Board 28 North

Turkish champion who picks up the follow- North dealer ♠63
ing: N-S vul ♥AQ87
♠ 10 5 2 ♦K32
♥4 ♣ A Q 10 2
♦ Q J 10 8 7 6 5 4 West East
♣4 ♠J4 ♠AKQ987
♥ K 10 9 6 ♥J532
With N-S vulnerable, Ginossar opened ♦A9 ♦—
a strong notrump and East overcalled 2♦, ♣J9753 ♣K86
showing an undisclosed major. Rejecting South
the impulsive idea of bidding 5♦, you come ♠ 10 5 2
in the auction with 2NT, transfer to either ♥4
minor. Partner complies with 3♣ and East ♦ Q J 10 8 7 6 5 4
surprisingly bids 3♠. What do you now? ♣4

Here is a recap of the bidding: Ozdil had a tough bid but had he gone
West North East South on with 4♦ he would have made +130 and
Jansma Ginossar Verhees Ozdil squared the match. However, the Turkish
— 1 NT 2 ♦ (1) 2 NT (2) player preferred to pass, hoping that 3♠
pass 3♣ 3♠ ? might go off (or that his opponents missed
4♠!) and the result would be enough to see
While you think, it is time to show you them through. Three spades did go off, but
the board and relate that at the other table only one down after a heart lead (♥Q, ♥A,
Bakhshi-Holland, probably still thinking heart ruff, club to the ♣A and heart ruff).
that they had to catch up, pushed on to The resulting 2 imps to Orange 1 meant the
3NT on the East-West cards going two off end of an amazing match and, all in all, a
for -100. deserved victory for the Dutch team.
Bridge Today • August 2005 page 18

The ensuing final against the Miroglio Open Room:

team (Kowalsky, Romansky, Stepinsky, South West North East
Tuszinsky, Bongiovanni) was a one-sided Bakkeren Kowalski Bertens Tuszinski
affair that the Dutch dominated from the 1♠ pass 2♦ pass
start, eventually winning 103-23, with 3♠ pass 4♣ pass
Miroglio conceding before the last set. Here 4♦ pass 4♥ pass
is a classic example of that deadly combina- 4 NT pass 5♥ pass
tion that earned the Dutch their victory: 5 NT pass 7♠ (all pass)
super-aggressive bidding and a kind smile
by Lady Luck. The Poles stopped in the fairly normal
6♠, while the Dutch went on to the much
Board 31 North more ambitious grand, no doubt because
South dealer ♠J6 Bertens must have expected his partner’s
N-S vul ♥ A 10 4♦ cuebid to show the ♦K and not a
♦AQ532 singleton, which would indeed prove to
♣K632 be a dubious asset opposite partner’s main
West East suit. Nevertheless, however they got to 7♠,
♠73 ♠94 declarer had very few options as to how
♥K974 ♥QJ653 to make it. Given the inevitable losers in
♦ K 10 9 8 ♦J64 hearts and clubs (short of finding ♣Q-J
♣975 ♣QJ4 stiff) he would need two pitches from the
South diamonds and, therefore, was forced to play
♠ A K Q 10 8 5 2 for the suit to split 4-3 and the ♦K onside.
♥82 Once Lady Luck kindly granted his request
♦7 he was soon writing down +2210 and wid-
♣ A 10 8 ening even more the gap between the two
teams. Notice that the percentage play in
Closed Room: diamonds is the finesse, not to play for the
South West North East drop of king third.
Stepinski De Wijs Romanski Muller
1♠ pass 2♦ pass The Open Pairs was the last event in
3♠ pass 4♣ pass the championship and was structured in a
4♦ pass 4♥ pass three-round qualifier leading to an A and
4 NT pass 5♠ pass B semifinal and ultimately to a four-ses-
6♠ (all pass) sion final with 52 pairs taking part. The
competition had a thrilling finale when, just
before the last hand was due to be played,
the top two pairs, the Poles Kowalky-Tusz-
inszky, and the Italian brothers, Furio and
Stelio Di Bello, were divided by 0.01%,
meaning that the Italians had to outper-
form the Poles on the last board in order to
win the championship. To add spice to this
Simon De Wijs
distant confrontation, both pairs would be
of Holland
North-South and both declared the same
Bridge Today • August 2005 page 19

1NT contract, the Di Bellos against the Bes- along the same line and played a diamond
sis father-and-son pair and the Poles against to the ♦Q and East’s ♦A, reaching this
Hauge – Helness. position with East on play:

East dealer North ♠ 10 7 6 5

None vul ♠ 10 7 6 5 4 ♥—
♥J98 ♦—
♦ Q 10 ♣—
♣AQ2 ♠KJ2 ♠Q93
West East ♥— N ♥—
W E
♠KJ2 ♠Q93 ♦— S ♦J
♥K63 ♥ 10 7 5 ♣ 10 ♣—
♦K54 ♦AJ86 ♠A8
♣ 10 7 6 5 ♣J93 ♥—
South ♦97
♠A8 ♣—
♥AQ42
♦9732 The path of the game now diverged:
♣K84 Hauge (East) cashed the ♦J before playing
back a spade, giving Kowalsky the overtrick
Both declarers got the ♣5 lead, taken he had worked so hard to set up, while
in dummy with the queen, tried the ♥J, Olivier Bessis (East at the other table) led
which held, and continued with a heart to a spade, restricting declarer to seven tricks.
the queen, East taking his king and sending The result of the board meant that Kow-
back another club. Declarer took in dummy alsky-Tuszinsky were the new European
with the ♣A and played a heart to the ace Open Pairs champions, while the valiant
and the fourth heart, East and West pitch- young challengers from Italy would have to
ing a diamond at both tables. Next came a content themselves with a second place and
diamond up. West jumped in with the ♦K wonder what might have happened had
and sent back another club to declarer’s they played the last board against different
♣K. Both Di Bello and Kowalsky continued opponents!
Bridge Today • August 2005 page 20

There is a major difference in how a

good bridge player and a poor bridge player
Improve Your Game Dept.
makes his discards on a long suit. If he has
to make four pitches, the good player will
by Gene Benedict
take time to think before making the first
one. The critical discard will be taken early.

On the other hand, the poor player suits works well. If your honors are in your
pauses after every card is run in a long suit. long suits, you might want to explore for
By the time the last card in the long suit is slam.
played, the poor player is in agony. A good
declarer rarely goes wrong after watching South won the opening lead with the
his slow discards. ♥K. He decided to cash some diamonds, to
see what the opponents would discard. On
One of the costliest clues the poor player the third round of diamonds, East discarded
gives declarer is a discard from his short his only club. He wanted to tell partner to
suit. save clubs, and that he would guard the
other suits.
Matchpoints North
North dealer ♠Q6 The normal play in clubs is to cash the
N-S vul ♥ 10 6 2 ace and king, and hope to drop a doubleton
♦AJ42 queen. After East’s discard, however, South
♣AK53 was convinced that West held the ♣Q, so
West East he crossed to his hand with a fourth dia-
♠ J 10 8 5 3 ♠A974 mond and played the jack of clubs. West
♥84 ♥QJ9753 covered with the queen, and South won
♦ 10 6 ♦73 the king in dummy. By showing out, East
♣ Q 10 7 4 ♣2 revealed his entire distribution to South.
South South crossed to his hand with a spade to
♠K2 the king and led the ♣ 9, covered by the
♥AK ten and ace. South made 11 tricks (one
♦KQ985 spades, two hearts, five diamonds, and three
♣J986 clubs) for a near top.

West North East South Bob Hamman is considered by many

— 1♦ 2♥ 3 NT
(all pass)
Opening lead: ♥8
South could have shown a strong dia-
mond raise by cuebidding three hearts.
However, with two stoppers in hearts, 3NT
seemed more prudent. I have learned that
bidding 3NT with solid honors in short
to be the number-one bridge player in the
world. Some years ago, he was asked to sub-
mit a bridge tip for a book. Hamman’s tip
was that if you want to develop into a good
player, you must learn to build a mental
picture of the opponents’ shape and high
cards.
It also helps to have a thorough knowl-
edge of the best way to play all common
Bridge Today • August 2005 page 21

card combinations. Want to try a play-of- now have a fairly good picture of the hand
the-hand problem that incorporates both of — what can you do about it?
these ideas?
The answer is to play the ♠Q from
Matchpoints North dummy and duck East’s king! East can play
East dealer ♠Q86 one heart through, but if West’s two-heart
None vul ♥762 overcall was “honest,” the heart suit cannot
♦6 be run against you. Meanwhile, knowledge
♣AKJ954 of this card combination in the spade suit
allows you to preserve the entry to your
South hand so that you can (with luck!) enjoy the
♠ A 10 4 diamond suit later.
♥K84
♦ A K 10 9 7 2 The whole hand was:
♣ 10
♠Q86
West North East South ♥762
— — pass 1♦ ♦6
2♥ 3♣ pass 3 NT ♣AKJ954
(all pass) ♠97 ♠KJ532
♥AQJ953 N ♥ 10
W E
Opening lead: ♠9 ♦J8 S ♦Q543
♣832 ♣Q76
What do you make of the opening lead? ♠ A 10 4
Why didn’t West lead hearts? ♥K84
♦ A K 10 9 7 2
If West had an outside entry, he would ♣ 10
be quite happy to give declarer a trick on
opening lead in return for setting up his East wins the ♠K and returns the ♥10.
suit. With no outside entry, West, looking West’s best defense is to overtake with the
at A-K-x-x-x-x or A-J-10-x-x-x, would also jack and shift to a club. But you counter
be willing to lead his suit, because declarer by winning dummy’s ♣A, cashing the king
has a sure trick in the suit anyway and one (throwing a heart) and playing a spade to
must hope that partner will get in and play the ten. Now the ♦A-K and another dia-
the suit back so that the defense can run it. mond sees you home, because you still have
the carefully-preserved ♠A as an entry to
With A-Q-J-x-x-x and no outside entry, the diamonds.*
however, West might be stingy about giv-
ing up a trick. An optimistic West will hope *If you play low from dummy at trick one, you can
that partner will get in and play the suit still survive if you duck East’s ♠J. After a heart to
through declarer’s king, to run it without the jack and club switch, you cash two clubs (throw-
giving up anything! ing a heart), lead a spade for a finesse and play
diamonds. If East plays the ♠K when you lead a
When you see the ♠9 lead, you should spade from the Q-8, you win the ace and play on
assume this last possibility is the case. You diamonds, throwing the ♠Q. — editor
Bridge Today • August 2005
Bridge Yesterday
Rubber Bridge Dept.
Victor Mollo
801 Grenville House
Dolphin Square
London S.W. 1
28th January, 1986
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Granovetter,
Thank you for the compliment of invit-
ing me to contribute to your favourite/di-
sastrous hands series. I hope that the two I
have written up will amuse you, if nothing
else. Both occurred within the last twelve
months.
All players of experience have brought
off, at some time or another, all the plays
which rejoice in the name of “coups.” As
defenders we have all had our triumphs
against declarer. As declarer we have made
defenders bite the dust. Rarer, more dif-
ficult, and often more rewarding, are coups
against partner. This is one that I shall
always look back upon with pleasure. It
came up at the St. James’s Bridge Club, in
London.
page 22
Both sides are vulnerable and East-West
have a partscore of 60. I am sitting South
with:
♠J9763
♥62
♦543
♣965
West, the dealer, opens 1♠. North passes
and East raises to 2♠. I pass, of course, and
so does West, but now partner, an intrepid
lady who doesn’t mind going down in a
good cause — or in any other, that for that
matter — looks at the score, consults the
ceiling and finally emerges with a double.
East passes. What should I do?
While partner was still looking at the
ceiling I was working out the cost. By
the time the double came around to me,
I would have cheerfully settled for the
equivalent of $60 in American money. But
would I get the chance? Whatever suit I bid
I was doomed to find a splendid fit oppo-
site, and if the opponents bid on, so would
partner, right through the $100 mark. How
could I stop her?
The thought of a craven pass flitted
through my mind, but that would have
brought the biggest penalty of all. Never
again would the intrepid lady trust me or
give me a chance to apply the brakes.
Suddenly, I had an inspiration. What
would partner like to hear least? What
would depress her most? Without a doubt,
2NT, a wanton, distractive bid, which not
even a beginner would contemplate on my
hand. So I promptly bid 2NT.
Expecting me, apparently, to have a two-
suiter in the minors, West decided to take
the rubber, and much to my relief, bid 3♠.
Somehow he went one down. The deal was:
Bridge Today • August 2005 page 23

North (Intrepid Lady) North (dummy)

♠— ♠ K J 10 5
♥QJ98 ♥ J 10
♦KJ986 ♦63
♣KJ43 ♣K9752
West East East (Victor)
♠AK542 ♠ Q 10 8 N ♠Q2
♥K75 ♥ A 10 4 3 W E ♥864
S
♦ A 10 2 ♦Q7 ♦ Q 10 9 8 7
♣Q2 ♣ A 10 8 7 ♣ A Q 10
South (Victor)
♠J9763 West North East South
♥62 1NT* pass pass 2♥
♦543 pass pass 3♦ pass
♣965 pass 3♥ pass pass
4♦ pass pass 4♥
* * * double (all pass)
A very different problem faced me on an-
other hand at the St. James’s Bridge Club. *12-14
With neither side vulnerable and a part-
score of 60 to East-West, I sat East. West was West cashed the ace-king of diamonds
the dealer: and switched to the ♥5, dummy’s ♥10
winning. Declarer took stock and contin-
ued with the ♣K. What could it mean?
Could he be trying to set up a trick in
clubs? Preparing a re-entry with a ruff? It
seemed highly implausible. The only ra-
Weekly Contest! tional explanation was a Discovery Play.
West’s 1NT was limited to 14 points, so he
Have you entered the new weekly couldn’t have both black aces in addition
contest at the Bridgetoday.com to the ♦A-K. But he needed one of them,
homepage? so before broaching the spades declarer
wanted to know where the honours were. I
It’s fun and there’s a prize every didn’t believe that he had another diamond
week! Enter the contest at: and visualized his pattern as 5-6-2-0. Play-
ing smoothly and looking faintly bored, I
http://www.bridgetoday.com followed to the ♣K with the ♣10. South,
needless to say, would ruff, and placing
West with the ♣A and me with the ♠A,
would finesse against the ♠Q.

I was congratulating myself on a pretty

defense, when South, who couldn’t possibly
have a club, as I had proved conclusively,
produced the ♣3! The four hands were:
Bridge Today • August 2005 page 24

North (dummy) Partner looked at me reprovingly. South

♠ K J 10 5 grinned. The kibitzers chortled. It was a hu-
♥ J 10 miliating experience. The irony of it is that
♦63 declarer was really making a discover play
♣K9752 — and giving himself in the process the
West East (Victor) added chance of bringing off a very enjoy-
♠A4 ♠Q2 able swindle. I would have enjoyed it, too,
♥752 ♥864 had I not found myself at the receiving end.
♦AKJ4 ♦ Q 10 9 8 7
♣J864 ♣ A Q 10 Best Wishes.
South Yours sincerely,
♠98763 Victor Mollo
♥AKQ93
♦52
♣3

The Wizards of Aus

Hands from Australian Tournaments

by Ron Klinger

What’s the difference between the post-

code of Newcastle and Canberra? Hang on
and you will find out the answer to this
pressing question. In the meantime, here
are some bridge questions. You hold vul vs
not:
You You Opp Partner Opp
♠83 4♥ 4 NT double 5♣
♥ A K J 10 8 7 6 2 ?
♦K42
♣— (A) What is your call?

You open the bidding 4♥. LHO bids You Opp Partner Opp
4NT, for the minors, and partner doubles. 4♥ 4 NT double 5♣
RHO bids 5♣. pass pass double pass
?

B) If you pass, partner doubles. Do you

leave it in?
Bridge Today • August 2005 page 25

Here’s a second one. All vul, your RHO Match 4 • Board 16

opens a weak notrump and you hold: West dealer North
E-W vul ♠J5
♠74 ♥3
♥KQJ754 ♦AJ9853
♦J2 ♣ Q 10 6 3
♣763 West East
♠83 ♠ A K 10 7 4 2
Let us suppose you decide to bid, but in ♥ A K J 10 8 7 6 2 ♥Q
your methods over 1NT, you must bid 2♦, ♦K42 ♦Q
which shows a one-suited hand in hearts ♣— ♣AKJ98
or spades. Your partner, however, does not South
alert your bid. Your LHO jumps to 3♠, ♠Q96
and partner bids 5♦. RHO doubles. Your ♥954
call…. ♦ 10 7 6
♣7542
RHO You LHO Partner
1 NT 2 ♦* 3♠ 5♦ West North East South
double ? 4♥ 4 NT* double 5♣
pass pass double (all pass)
*one suiter in a major, but no alert from pard
*takeout, both minors

Now we’ll look at the first problem. After Opening lead: ♥A

a major-suit opening the Unusual 2NT
overcall shows at least 5-5 in the minors.
When this convention first appeared, some
of us experimented by using it with only 5-
4 in the minors. We soon gave that up since
partner invariably chose the wrong suit and
the penalties became too great. The same
applies when you use a competitive 4NT af-
ter a preemptive opening. The suits should
each be at least five cards long.
On this deal from the Gold Coast Teams,
North chose to ignore this precept and paid
a heavy price.
West continued with the ♥K, ruffed with
the ♣3 and over-ruffed. East now played
♠A, ♠K and a third spade. South won and,
without regard to the fact that West did
not ruff the ♠Q, led a trump. That enabled
East to draw trumps and make the rest of
the tricks except for the ♦A.
That was down nine for 2300, which is
the postcode for Newcastle. East-West can
make 6♥, but the slam is not so easy to bid.
Datum was E-W +1100. You didn’t get in
your partner’s way by bidding 5♥, did you?

The same score arose on Board 13 in

Match 5:
Bridge Today • August 2005 page 26

Match 5 • Board 13 How can one account for the East-West

North dealer North bidding? Written bidding (using bidding
Both vul Bill Haughie boxes) can be dangerous if you are not pay-
♠QJ62 ing close attention. West thought North
♥32 had opened 1♥ and East had made a natu-
♦AK85 ral overcall of 2♦. When West bid 5♦ and
♣A82 North doubled, Gue felt bound not to take
West East any action, since he was in receipt of unau-
Khokan Bagchi Phil Gue thorized information: West had not alerted
♠8 ♠74 2♦.
♥ A 10 8 6 ♥KQJ754
♦ Q 10 3 ♦J2 South won with the ♠K and shifted to
♣KQ954 ♣763 the ♦4. North cashed the ♦K, ♦A, and
South played a third diamond. Declarer won the
Andy Braithwaite queen in dummy and played a heart to the
♠ A K 10 9 5 3 king, followed by a club to the king and ace.
♥9 North continued with the ♠Q and ♠J and
♦9764 South cashed the rest of the spades.
♣ J 10
North made a slight slip here and dis-
West North East South carded a heart and a club instead of two
— 1 NT (1) 2 ♦ (2) 3♠ clubs. The result was that West was able
5♦ double (all pass) to make a club trick and was “only” eight
down for 2300 to N-S (datum N-S +660).
(1) 12-14 balanced Newcastle revisited.
(2) Single suited in a major
Had North pitched his two clubs on the
Opening lead: ♠2 spades, the result would have been nine
down, 2600, postcode for Canberra. Thus
the difference between Newcastle and Can-
berra is one extra doubled undertrick.
Bridge Today • August 2005 page 27

What should third-hand then signal? I

The Switch in Time Forum urge that when there is no Obvious Shift,
you should signal suit-preference (SPS).
Let’s examine two hands where there is no
Obvious Shift.
What If There is No Obvious Shift?
by Alvin P. Bluthman South dealer North
abluthman@aol.com None vul ♠ Q 10 8 6
♥KQJ4
“All signals at trick one are attitude.... ♦6
You can’t play two systems (attitude and ♣KQJ7
suit-preference) at the same time. Stick to West (you)
attitude and make no exceptions (even if ♠97
dummy has a void and ruffs the opening ♥962 W
N
E
lead, your card is attitude.)” — M. Grano- ♦AK952
S
vetter, Bridge Today, January, 1999 Switch- ♣964
In-Time Forum.
South West North East
Let us see. In using Obvious Shift Card- 1♠ pass 4 ♦* pass
ing, you have two sets of agreements: 6♠ (all pass)

1. Negative rules and positive rules to *splinter

identify the suit of a possible shift, that is,
the suit to which a shift would likely be
most beneficial, using the bidding and the
appearance of the dummy as guides; and
2. A table of honor holdings in the suit
of the Obvious Shift, for both dummy and
the signaller. The shift is requested if the
signaller has a requisite minimum holding
in the suit.
West leads the ♦K and finds the dummy
in the diagram. This hand can be defeated
only if East holds either an ace or an un-
likely natural trump trick, but what can de-
clarer hold if not extra trump length (such
as ♠A-K-J-x-x-x) and a side-suit ace? If he
has only this, he has made a stupid, gam-
bling, blast to slam, yet may make the hand
if the defenders do not cash out correctly.

In rare instances, when the negative rules
disqualify all of the possible shifts at the
same time, there will be no Obvious Shift.
This may happen when: the contract is at
a high-level, possibly the four-level, more
likely higher; the defenders were silent in
the auction; or have bid only the suit led;
the lead was made in a suit in which dum-
my is short; and dummy holds length and
strength (such as three consecutive honors)
in each of the other suits, which disquali-
fies all of the suits to which a shift might be
made.
What should East signal? East cannot
want diamonds continued, so his attitude
towards the led suit is negative. Yet he has
no Obvious Shift. Dummy has three con-
secutive honors in both hearts and clubs,
and the “negative rules” eliminate both as
“obvious shifts.” I urge that in this rare
situation, East’s signal at trick one should be
suit preference, to tell West of the location
of any side ace: A high diamond asks for
hearts, and a low diamond asks for clubs. If
East should hold a natural trump trick (♠A
Bridge Today • August 2005 page 28

or ♠K-J), he simply gives a false signal and On the next hand (from the Bridge
waits for his trump trick. World’s “You Be The Judge,” Feb. 2000), the
defenders failed to take their four defensive
South dealer North tricks against a heart game. I will not at-
None vul ♠ Q 10 8 6 tempt to summarize the discussion, but will
♥ K J 10 4 concentrate on the hand as a SIT problem.
♦6
♣KQJ7 South dealer North
West (you) None vul ♠KQJ75
♠97 N ♥Q5
W E
♥962 S ♦AKQ43
♦AK952 ♣Q
♣964 West East
♠6 ♠ A 10 9 3
Now weaken dummy’s hearts slightly. ♥A93 ♥4
When I first saw a hand like this, in a study ♦ 10 8 7 ♦J9652
by Marshall Miles (who urged playing SPS ♣ A K 10 7 5 2 ♣983
when you lead into dummy’s singleton), South
dummy’s hearts were K-J-10-x, and re- ♠842
mained a possible “Obvious Shift” under ♥ K J 10 8 7 6 2
the SIT rules (only three-consecutive-honor ♦—
suits are eliminated, not K-J-10). So weaken ♣J64
dummy’s hearts to K-J-10-x. Yet it is not re-
ally satisfactory for the suit to be an Obvi- South West North East
ous Shift. 3♥ pass 4♥ (all pass)

Under the SIT rules, you should signal Opening lead: ♣K

for the Obvious Shift when you hold at
least the queen behind dummy’s king in the
suit of the Obvious Shift. This works well
when dummy holds an unsupported king
or a K-J combination; East can hold the
A-Q, or West one honor and East the other.
But when dummy holds three honors and
declarer holds the ace, East’s honor will be
trapped in a finessing position. My conclu-
sion: In this situation, the SIT rules need to
change, to disqualify the suit when dummy
holds any three honors. And when both
suits are out under the Negative Rules, if
East holds the ace, or the K-Q behind the
A-J-10-x, he may need a shift to that suit.
Now, a SPS will make it easy for partner to
know what to do.
On West’s lead, East played the 3. West
then shifted to his spade, East winning with
the ace. East could have defeated the hand
by returning another spade, but shifted
back to the ♣9. Making four.
Our concern is how East should have
signaled on the opening lead, when, using
the SIT rules, there is no obvious shift on
the hand and East has a decidedly nega-
tive attitude towards clubs. (One expert
panelist, Michael Rosenberg, was convinced
that spades, dummy’s weaker suit, was the
obvious shift, but this is not so under the
Granovetters’ SIT rules.)
Bridge Today • August 2005 page 29

South dealer North the ♥A? If East thought that West held a
None vul ♠KQJ75 doubleton spade, he would duck the first
♥Q5 round and await a second spade after West
♦AKQ43 won his heart trick. By cashing the ace,
♣Q West tells East that this is impossible, and
West East that the defenders’ only chance is for West’s
♠6 ♠ A 10 9 3 spade lead to be a singleton and for East to
♥A93 ♥4 win and give West an immediate ruff.
♦ 10 8 7 ♦J9652
♣ A K 10 7 5 2 ♣983 If West held the ♥K, instead of the ace,
South he must still defer playing his singleton
♠842 spade until after winning his heart trick,
♥ K J 10 8 7 6 2 again to show East that playing for a single-
♦— ton and an immediate ruff is the only
♣J64 chance. Here he would surrender the lead
for now and lead spades later.
A SPS at trick one sees the defenders
home. Looking at the dummy, West can With a spade doubleton and the heart
see that East has no entry in either clubs ace, or three hearts to the king, West must
or diamonds. There remain two suits in lead the spade now, allowing East to hold
which East might have an entry, spades and off, then win his heart trick and return his
hearts. Playing SPS, East signals with the second spade for the ruff.
nine to show a spade entry, and with the
three to show a heart entry. Finally, if East holds the king of hearts
instead of West, then from his perspective,
When East shows his spade entry, West West would then need a singleton spade
knows to lead spades, but now he must and the heart ace to defeat the hand. Giv-
inform East whether to duck or win the ing an SPS for hearts allows West to lead
lead. Several on the expert panel suggested the singleton and then let East win the first
that, to show a singleton spade, West should trump, and return a spade for a ruff.
cash the ♥A and then lead his spade to East
for a spade return and a ruff. Why cash And the proper tactics to employ become
clear to West the second he sees East’s SPS.

Editor’s Reply — Next Page....

Bridge Today • August 2005 page 30

From the Editor We use the rule that when there is no

I’d like to thank the author, Mr. Bluth- Obvious Shift, the lower suit is arbitrarily
man, for his switch-in-time ideas and the deemed the OS. So in this problem, with
two example hands. Hand one: K-Q-J-x in both side suits, the lower one
would be the OS and a low card would
South dealer ♠ Q 10 8 6 ask for the lower one, a high card would
None vul ♥KQJ4 ask for a continuation or the higher one;
♦6 and in this case, against a slam, the shift
♣KQJ7 to the higher suit would be the right play.
♠97 As it turns out, by arbitrarily making the
♥962 N lower suit the OS, we will end up playing
W E
♦AK952 S the same card as the author of this article,
♣964 because we’ll play low for the OS, the lower
suit.
South West North East
1♠ pass 4♦ pass
6♠ (all pass)

South dealer ♠KQJ75 but then you can’t logically eliminate all the
None vul ♥Q5 suits! So the author has brought out a good
♦AKQ43 point in our wording of the rules for the
♣Q OS. When there are two suits eliminated,
♠6 ♠ A 10 9 3 and, therefore, no suits left, we must bring
♥A93 N ♥4 the two strong suits back into the picture
W E
♦ 10 8 7 S ♦J9652 and choose between them. If you like suit-
♣ A K 10 7 5 2 ♣983 preference, it’s a good method and many top
♠842 pairs play it. But for two reasons we would
♥ K J 10 8 7 6 2 stick to the OS carding. First, there might
♦— be doubt as to when the switch to suit-
♣J64 preference applies. Second, there are cases
where dummy holds a singleton and third
South West North East hand still wants a continuation.
3♥ pass 4♥ (all pass)
Another point to this hand is that West,
Opening lead: ♣K with K-x-x of trump, cannot play a dia-
mond planning later to lead his singleton
In the second problem, East seems to spade, because the spades may disappear
have gone nuts by not returning a spade. on the diamonds. West must shift to spades
But keeping to the discussion, there is an immediately. Nor should he lay down the
OS. As Rosenberg said, spades is the OS. ♥A first to “make things clear.” This might
The reason spades is the OS is that when cause a disaster when East holds the single-
there are two suits of equal number of ton king of hearts and South holds the ♠A.
honors, we choose the suit with the fewer Finally, East will never hold up the ♠A,
highcard points. Yes, suits with three con- since the diamonds in dummy will be used
secutive honors are eliminated as the OS, to discard spades.
Bridge Today • August 2005 page 31

Hand of the Month

North dealer North (Versace) The sight of dummy must have pleased
None vul ♠ 10 8 4 the defenders, who started with three
♥K743 rounds of diamonds. Lauria ruffed and led
♦952 the ♥Q to Gitelman’s ace. Gitelman exited
♣Q53 with the ♣10.
West (Gitelman) East (Moss)
♠K75 ♠J932 At this point, Lauria assumed the ♠K
♥AJ85 ♥— was onside and was not careful. He won
♦ K Q 10 8 ♦A764 the club in hand and led the ♥10, covered
♣ 10 9 ♣J8762 by the jack and king. Next came two more
South (Lauria) rounds of clubs. Gitelman ruffed with the
♠AQ6 ♥5 and exited with the ♥8. So Lauria was
♥ Q 10 9 6 2 stuck in his hand. He played the ♠6 to
♦J3 the 10 and jack. Back came a spade to the
♣AK4 queen and king for down three.

West North East South Declarer, after winning the ♥K in dum-

Gitelman Versace Moss Lauria my, could have held his losses by cashing
— pass pass 1♥ the ♥9 and then playing two more rounds
pass 3♥ double 4♥ of clubs. If West ruffs in, he is endplayed.
double (all pass) If West discards a spade, declarer throws
him in with a trump, and though West may
Opening lead: ♦K cash a diamond, he still leads from his
♠K-7 at the end. It was a psychological
This hand helped the Ekeblad team blow to the Italian all-stars and the 9 imps
defeat the Jacobs team in the semifinals of gained by Moss and Gitelman (their team-
the Spingold last week, in Atlanta. Lorenzo mates were -100 at the other table in 3♥
Lauria opened 1♥ in third chair and his down two undoubled) was more than the
partner, Alfredo Versace, made what Edgar margin of victory. The Ekeblad team went
Kaplan would call a “gay” preemptive raise on to win the final. (More about this in the
to 3♥ with the North hand. Brad Moss next issue.)
(East for the Ekeblad team) made a takeout
double with only six highcard points! When asked to comment about his part-
ner’s double, Gitelman said: “As you know,
It appears that Lauria was expecting a Brad is a very aggressive bidder. I certainly
better hand opposite, as he went on to 4♥, admire his six-point takeout double, but no
doubled by Fred Gitelman (West). way I would have made that call myself!”
Bridge Today • August 2005 page 32

Between Sessions
What the Deuce!

by Pamela Granovetter

Ever since the time, many years ago, South plays in 4♠ and West leads the
when Ira Rubin might have made a 6NT ♥K. South ducks the first round of hearts,
slam against me by throwing me in with a wins the second, and plays his diamond.
small spot card in the spade suit, because I West jumps up with the ace, cashes a heart,
had followed suit earlier with my deuce, I and exits with the ♣10 to the queen, king
have made it a point to look out for hands and ace.
where you need to save a deuce to succeed
as a declarer or defender. At this point, South obviously needs the
♠Q to fall doubleton, and it does, but he
Rereading Terence Reese’s classic “Master won’t succeed unless he saves his deuce of
Play” (also known as “The Expert Game”), I trump!
came across this one.
If he woodenly plays his low trump to
North dummy’s ace, cashes the king of trump, and
♠AK3 then runs diamonds, East can ruff in on the
♥ 10 8 5 fourth diamond and South is left with a
♦ K Q J 10 6 club loser.
♣Q3
West East If, however, he preserves the ♠2, after
♠Q6 ♠ 10 9 5 overruffing East, he can reenter dummy
♥KQJ4 ♥963 with the deuce of spades to the three.
♦A875 ♦942
♣ 10 6 2 ♣KJ97 My tip is: Make it a matter of principle
South to keep your deuces if possible. Even if you
♠J8742 can’t foresee that you’ll need it, the hand
♥A72 may develop in such a way that the deuce
♦3 will turn out to be a hidden treasure!
♣A854