bridge · bridge number: 191 uk £3.95 europe €5.00 november 2018 bernard magee’s acol bidding...

BRIDGENumber: 191 UK £3.95 Europe €5.00 November 2018

Bernard Magee’s Acol Bidding QuizThis month we are going back to basics.

Mr Bridge has an event from 10-14 January at Denham Grove, dedicated to Re-booting your Acol.

You are West in the auctions below, playing ‘Standard Acol’ with a weak no-trump (12-14 points) and four-card majors. It is your turn to call.

1. Dealer West. Love All. ♠ A K 10 9 5 ♥ 4 2 ♦ K Q 2 ♣ J 6 5

West North East South ?

2. Dealer West. Love All. ♠ 4 2 ♥ A K 2 ♦ 7 6 4 ♣ K Q J 6 5


3. Dealer West. Love All. ♠ A J ♥ A J ♦ Q 8 7 3 ♣ J 8 7 5 4


Answers on page 43

NW E

S

NW E

S

NW E

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4. Dealer East. Love All. ♠ 3 ♥ A 8 6 4 ♦ Q 6 ♣ J 8 7 6 5 4

West North East South 1♠ Pass ?

5. Dealer East. Love All. ♠ A 4 2 ♥ 6 ♦ J 8 4 3 ♣ Q 9 8 7 5


6. Dealer East. Love All. ♠ K 9 6 5 ♥ A 2 ♦ A Q 10 6 5 4 ♣ 4

West North East South 1♥ Pass ?

Answers on page 45

NW E

S

NW E

S

NW E

S

7. Dealer West. Love All. ♠ K 3 ♥ J 10 9 6 5 ♦ K Q 10 ♣ A J 10

West North East South 1♥ Pass 1♠ Pass ?

8. Dealer West. Love All. ♠ K 2 ♥ A K 4 3 2 ♦ J 8 7 6 ♣ Q 2


9. Dealer West. Love All. ♠ 7 6 3 ♥ A K J 6 5 4 ♦ K Q J ♣ 7


Answers on page 47

NW E

S

NW E

S

NW E

S

10. Dealer East. Love All. ♠ A 9 6 3 ♥ 5 4 3 ♦ Q 9 4 3 ♣ A 5

West North East South 1♥ Pass 1♠ Pass 2♦ Pass ?

11. Dealer East. Love All. ♠ A K 8 7 6 ♥ 4 2 ♦ K Q 3 ♣ J 6 5


12. Dealer East. Love All. ♠ A 8 7 2 ♥ K 4 3 ♦ A 9 8 5 ♣ 5 3

West North East South 1♥ Pass 1♠ Pass 1NT Pass ?

Answers on page 49

NW E

S

NW E

S

NW E

S

BRIDGE November 2018

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shop: mrbridge.co.uk/shop

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Mr Bridge

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ADVERTISERS’ INDEX

2 South Africa & the Skeleton Coast with Voyages to Antiquity

3 Clive Goff ’s Stamps 4 Portugal 2019 9 BRIDGE Subscriptions 10 Acol Bidding with

Bernard Magee 11 Declarer Play with

Bernard Magee 12 Re-boot your Acol with

Bernard Magee 13 Bernard Magee DVDs

Set 7 15 Tunisia 2018-19 16 Travel Insurance 19 Duplicate Bridge Rules

Simplified 20 Bridge Gifts 21 Mr Bridge UK Events at

The Elstead Hotel 21 Mobility Scooter

Insurance 25 Rushmere Beds & Chairs 27 Defence with

Bernard Magee 28 QPlus 12 28 Bernard Magee DVDs

Set 8 29 Mr Bridge UK Events 2019 30 Bernard Magee DVDs

Sets 1-3 31 Bernard Magee DVDs

Sets 4-6 32 European Connoisseur

with Voyages to Antiquity

34 Cruising German Waterways with Fred. Olsen

35 Home & Contents Insurance

37 Festive Events 2018 38 Club Insurance 38 Bernard Magee’s

Tutorial Software 43 Mr Bridge UK Events at

Denham Grove 44 Mr Bridge UK Events at

Blunsdon House 45 Mr Bridge UK Events at

The Olde Barn Hotel 45 Little Voice 46 Croatia 2019 46 Mr Bridge UK Events at

The Two Bridges 47 Books on Bridge 47 Mr Bridge UK Events at

The Chatsworth Hotel 48 2019 Cruises with

Fred. Olsen 49 2019 Diaries 49 Designs for Bridge

Table Covers 50 Clive Goff ’s Stamps 51 2019 Cruises with

Voyages to Antiquity 52 Islands of the

Mediterranean with Fred. Olsen

Features this month include:

1 Bidding Quiz by Bernard Magee

5 Mr Bridge

6 Reviews by Shireen Mohandes

7 Bidding Quiz by Bernard Magee

8 Take-Out Doubles Part 2 by Andrew Kambites

11 Take-Out Doubles Part 2 Quiz by Andrew Kambites

12 Readers’ Letters

13 Defence Quiz by Julian Pottage

14 The Diaries of Wendy Wensum

15 Declarer Play Quiz by David Huggett

16 Catching Up with Sally Brock

20 The Worshipful Company of Makers of Playing Cards by Paul Bostock

22 Julian Pottage Answers your Questions

26 Overcalls by Bernard Magee

28 More Tips by Bernard Magee

30 Correct Names by David Stevenson

33 Defence Quiz Answers by Julian Pottage

35 Declarer Play Quiz Answers by David Huggett

36 Gunnar's Good Switch by Robert Sheehan

35 Sally’s Slam Clinic

25 Take-Out Doubles Part 2 Quiz Answers by Andrew Kambites

40 Robin Hood’s Clever Tactic by David Bird

22 David Stephenson Answers your Questions

43 Bidding Quiz Answers (1-3) by Bernard Magee




50 The Power of Spot Cards: Part 6 by Mike Lawrence


PRESENT IDEAS

With the festive season quietly creeping up on us all, I list some useful gift suggestions in the adjacent columns. One thing is for sure, Christmas is coming.

LAND-BASED HOLIDAYS 2019

My holiday company is two years behind with the development of its land-based overseas holiday programme. I know there are reasonable excuses for this but customers don’t want excuses however reasonable. I have set aside my 2019 River Cruise programme in favour of a series of one week land-based bridge holidays.

Dates in Croatia (a choice of separate weeks or back to back weeks making a fortnight) and Tunisia have already been advertised. There are already sixty booked for the week in Tunisia with Bernard Magee next March.

Our first new holiday is in Portugal, hosted by Sandy Bell. Please see the advert on the facing page. Additional weeks will be announced in the course of the year as the programme is rolled out.

JUST A REMINDER

Club insurance policies are due for renewal as from November 2018.

TRYING TO HELP

Christmas is coming, so I have put together what I hope will prove to be a helpful list of potential gifts, presents and prizes for bridge players. All prices include delivery.

DIARY

The 2019 Bridge Player’s diary with a ruby-red super soft Kidrell cover, contains a resumé of Acol Bidding, written by Bernard Magee. In addition, the diary contains a useful ballpoint pen in its spine. £14.95.

BEGINNER’S BOOK

Bridge with Angela is for beginners. Written by bridge teacher Angela Tompson, it comes with a helpful ring-spine to enable the book to lay open flat. £7.95 each, two for £10. Ideal for grandchildren.

PICK AND MIX

Even if your loved one, partner or club responded to my flash sale of the Bernard Magee DVDs earlier this year, here is a chance to pick any six of the 48 titles in the series for only £65. See the tear-out order form at the front.

QPLUS 11

At the recent bridge world championships in Orlando, Florida, Johannes Leber announced that QPlus 13 would be on sale in October 2019. I have purchased his remaining QPlus 11 stock to clear for only £49. The current version of QPlus is QPlus 12, still available from stock as usual at £92.

FREE BRIDGE

As a treat for one of your friends, email or post their full address details (UK only) and I will send them a copy of the December issue.

MY KIND OF PRESENT

In the last issue, Shireen Mohandes reviewed Larry Cohen’s latest book, Tricks of the Trade. This is not a book for beginners or even improvers but some of his casual observations are truly original, as are some of his tips. £20. The review is reprinted overleaf, just in case you missed it.

DBRS 2017

Send back a cover of an earlier version of DBRS (as proof of a previous purchase), together with four 2nd class stamps for one copy of the latest version, or six 2nd class stamps for two (one for partner for Christmas). From stock. £5.95 each.

MEMOIRS

Robin Hood’s Bridge Memoirs, as faithfully recorded by David Bird, are a fun collection of bridge play problems. Yes, I know bridge was not played back in the time of Richard the Lionheart, King John and Magna Carta. It is a fun publication, as are the memoires to be found in BRIDGE every month. £11.

I REPEAT...

All the prices for the above books, discs and services are inclusive of any UK postage, packing and/or delivery charges.

FUTURE IDEAS

I have written a great number of unpublished pages outlining my future plans for the development of bridge. These are not really very interesting except to me. Much of these pages are like daydreams or nightmares. The daydreams are born of enlightened self-interest: the nightmares are the counterpart of daydreams and suffered by those fearing change or maybe just not wanting the inconvenience or lacking the will to make the necessary effort needed to make the improvements.

I wrote the above in the September issue. I then provided a couple of examples. One was of a scheme to help launch new bridge clubs. The second is to replace the nation’s worn-out and sticky cards. £1 per pack for UK delivery.

NEW CLUBS

I believe there is a pent-up demand for new clubs. Personality clashes in an existing club and/or classes out-growing their teachers are but two sources of frustrations of people who would form the active nucleus of an embryo club. Email your 'phone details. [email protected]

PLAYING CARDS

Best quality £1 per pack including VAT and UK delivery. 72 per outer. 36 red backs, 36 blue backs. In the pipeline for 2019. Email your 'phone details. [email protected]

All good wishes

Mr Bridge


When Mr Bridge asked me to review Tricks of the Trade, Strategic Thinking

for Advanced Bridge, I had high expectations, based on the author and the publisher, namely Larry Cohen, and The Bridge World (see Bridge 158).

I was not disappointed at all. The book is a very good read. In a very honest and direct way, Larry shares his wisdom – wisdom that would normally take years to attain.

This is a book about how to be a better bridge player. Rather than discussing new conventions and standard cardplay techniques, Cohen focusses on how to form a good partnership, how to think effectively, and how to recognise common situations so as to be prepared.

His well-explained arguments, based on his considerable experience, make for easy reading.

The topics he covers are not often seen in bridge literature – for example, these chapters:

How to Prepare a DuckAdvice on anticipating when you need to duck smoothly.

Dummy Means DummyDummy has a formal, and informal role. The tips given will help you to make the most of being dummy, and

also avoid bad habits, that don’t make for a lasting and trusting partnership.

Sleeping with a Clear ConscienceHow often have you been party to a hesitation (or fast play) that has given information to players that they aren’t entitled to? Cohen says, ‘Sleeping with a clear conscience is more satisfying than trying to win at all costs’.

But don’t let that short list mislead you – the book covers a great breadth of wisdom. Do you like to play a lot of conventions? Do you psyche a lot? Do you redouble (or is that bidding card in the pristine condition that it was when it was removed from the cellophane wrapper?) What tone and body

Tricks Of The Tradeby Larry Cohen

ISBN: 978-1-891994-05-0. Published 2018 www.bridgeworld.com Available from Mr Bridge by mail order. £20.00.

Reviews by Shireen Mohandes

language do you use when scoring up with teammates? There are some novel and instructive words on how to run a long solid suit, something perhaps few of us have thought about.

The methods used in the book are American, but systems are not the focus of the book. The advice in the book is applicable to players everywhere.

Excerpt form Chapter 13It’s Dangerous to Bid; It’s Dangerous to Pass.

Sometimes a gun is held to your head and you have no way to avoid danger. For example, after RHO deals and opens 3♥, you must overcall 3NT with Hand 1, even if red versus green. Sure, you can go for a number – a big number, but you can’t play scared bridge and pass (or try to hedge with an ill-judged take-out double).

Don’t confuse that situation with one like Hand 2.

Hand 1 Hand 2

♠ K Q 3 ♠ A 5 2

♥ K J 4 ♥ A 8 6

♦ A 7 6 4 ♦ K J 5 3

♣ A J 8 ♣ K 7 4

RHO deals and opens 1♠. I consider it suicidal to overcall 1NT, especially vulnerable, on this collection. There is no urgency to stick your neck out. Here, I can live with a compromise double. The all-or-nothing macho 1NT is not only dangerous on this deal but also damaging on other deals, where partner will not be able to judge accurately if your no-trump overcalls can be this shabby. ■

New Yorker Larry Cohen (b.1959) retired from a career in I.T and options trading in the early 1980s to become a full time bridge professional. In 2009 he switched from playing professionally to pursue a career in bridge teaching and writing, and is now based in Florida. His success as a player in the USA and in international tournaments, and his best-selling book, To Bid or Not to Bid, mean that he has achieved fame and praise from a wide audience around the world.

Journalist Miles Kingston (1941-2008) is credited with saying, ‘Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.’

Source: Wikipedia


Bernard Magee’s Acol Bidding Quiz

1. Dealer West. Love All. ♠ A K 10 9 5 ♥ 4 2 ♦ K Q 2 ♣ J 6 5


2. Dealer West. Love All. ♠ 4 2 ♥ A K 2 ♦ 7 6 4 ♣ K Q J 6 5


3. Dealer West. Love All. ♠ A J ♥ A J ♦ Q 8 7 3 ♣ J 8 7 5 4


My Answers:

1...........................................

2...........................................

3...........................................

Answers on page 43

NW E

S

NW E

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NW E

S

4. Dealer East. Love All. ♠ 3 ♥ A 8 6 4 ♦ Q 6 ♣ J 8 7 6 5 4


5. Dealer East. Love All. ♠ A 4 2 ♥ 6 ♦ J 8 4 3 ♣ Q 9 8 7 5


6. Dealer East. Love All. ♠ K 9 6 5 ♥ A 2 ♦ A Q 10 6 5 4 ♣ 4

West North East South 1♥ Pass ?

My Answers:

7...........................................

8...........................................

9...........................................

Answers on page 45

NW E

S

NW E

S

NW E

S

7. Dealer West. Love All. ♠ K 3 ♥ J 10 9 6 5 ♦ K Q 10 ♣ A J 10


8. Dealer West. Love All. ♠ K 2 ♥ A K 4 3 2 ♦ J 8 7 6 ♣ Q 2


9. Dealer West. Love All. ♠ 7 6 3 ♥ A K J 6 5 4 ♦ K Q J ♣ 7


My Answers:

7...........................................

8...........................................

9...........................................

Answers on page 47

NW E

S

NW E

S

NW E

S

10. Dealer East. Love All. ♠ A 9 6 3 ♥ 5 4 3 ♦ Q 9 4 3 ♣ A 5


11. Dealer East. Love All. ♠ A K 8 7 6 ♥ 4 2 ♦ K Q 3 ♣ J 6 5


12. Dealer East. Love All. ♠ A 8 7 2 ♥ K 4 3 ♦ A 9 8 5 ♣ 5 3

West North East South 1♥ Pass 1♠ Pass 1NT Pass ?

My Answers:

10 .........................................

11 .........................................

12 .........................................

Answers on page 49

NW E

S

NW E

S

NW E

S

This month we are dealing with going back to basics. Mr Bridge has an event from 10-14 January at Denham Grove, dedicated to Re-booting your Acol.

You are West in the auctions below, playing ‘Standard Acol’ with a weak no-trump (12-14 points) and four-card majors. It is your turn to call.


About the Contested Auction by Andrew Kambites

Take-Out DoublesPart 2

Your partner opens the bidding with 1♥. As you consider your possible responses, your right

hand opponent doubles. How should that affect your response?

There are four obvious matters to consider:1) If you choose to pass then partner

has another chance.2) The possibility of waiting for them

to decide on their contract and then doubling them for penalties might be worth considering.

3) Their double has taken away none of your bidding space, indeed it has made available to you an extra bid, redouble.

4) If you have a fit then they will almost certainly have a similar fit. Bidding to the level of your fit becomes relevant.

1) is interesting but not particularly significant. There is not much merit in passing when you would have bid without the double.

Before we can consider 2) we need to fully understand what we need for a penalty double of a low level contract. This is also relevant in considering when it is appropriate to aim for a penalty double of a suit overcall.

Playing for penalties against a low level suit contract by your opponents is unlikely to be

your best option if they have a fit. It is when they have a misfit, with the likely consequence that you also have a misfit, that penalties might prove profitable.

Points alone will not necessarily defeat a low level suit contract. To play for penalties against a low level suit contract you need good trumps.

Good trumps mean good intermediates.

A holding in their suit of A-K-3-2 will take two tricks, but it uses up seven of your points. A holding in their suit of Q-J-10-9-7 takes three tricks but uses up only three of your points. Also, such a holding is unlikely to help you much if you play in a suit contract because it will almost certainly be opposite shortage.

A redouble creates an auction in which either you will play the contract or you will

double the opponents for penalty.

There is a rare exception seen in Auction L.

Opener’s partner redoubles

Traditionally a redouble was made on all hands of nine plus points unless you had a fit with partner. The idea was that you suggested to partner that you had the majority of points and it might be helpful to wait for them to bid a suit and make a penalty double.

Auction A

West North East South

1♥ Dbl Redbl

Hand B Hand C Hand D

♠ K 10 9 3 ♠ 7 3 ♠ A Q 7

♥ 4 ♥ 8 2 ♥ 8 3 2

♦ A Q 10 6 ♦ A Q 10 9 ♦ K 7 5 4

♣ K Q 10 8 ♣ K J 6 5 4 ♣ Q 10 3

Hand B is perfect for the redouble in auction A. You will be delighted to double whatever contract your opponents choose.

Redouble makes sense with Hand C. You will be pleased to double a minor suit and if partner can double spades

that will suit you fine.Hand D is interesting. Your hand is

not particularly suitable for a penalty double of any suit. Not only do you have no suit with length and good intermediates but also your three-card holding in partner’s suit is a negative factor when considering a penalty double.

The shorter your holding in partner’s suit, the better your hand is suited for a low level

penalty double of their suit contract, because it lessens the chances of his honours suffering a quick ruff.

Without North's double, Hand D would have a pretty obvious 2NT bid but you will see that you have a better use for 2NT. Start with a redouble. If partner can make a penalty double, you will be delighted to pass but otherwise bid 2NT next time.

So what happens after a redouble? I will demonstrate some possible outcomes by looking at complete deals.

NW E

S

Layout E

♠ Q 8 6

♥ Q 3

♦ K 7 6 2

♣ A Q 9 3

♠ A K J 9 ♠ 7 3

♥ A K 10 6 4 ♥ 8 2

♦ J 3 ♦ A Q 10 9

♣ 8 2 ♣ K J 6 5 4

♠ 10 5 4 2

♥ J 9 7 5

♦ 8 5 4

♣ 10 7

Auction F


1♥ Dbl Redbl 1♠

Dbl All Pass


Layout E will result in Auction F. West’s double is for penalties. Note that in order to make the alerting procedure work for club players, the EBU has aimed for very simple rules as to whether a double is alertable. A double of a naturally bid suit bid below 3NT is taken as for take-out unless alerted. Thus West’s double here is alertable.

NW E

S

Layout G

♠ Q 8 6 2

♥ Q 3

♦ K 7 6

♣ A Q 9 3

♠ A K J 9 ♠ 7 3

♥ A K 10 6 4 ♥ 8 2

♦ J ♦ A Q 10 9

♣ 8 7 2 ♣ K J 6 5 4

♠ 10 5 4

♥ J 9 7 5

♦ 8 5 4 3 2

♣ 10

Auction H


1♥ Dbl Redbl 2♦

Pass Pass Dbl All Pass

Layout G should result in Auction H. East’s redouble carries the message that either North/South should be doubled or that East/West buy the contract. West cannot double 2♦ but he would be quite happy to hear East double 2♦. West’s pass is forcing, therefore he can afford to pass even though he knows his side has game values. East is delighted to double 2♦.

Auction K (see deal in next column)


1♥ Dbl Redbl 2♦

Pass Pass 3♣ Pass

3♥ Pass 3NT All Pass

NW E

S

Layout J

♠ Q 8 6 2

♥ Q 3

♦ K 7 6

♣ A Q 9 2

♠ A J 7 ♠ K 5 4 3

♥ A K 10 6 4 ♥ 8 2

♦ J 2 ♦ A Q

♣ 8 6 3 ♣ K J 10 5 4

♠ 10 9

♥ J 9 7 5

♦ 10 9 8 5 4 3

♣ 7

Layout J leads to Auction K. West cannot double 2♦ so he passes the buck to East. East also cannot double 2♦, but West’s pass was forcing so East cannot pass. East has a choice between 2NT and 3♣. Either should result in 3NT.

Just occasionally North/South might find a very good fit, resulting in one of them bidding a suit and the other voluntarily raising it.

Auction L


1♥ Dbl Redbl 2♦

Pass 3♦ All Pass

In Auction L it is clear that North/South do not believe they are in trouble. A penalty double is unlikely to be profitable. Knowing they have the balance of points East/West will try to find a bid, but sometimes it is not possible. This is the one time when redouble does not create a forcing auction.

It is the rare exception to the principle given just before Auction A.

Doubler’s partner acts over a redouble

Very little has been written about how the doubler's partner should bid after a redouble. Without the redouble he is virtually obliged to bid, but now the redouble means the doubler has another chance. East’s pass in Auction M does not say he is happy to defend 1♥ redoubled. It simply means he has nothing constructive to say, and that he wants West to choose the escape from 1♥ redoubled.

For Auction M the East/West hands could be as seen in Layout N. 1♠ may not be perfect but it is far superior to the 2♦ spot that would have resulted if East had to choose.

Auction M


1♥

Dbl Redbl Pass Pass

1♠

NW E

S

Layout N

♠ A J 6 2 ♠ Q 8 5

♥ 8 2 ♥ 9 5 3

♦ Q J 4 ♦ 9 7 6 5

♣ K J 10 7 ♣ 9 3 2

How about if East chooses to jump as in Auction P?

Auction P


1♥

Dbl Redbl 2♠

NW E

S

Layout Q

♠ A J 6 ♠ Q 10 9 4 3 2

♥ 8 2 ♥ 9 5 3

♦ A J 3 2 ♦ 9 7

♣ K J 10 7 ♣ 9 3

There are not enough points in the pack for East to have the 9-11 that 2♠ would have shown if North had passed. 2♠ is pre-emptive, bidding to the level of the fit.

Opener’s partner supports opener’s suit after a double

I now come to what is arguably the most important part of this article. Responder has a four-card or better fit with partner. Penalty doubles are not on the agenda. You will not be surprised that we are now back to the desirability of bidding to the level of the fit.

Acol has long accepted that if you have a fit with partner you should bid one level higher than you would have done without the double. u

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Auction R


1♥ Dbl ?

Hand S Hand T Hand U

♠ 8 5 ♠ 8 5 ♠ K 8 5

♥ Q 10 7 5 ♥ Q 10 7 5 ♥ 8 6 5 4

♦ 7 6 2 ♦ A 7 6 2 ♦ Q 7 6

♣ 10 8 7 6 ♣ 9 6 5 ♣ Q 9 5

In Auction R, bid 2♥ with Hand S and 3♥ with Hand T. You might wonder why you bid 3♥ with Hand T, after all West might have only four hearts so the fit might be just eight cards. In practice, even if you are playing four-card major Acol, 75% of 1♠ opening bids have five spades, and 70% of opening 1♥ bids have five hearts, so you are playing the percentages.

With Hand U you would have bid 2♥ without the double but with poor hearts and isolated honours elsewhere. This hand has poor offence and good defence so 2♥ is quite enough.

So how do you show a genuine, high card raise to 3♥? Look back to Hand D. I recommended redouble rather than 2NT. Redouble has made a 2NT response redundant, so we use it conventionally to show at least a good raise to 3♥.

After a double, the jump to 2NT is used to show a genuine raise of openers

suit to 3 or better.

Hand V Hand W Hand X

♠ 8 5 ♠ 8 5 ♠ 8 5

♥ Q 10 7 5 ♥ K Q 7 5 ♥ Q 10 6

♦ A K 6 2 ♦ A K 6 2 ♦ K 7 4 3

♣ 9 6 5 ♣ 9 6 5 ♣ K 5 4 2

In Auction R bid 2NT with Hand V. If West shows a minimum with 3♥ you should pass.

With Hand W start with 2NT, but this time if West can do no better than 3♥ you will raise to 4♥.

However, there is a slight flaw in this general approach. Look at Hand X. You would have bid 2♥ without the double but you cannot jump to 3♥ with only three-card heart support.

Your only sensible option is to raise to 2♥, but now look at the hands where you have chosen to bid 2♥, particularly S and X. Hand S has two points and four-card support. Hand X has eight points and three-card support. How is opener able to judge whether or not to make a game try when 2♥ could be bid on such a wide variety of points? I don’t think anybody has found a really satisfactory solution to this, though I can imagine that readers who don’t like raising on three-card support and would respond 1NT on Hand X will be feeling smug.

Opener’s partner bids a new suit

Auction Y


1♦ Dbl ?

Hand Z1 Hand Z2 Hand Z3

♠ A J 10 6 5 2 ♠ J 6 5 4 ♠ J 6 5 4

♥ A 5 ♥ A J 2 ♥ 7 5

♦ 8 3 ♦ 6 5 4 ♦ K J 6 5

♣ 7 6 2 ♣ Q 6 3 ♣ J 10 3

If you play that all hands with nine plus points without a fit with partner redouble, you can play a change of suit not forcing. However, it has been found that if you redouble with Hand Z1 you have real problems if South makes a high pre-emptive jump. If, for example, a non-vulnerable South leaps to 4♥ over your redouble, then you will wish you showed your excellent spades first time. Therefore modern theory favours bidding your suit if you have a single suited hand. Bid 1♠ with Hand Z1, unlimited and forcing.

With Hand Z2 you would have responded to 1♦ with 1♠ without the double. Of course, spades is probably one of the doubler’s suits, and even if you find a 4-4 spade fit with partner you might be defeated by a bad break. With four bad spades you should look for an alternative. In this case 1NT is best, showing your point count (in my opinion still 6-9 despite the double) and stoppers.

Finally, raise to 3♦ with Hand Z3. Try to make it hard for your opponents to find a heart fit if they have one. ■

BERNARD MAGEE’S

INTERACTIVE TUTORIAL CD

ACOL BIDDING

Throughout 200 deals split into ten chapters, Bernard evaluates your bids, praising the correct ones and discussing the wrong ones.

l Opening Bids and Responses

l Slams and Strong Openings

l Support for Partner

l Pre-empting

l Overcalls

l No-trump Openings and Responses

l Opener’s and Responder’s Rebids

l Minors and Misfits

l Doubles

l Competitive Auctions

£66

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Mr Bridge, Ryden Grange, Knaphill, Surrey GU21 2TH( 01483 489961

www.mrbridge.co.uk/mrbridge-shop


1 At love all how should East continue with these hands?


1♥ Dbl ?

Hand A Hand B Hand C

♠ 4 2 ♠ 4 2 ♠ 4 2

♥ K 7 6 2 ♥ K 7 6 2 ♥ K 7 6 2

♦ 9 8 3 2 ♦ A 8 7 2 ♦ A Q J 2

♣ 10 6 5 ♣ 10 6 5 ♣ 10 6 5

Hand D Hand E Hand F

♠ 4 2 ♠ A J 8 ♠ 7 4 3 2

♥ K 7 6 2 ♥ K 7 6 ♥ K 7 6

♦ A K 7 2 ♦ 6 4 3 2 ♦ 6 4 3

♣ Q J 7 ♣ 9 4 3 ♣ A J 6

Hand G Hand H Hand J

♠ 7 4 ♠ A Q 10 5 ♠ K Q J 6 5 4

♥ K 7 6 ♥ 6 ♥ 6

♦ 6 4 3 2 ♦ 9 8 4 ♦ 8 6 3

♣ A 4 3 2 ♣ A J 7 5 4 ♣ A 5 3

2 With E/W vulnerable how should South continue with these hands?


1♥ Dbl Redbl ?


♠ Q 5 4 ♠ Q 6 4 3 ♠ Q J 10 7 4 2

♥ 9 5 2 ♥ 9 5 2 ♥ 9 5 2

♦ 9 6 4 3 ♦ 8 5 4 ♦ 8 5

♣ Q 10 3 ♣ Q 10 3 ♣ 10 3

3 With N/S vulnerable how should West continue with these hands after Auctions (i) and (ii)?

Auction (i)


1♥ Dbl Rdbl 2♣

?

Auction (ii)


1♥ Dbl Rdbl Pass

?


♠ Q 2 ♠ Q 3 2 ♠ 3

♥ A Q 6 4 3 ♥ A Q 6 4 3 ♥ A Q J 6 3 2

♦ 9 5 ♦ A K 7 ♦ Q J 10 6 3

♣ K J 10 3 ♣ 7 2 ♣ 7

4 At game all how should East continue with these hands?


1♥ Dbl Rdbl 2♣

Pass Pass ?


♠ J 5 3 ♠ A J 10 9 ♠ A J 9

♥ 5 ♥ 5 ♥ 5 3 2

♦ K Q 5 3 2 ♦ K Q 5 3 2 ♦ K Q 10 9

♣ A J 10 9 ♣ J 5 3 ♣ 8 5 3


Auction (i)


1♠ Dbl 2NT Pass

?

Auction (ii)


1♠ Dbl 3♠ Pass

?


♠ A Q 6 5 3 ♠ A Q 6 5 3 ♠ A Q 6 5 3

♥ 7 3 2 ♥ 7 3 2 ♥ K 3 2

♦ K Q 10 ♦ K Q 10 ♦ A Q 10

♣ 8 2 ♣ A 3 ♣ A 3

Take-Out Doubles Part 2 Quizby Andrew Kambites

(Answers on page 39)

BERNARD MAGEE’S


DECLARER PLAY

Bernard develops your declarer play technique in the course of ten introductory exercises and 120 complete deals.

l Suit Establishment in No-trumps

l Suit Establishment in Suits

l Hold-ups

l Ruffing for Extra Tricks

l Entries in No-trumps

l Delaying Drawing Trumps

l Using the Lead

l Trump Control

l Endplays & Avoidance

l Using the Bidding

MAC or Windows



£76


RENEWALI had actually made a conscious decision not to continue my subscription to your magazine BRIDGE because the game has become too cut-throat for me.

I read about the infinite variety of systems with a shudder and I am amazed at the queries voiced on your letter pages. The same distri-bution of cards will seldom, if ever, crop up again and once the hand is over, it is on to the next one with excited anticipation, as far as I am concerned. You may think from this that I treat bridge as ‘just a game’ but that is not so – every hand is an intel-lectual challenge. Neverthe-less there is something lost when it is taken so seriously.

You say that I was an original subscriber to BRIDGE but actually it was my husband who subscribed, mostly in the days when it was a freebie. (He died in January 2004). I remember him reading bits out to me in bed with amusement and amazement – sometimes when I was drifting off to sleep. Although we picked up tips from your mag for playing a hand, we jogged along successfully with the original Acol. I am too ancient and my brain is too fossilised to change much now.Mrs Iris Clyde, Kirkwall, Orkney.Thank you for your renewal.

PUSHING ITI feel at my age renewing my subscription to BRIDGE for another two years is probably pushing it. I would love to go back to the days of my youth, when we enjoyed bridge without all this table tapping and ‘Director, director’. We just played. The one new rule I agree with is equity. As for ‘fielding’ a psyche, I cannot think what it means.Mr Richard Wardell,Salisbury, Wilts.

FEEDBACK FORMSNo point in completing one as you only pay lip service.No name & address supplied.Oh no I don’t.

CAN QPLUS..?I’m playing what is referred to as “5-card major Acol”, where: 1-major opening shows 5 cards of that suit. A 1NT opening shows the normal weak NT (12-14 HCP).

Can QPlus be set up to play such a system as I am looking for something to practice my game with?Tony Fayerman by email.Yes it can.

THINKING ABOUT A CRUISE?I, together with my wife Sheena, have been bridge helpers on several Mr Bridge cruises. We have enjoyed them all, but our favourite was a cruise on lovely Aegean Odyssey from

READERS’LETTERS

Malaga to Cape Town. The ship’s crew went the extra mile to make it a cruise to remember. There were many highlights but I mention just two. The first, a wonderful day on Bom Bom Island, where the crew took BBQ equipment, food and drinks ashore in tenders and we all enjoyed a magical day on a beautiful island. The second, a jeep safari in Namibia where we had a champagne picnic in the middle of the Namib desert. Excursions in shore ports are included in the price of your cruise as are many other extras. This cruise is being repeated, albeit in the reverse direction, next March. I would urge any readers who are thinking of taking a long cruise to seriously consider signing up for this one.Michael Haytack by email.

OLD LINESWe enjoyed your tea towel message. But Radar started before 1940; indeed, the Chain Home was operational when the 1939-45 war started and I understand that Sir Robert Watson-Watt started work on Radar in about 1933. Given the thousands of people on both sides of the Atlantic who had worked on Radar, I was astonished to obtain a patent in 1966 for a waveguide device, on behalf of the Marconi Company.Mr Brooke Harvey,North End, Dunmow. ■

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DEFENCE QUIZby Julian Pottage


You are West in the defensive positions below playing matchpoint pairs with only East-West vulnerable.

1. ♠ A K 6 5

♥ K 10 5

♦ A K 7 3

♣ Q 4

♠ Q 7 2

♥ 8 7 3 2

♦ Q J 6

♣ A 8 7


1♠ Pass 1NT

Pass 3NT All Pass

You lead the ♥7. East plays the ♥Q, ♥A and a third round, all following. Now the ♣Q goes to the ♣2 and ♣3. What do you do?

2. ♠ A K Q

♥ Q J 10

♦ K J 9 8 3

♣ Q 4

♠ 9 7 6

♥ A 9 3

♦ A 10 7 5

♣ A 10 7


1♦ Pass 1NT

Pass 3NT All Pass

You lead the ♠7: ♠Q, ♠8 and ♠2. At trick two, dummy leads the ♦K, on which go the ♦2 and ♦4. What is your plan?

NW E

S

NW E

S

3. ♠ Q J 10 7 5

♥ Q 9

♦ A K 7 3

♣ J 4

♠ A 9 6

♥ J 10 8 6 3

♦ 10 8

♣ A 8 7


1NT1

Pass 2♥2 Pass 2♠

Pass 3♦ Pass 4♠

All Pass1 12-142 5+ spades

You lead the ♥J: ♥9, ♥7 and ♥K. Declarer crosses to the ♠Q and leads the ♣J, on which go the ♣6 and ♣3. What is your plan?

4. ♠ A K Q 10 6

♥ K 9 5 3

♦ J 9

♣ 8 4

♠ 8 5 4

♥ A J 2

♦ Q 10 8 6

♣ A J 7


1NT1


Pass 3♥ Pass 4♠

All Pass1 12-14 2 5+ spades

You lead the ♦6, which goes to the ♦9, ♦K and ♦A. Declarer leads the ♠3 to the ♠Q and then the ♣4 back to the ♣K, East playing a two each time. What is your plan?

NW E

S

NW E

S

Set 737 MORE SIGNALLINGI will be looking at different times when you signal and the messages you might want to give. Using signals in new ways can greatly improve your enjoyment of defence as well as pushing up your scores.

38 4-4-4-1 HANDSEverybody’s least favourite type of opening hand. I will be going through the methods for choosing the right suit to open as well as coping with responses. As responder you need to be aware of the options and work out your partner’s type of hand. Strong 4-4-4-1 hands can be just as difficult and will be dealt with too.

39 DRAWING TRUMPSThis seminar sounds straightforward, but we will not be simply drawing trumps, we will be considering the reasons for delaying. Keeping control of trumps is an important part of declarer play. Knowing when to risk leaving trumps out and when not.

40 FIVE-CARD MAJORSPopular around the world, this method is becoming more popular here. It is not a method I would advocate for club players, however it is important to understand the method as you will need to defend against it.

41 FUNDAMENTALS OF DEFENCEDefence is by far the hardest aspect of bridge: this seminar seeks to show the building blocks that can start you off on a wonderful journey. If you can get the basics right then the more complicated aspects of defence can follow.

42 SUPPORTING MINORSMinors are not as important as majors, but we have to bid them and it is important to know your system. Bidding more 3NT contracts will get you better scores, but being able to spot a minor suit slam will put you a cut above.

BERNARD MAGEE

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It was duplicate pairs at the Riverside. A series of boards with extreme distributions hadn’t gone

well for us. Millie blamed computer dealing, but my belief was that we were simply playing badly. We moved to the next table to find Monica and her put-upon husband Jim waiting for us. On our way Millie remarked pointedly, ‘Now, Wendy, try not to cause an incident with Moaning Mona today.’ I smiled inwardly, but refused to react outwardly to the jibe.

The auction for this board seemed fairly routine so I was hopeful that on this occasion there would be no incident to provoke Millie and Monica into conflict.

Dealer South. N/S Game.

♠ A 3

♥ 10 8 4 3

♦ A Q 5 2

♣ A 10 3

♠ K Q 6 5 2 ♠ 10 9 7

♥ A 5 ♥ 6 2

♦ J 9 7 3 ♦ 10 8 6 4

♣ K 9 ♣ Q 8 4 2

♠ J 8 4

♥ K Q J 9 7

♦ K

♣ J 7 6 5

As dealer, in the South seat, Monica opened an aggressive 1♥. Millie overcalled 1♠. With his useful hand and good trump support Jim forced with a 2♠ cue bid.

I passed with the East cards. Monica bid 3♥ showing her

minimum values and after Millie’s pass, Jim fixed the contract at 4♥.

NW E

S


Millie Jim Wendy Monica

1♥

1♠ 2♠ Pass 3♥

Pass 4♥ All Pass

Millie led the king of spades, won in dummy with the ace. A low trump from dummy to the king in hand produced the ace from Millie. She thought long and hard before playing the queen of spades, following this with another spade. Monica ruffed in dummy with the ten, presumably in case I was now out of spades. She then called for a low club on which I played the four, at which point she claimed that she had asked for a small diamond, adding in no uncertain terms that Jim needed a hearing test. The director was summoned and quickly determined that both Jim and I believed declarer had called for a club. However the TD gave Monica the benefit of the doubt and ruled that the intended card was the two of diamonds and deemed it played, with the three of clubs returning to dummy. As a consequence the director decided, rather harshly in my view, that my two of clubs was now a penalty card. I played the four of diamonds with the two of clubs remaining face up on the table. Monica won in hand with the king and immediately led a small club towards dummy. Realising that the intention was to finesse the ten, Millie popped up with the king in case I held the queen or jack. The ace took the trick, but my queen of clubs took a subsequent trick. Monica’s contract came home, but at least an overtrick was prevented.

When we discussed the board in

the pub later that evening with Jo and Kate, it turned out that the auction had been rather different at their table. After a pass by South, Kate as West opened one spade. North doubled and Jo bid two spades. South now bid two hearts, an insufficient bid. The TD was called and explained the options. South changed his bid to a strange pass. Kate’s pass ended the auction.


Kate Jo

Pass

1♠ Dbl 2♠ Pass(1)

End

(1)Insufficient bid of 2♥ converted to a Pass

Barred from leading a heart by Kate, North led the ace of spades and followed it with the ace of diamonds crashing partner’s king. Now North led another diamond ruffed by South. The contract of two spades slipped one off for a good result. Lucky them. There was then some discussion about whether my two of clubs should have been classified as a penalty card. Millie’s solution was to email David Stevenson at the magazine BRIDGE. It then took another half hour of debate on who would compose and send the email. I suspect it never got written. It was an evening of strange happenings and a busy one for the director. ■

The Diaries of Wendy Wensum

Episode 79:

Strange Happenings

David Stevenson writes: If Millie had written to me I would have assured her that the two of clubs was not a penalty card. If dummy puts a card out that declarer did not name (as the director decided) then a card by the next player may be withdrawn without penalty.


1. ♠ K 7 6

♥ A Q J 2

♦ 10 9 5

♣ K 6 2

♠ A 2

♥ 10 9 5

♦ K Q J 6

♣ A 7 4 3

You are declarer in 3NT and West leads the ♠Q. How do you plan the play?

2. ♠ A 8 7 5 4

♥ A 10 2

♦ 8 5 4

♣ Q 5

♠ 9 2

♥ K Q J 9 7 5

♦ A K 6

♣ A K

You are declarer in 6♥ and West leads the ♣J. How do you plan the play?

NW E

S

NW E

S

3. ♠ 10 6 5

♥ 7 6 4

♦ J 6

♣ A K Q 7 4

♠ J 8 3 2

♥ A Q 2

♦ A K 4 3

♣ 6 3

You are declarer in 3NT. West leads the ♦7. How do you plan the play?

4. ♠ J 6 5

♥ 7 6 4

♦ A 7 3

♣ A Q 5 3

♠ 9 2

♥ A Q 10 8 3 2

♦ K Q 6

♣ J 2

You are declarer in 4♥ after West has overcalled in spades. West leads three rounds of spades with East following. How do you plan the play?

NW E

S

NW E

S

DECLARER

PLAY

QUIZby David Huggett


You are South as declarer playing rubber bridge or teams. In each case what is your play strategy?

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For the past 18 months or so I have been in charge of the English U26 girls team. Last summer we played in the European Championship and finished third, with the top six qualifying for the world championships, which took place in Wujiang, China, in August. The team, with a couple of changes from last summer’s, was Olivia Bailey & Ewa Wieczorek, Laura Covill & Siyu Ren, Liz Gahan & Yvonne Wiseman, with coach David Burn. My articles this month have coalesced into a day-by-day account of our trip to China.

Day 1/2 (Aug 6/7)After a morning packing and getting myself ready Barry comes to help me to Hammersmith with my suitcase. Then it’s a change to the Piccadilly line and off to Terminal 2. I meet up with Liz in plenty of time (it’s just the two of us on this particular flight) and we start off our journey by flying to Munich, stopping over for a couple of hours and then on to Shanghai. All passes off peacefully and we are met at the airport by some other bridge players who have come from all sorts of different directions, and a shuttle bus. We set off for the two-hour drive to Wujiang, then straight in to dinner which is very … Chinese! And then to bed.

Day 3 (Aug 8)I sleep quite well which is a surprise. After breakfast we walk to the venue (about five minutes) and register, in the process getting our badges and goodie bags. And then it is the big quest … for an iron. My U26 girls team is sponsored by Touchlight, a British company who do research into DNA, and we need to iron their logo on to

the girls’ shirts. We had thought the hotel would have one, but apparently not. We decide that the simplest thing is to buy a new one from a local supermarket. That accomplished we wander back to the hotel for lunch. Then there is a lot of ironing to do as there are 45 logos to put in place. Well done, Laura! In the middle of this David (Burn), our coach, arrives and gives the girls some good tips, and then they sit on the floor of my room and practise a bit.

Later on, David and I wander off to the Captains’ meeting – nothing very interesting – and afterwards the opening ceremony. We all sit at round tables, laid for a dozen or so people. There are some titbits on the table at the start, most sweet rather than savoury. We listen to several speeches, which are generally fairly short (including one guy whose speech – according to David Burn – is shorter than his job title!). Then there is a buffet dinner. The food here is all rather strange, much less anglicised than we usually get in China, but if you’re not too fussy there is no real room for complaint.

Day 4 (Aug 9)We all meet for breakfast at 8.30, and then walk over to the venue at about 9.15. David and I settle the pairs down, i.e. find their seats, make sure they have water, and know where the toilets are (and remind them that they have to ask permission before they go). I then repair to the VuGraph room with Laura and Siyu who are not playing this set. Siyu asks me if I would like a drink and I say yes to bubble tea. There are no drink stations at the venue (only water) so she uses her phone to order it and some time later it arrives (all a bit of a mystery to me). Bubble tea

Catching up with Sally Brock

turns out to be a cold, milky tea (quite pleasant) with bubbles of semolina in it (rather strange) – still, it’s good to try everything once. Our team are not on VuGraph, but it is good to see the boards.

There are quite a few tricky boards in the set, and we eventually win by 8 IMPs (12.44 VPs). Then it’s back to the hotel (only a five-minute walk, but it must be at least 35 degrees outside) for a quick lunch before the afternoon sessions. Actually, our schedule is fairly light. There are only 15 teams in the Girls event, so we have three matches a day (compared with the four that others have to play sometimes). Our bridge day finishes before 6pm.

In the first match after lunch we play Indonesia. We expect them to be fairly tough as they have a good training programme for their open and women’s teams. Our inside information tells us that they have one good pair. However, in the first match they lost narrowly to Chile (who are not expected to be contenders), so our hopes are high.

While the match is played we go to a special area laid out with tables and chairs and watch BBO on our laptops.

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Our team is generally not on VuGraph but we can watch a match that is and so know the boards, and follow each result scored by our pairs as they play each board. So we know how the match is going …

We do well, winning by 10 IMPs (12.97 VPs), although it is more for a while. The highlight is Board 6:

Dealer North. N/S Game.

♠ K Q 9 8 5 2

♥ Void

♦ 6 4 2

♣ 10 5 4 3

♠ J 10 4 3 ♠ A 6

♥ 10 7 2 ♥ A Q 3

♦ 10 9 8 5 ♦ A K 7 3

♣ 9 7 ♣ A K J 2

♠ 7

♥ K J 9 8 6 5 4

♦ Q J

♣ Q 8 6


2♠ Dbl 3♥

Pass 3NT Dbl 4♥

Pass Pass Dbl All Pass

South might have been more prudent to pass on the first round, given the unfavourable vulnerability.

West would probably have bid – many pairs play Lebensohl here, whereby a 2NT response shows a really bad hand. East would have raised to 3NT, a contract which would surely have made given the favourable diamond position. As it was 4♥ doubled went for 1700! And 16 IMPs to us.

We go back to the hotel and have an early dinner – much better than usual as the food is hot and the beer cold. After dinner, Barry and I practise some bidding online for a while and discuss some of the day’s deals (he has been watching on BBO).

Day 5 (Aug 10)Not such a good day. The first match against the USA starts well – indeed we are 22 IMPs up at the halfway stage, but then a series of medium sized swings see us lose our lead and a few more besides.

NW E

S

After lunch we are back in good spirits against Thailand. Again we are well up at the halfway stage. Then we have two bad swings. On one we fail to bid a making 4♥ over opponents’ 3♠, and then to add insult to injury we let 3♠ through. That is 13 IMPs out. Then we have this bidding problem:

Dealer West. N/S Game.

♠ 6 5 4 ♠ K Q J 10

♥ A 10 9 4 ♥ Q J 7

♦ 10 6 4 ♦ A K Q J 9

♣ A 8 3 ♣ J

The bidding goes (at many tables):

West East

Pass 1♦

1♥ 2♠

3♦ 3♥

3NT

This contract goes down when the heart finesse is wrong. How should the hand be bid? I think both players were wrong here. First, I think that when West bids 3♦ before bidding 3NT then she has only one club stopper and East should remove 3NT. East knows that she is missing aces and there is virtually no chance of there being nine top tricks. However, I think West should bid 2NT on the second round. Now when East bids 3♥ it is easy for her to bid 4♥ as she has already shown her club stopper. Our opponents seem to have no problem in arriving in the heart game, and that is another 11 IMPs out.

The third match is against Norway, and it is on BBO. This is a first outing on BBO for some of our players, who are understandably nervous. Again, we start off well, being 10 up after six boards, but then we miss a slam and dribble a few bits and pieces out to lose twice that much in the later boards.

Still, spirits are high and we are still above average, which is all we need to be to qualify for the quarter-finals.

Day 6 (Aug 11)Laura’s birthday. The first match is flat down to the last board which is a bit of a freak:

NW E

S

Dealer East. Love All.

♠ A 6 3

♥ K J 10 7 3

♦ J 9 4

♣ 4 3

♠ Q 10 8 7 4 ♠ K J 9 5 2

♥ A Q 9 5 4 ♥ 8 6

♦ 6 2 ♦ Q 8 5

♣ 8 ♣ Q J 9

♠ Void

♥ 2

♦ A K 10 7 3

♣ A K 10 7 6 5 2

When Yvonne and Liz come back and say they lost 420 when their opponents played in 5♦, there is cause for concern. Although it is possible that this will be flat, it seems more likely that our pair will go minus than make a slam (though slam is made at several tables). And right we are. Their bidding is:


Pass 1♣

1♠ 2♥ 3♠ 4♦

Pass 5♣ Pass 6♣

All Pass

It’s hard to be too critical of South – on another day she would have been right. But this time 6♣ goes two down and we lose 11 IMPs.

In the U26 match between England and India, South opened 1♣ and West bid 2♣ which he meant as the majors, but East thought it was natural. North bid 2♥ which he thought was natural but South thought it was a club raise. South then tried 4♠ intending it as Exclusion Blackwood for clubs, but North thought it was Exclusion Blackwood for hearts – consequently he showed the wrong number of aces. This led to South bidding 7♣, which was doubled and went two down. England put in an appeal because of this wrong information and the result was changed, leaving them level on the board instead of losing 14 IMPs.

After lunch we play Brazil, in theory one of the weaker teams. We lose by 2 IMPs without anyone doing anything terrible. There is a slam which needs declarer to bring in A-K-J-x-x opposite 10-9-x-x for no losers – just with the odds, but no great shakes. u

NW E

S


They bid it and we don’t. There is Q-x offside which they drop. Plenty of declarers lose a trump trick – maybe we would have too if we had bid it. Otherwise their thin games make while ours don’t.

Our third fixture of the day is a bye. After having our team photograph taken, we go back to our hotel where Siyu has organised a cake for Laura. It is a beautiful and delicious affair which comes with a knife to cut it with, eight small paper plates and eight plastic forks, all packed together with a box of dry ice. It is a very light sponge with plenty of fruit, all covered with a dark chocolate icing. And a 2 and a 3 candle on top. In the evening David and I treat them to dinner at the Italian restaurant in the Marriott Hotel in Suzhou. We all enjoy the break from Chinese food, and the chance to have a glass of wine with our dinner.

Day 7 (Aug 12)With an ‘easy match’ followed by two tough ones, we hope for a good win in the first, against China Hong Kong. It is not to be. Everything they do works out well and what we do turns to dust. An aggressive jump overcall on the first board leads their declarer to play diamonds in winning fashion – she has K-6 facing A-J-10-9-8-4-2 so she cashes the king and then finesses. Our declarer gets it right with no clue. Later one of them opens a non-vulnerable 3♦ with:

♠ J 6 5

♥ A 3 2

♦ A J 9 6 5 3 2

♣ Void

This is raised to 4♦, giving our girl a problem with a 5-5-0-3 10-count with two decent suits. She doubles, as would I, and then her partner has to decide what to do with:

♠ K 9 8

♥ Q 8 5

♦ 8 7

♣ K J 9 4 3

Very tricky. Had she bid 5♣ it would have led to at least –500. As it happens, 4♥ is the least bad thing. Our girl chooses to pass and hope 4♦ is going down, which I am sure it would most of the time, but not this time. This also wipes out the good result achieved by our pair in the other room who stopped in 4♦ just making when most others are going down in 5♦.

After lunch things get even worse with our match against top-of-the-table Netherlands. We are comprehensively beaten with only one medium-sized swing in our direction. The final match is against Poland. The first half is more or less level, but once again it goes downhill in the second half, ending with a loss by some 20-odd IMPs. We no longer have any realistic chances of qualifying.

Day 8 (Aug 13)Altogether a better start. We score our best win of the tournament against middle-of-the-field Turkey. For once our decent start doesn’t slide away.

Olivia had picked up a tummy bug from somewhere so the other four continue for the rest of the day. The French match does not go well and although we have great hopes against Chile, as seems usual, one of the poorer teams in the competition plays well against us.

Day 9 (Aug 14)This was always going to be a rest day whether we had qualified or not. I go to Suzhou with Liz and Yvonne. We get a taxi that lets us out near a garden that we had identified as somewhere good to go – Suzhou is famous for its gardens. However, there is a £9 entry charge so we put that off for a while because we are enjoying browsing the small shops lining the streets. In the end we fail to visit a single garden, but have a great time wandering alongside all the canals and shopping. We do visit the Twin Pagoda, however, which was built by some students to honour their teacher – it made us feel like ‘an apple for the teacher’ was somehow inadequate! We come back in a taxi (not without difficulty – it was a good idea to take our hotel card with the

name written in Chinese on it) and have dinner in the hotel as usual.

Day 10 (Aug 15)The girls go off to play in the BAM. BAM stands for Board A Match. This is teams with pairs scoring – except even more vicious. You are simply trying to do better than the particular pair your team-mates are playing against. If you do you score 2 points, if you don’t you score 0 and there is 1 point each for a tie. It is an exciting form of the game and often there are lots of doubled contracts. Whereas in a normal pairs game you are trying not to get bad results, at BAM you can’t afford to sit back and wait. Because there is not much advantage playing in a team of six, Yvonne and Liz join up with Daniel and Liam, one of the U21 pairs, while the other four play together with the addition of a fifth (Singaporean) player. At the end of the day, halfway through the qualifying round, England U20 Lions (Yvonne, Liz, Daniel and Liam) are leading.

Meanwhile, there is nothing for us oldies to play in, so I get some work done until 4pm when Paul and Graham (captain and coach of the U26 team), and David Burn and I decide to wander over to the nearby 5-star hotel and see if there is a decent restaurant there so we can eat something western for a change. It turns out that there isn’t – they have a good Chinese restaurant, but we have had enough Chinese food. What they do have is proper WiFi and somehow Google works here (it generally doesn’t in China), so over a couple of beers we establish that there is a restaurant called The Blue Marlin that serves western food not so very far away. So off we go in a taxi. It actually does seem to be quite a way, but we eventually find it and sit outside with, first, a sharing plate of cold meat and cheese, followed by non-Chinese food – a burger, fajitas, ribs etc – all washed down with a couple of bottles of wine. It makes a nice change.

Day 11 (Aug 16)We had a plan to go through the knock-out hands with the girls in the evening as the schedule had them


finishing play at 5pm. However, that turns out not to be the case and as they don’t finish until after 8pm, they have had enough (not surprisingly). The English U20 Lions qualify in sixth place (with 18 to qualify for tomorrow’s final). The English U26 team also qualify, but the U26 girls team just miss the cut-off point.

I meet up with Paul and Graham (David has not been well – rotten cold) and we take a taxi to Tongli, just 20 minutes away. This is a historic town, a favourite with Chinese tourists. We have to pay nearly £10 to go in, but then there are lots of gardens, canals, bridges and, of course, shopping opportunities. We spend several hours happily wandering about, including a very authentic lunch experience.

At dinner we watch the final stages of the Singapore v Poland U26 semi-final on David’s phone (he seems to be able to get internet access all over the place when none of the rest of us can). We are pro Singapore because (a) Siyu’s boyfriend is on the team, and (b) Jazlene is on the team – she was at Cambridge and came to some of our training meetings.

Singapore are leading by 1 IMP when the penultimate board lands on the table:

Dealer North. Game All.

♠ 6 3

♥ A 9 4 2

♦ A K Q 7

♣ A J 2

♠ Q 9 8 7 5 2 ♠ K 10

♥ J 5 ♥ 8 7 6

♦ J 4 ♦ 10 8 6 5 3

♣ 9 7 4 ♣ 10 8 6

♠ A J 4

♥ K Q 10 3

♦ 9 2

♣ K Q 5 3

I would give you their sequences but they are long, artificial and would not mean a lot. Poland plays the deal first, stopping in 6♥. The grand slam is a good contract – it is virtually cold if trumps are 3-2 or if the jack is singleton. It also has a good chance if West has jack to four trumps because you can cash the king-queen to expose

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the position and then play to ruff the third round of diamonds with the ten of hearts. We could see that in practice it would make. Eventually, the Singaporean South asks for aces, and when they are all present, tries 5NT, North showing the ♦K. Time stands still and then South bids the grand slam … and Singapore are through.

After dinner I have an online teaching session with Mary. I skype with both Briony and Barry and then it’s time for bed.

Day 12 (Aug 17)I spend most of the day watching the Sweden v Singapore final. There is plenty of exciting bridge. In between I do some work: writing this article, writing my captain’s report, writing up some interesting hands for the Sunday Times, etc.

While I am doing this, the English teams are continuing in the BAM. Both finish mid-field, but in the battle that counts the English U20 Lions finish one place ahead of the English U26.

In the evening I go over to the other hotel for a drink with David, Paul and Graham. While we are knocking back the beer we watch the end of the day’s play on our phones. Afterwards we go up to the Japanese restaurant in the hotel for dinner.

Day 13 (Aug 18)Our last day. I watch the penultimate set of the U26 final, rooting for Singapore. Then it is lunch, but that is in the Dyna Sun Hotel today (something very exciting going on in our hotel with lots of young Chinese in fancy dress). That is certainly an improvement on our hotel. Afterwards I walk back to get my laptop and then watch the final session in the Dyna Sun with Paul and Graham. It is exciting stuff but the Swedes hang on to win by 5 IMPs. Then it is back to shower and change for the closing ceremony. The Chinese do these opening and closing ceremonies rather better (and quicker) than most other countries, I think. All the speeches and award presentations are done in an hour. When all the medallists from a particular group go

up on to the stage, they play music. When the juniors go up, for example, they play ‘Star Wars’. When the girls go up they play ‘Pretty Woman’! My team are pretty shocked by this, as are the Dutch (and no doubt several others). Were we being particularly sensitive (as was said by the WBF official I complained to) or was that out of order in today’s egalitarian society?

Because of a very early start, I opt for an early night (though as luck would have it, it takes an age to get to sleep).

Day 14 (Aug 19)My alarm goes off at 3.15 and I am downstairs at 3.45. We are picked up in a minibus which is barely big enough for all of us and our luggage. Suitcases are piled up on the seat beside me. It takes a couple of hours for the drive, as expected, so we are at the airport at 6.30 for our 10.10 flight (to Vienna). The Chinese take no chances! Time for a leisurely western breakfast (or Chinese approximation of a western breakfast). The 11-hour flight passes by as tediously as usual – I watch four movies. We have a couple of hours in Vienna – time for a cappuccino and talking about some of the hands with Laura – and then a two-hour flight home. Barry is there to meet me (so nice) and we take the tube to Hammersmith, and then a bus to his flat. We (along with John Holland who is staying in London for the night) go to Barry’s local Indian restaurant (anything but Chinese for at least a week or two) for dinner. Then at last a bit of sleep after a really long day. n

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A History of Playing Cards: Part Twenty Three by Paul Bostock

The Worshipful

Company of Makers

of Playing Cards

The City of London has some 110 livery companies whose role is to represent and in many cases to regulate various trades, both ancient (armourers and brasiers

for example) and modern (information technologists). The oldest company, the Mercers’, was founded in the fourteenth century. Liverymen – the men and women members of these companies - are entitled to vote in the elections of the city’s two Sheriffs and the Lord Mayor of London.

The Worshipful Company of Makers of Playing Cards (WCMPC) was granted its charter by King Charles I in 1628, largely to protect playing card makers against foreign imports (it pains me to say that these were better made). In return, the playing card makers agreed to collect a new taxation on their packs.

The WCMPC is very active today with a membership of 150 liverymen (the maximum permitted), around 20 freemen and currently two apprentices (who are still in higher education). Membership of the livery is now open to people from all trades and backgrounds, there being very few people left in the industry itself, and the emphasis is on fellowship and charity. The company is keen to strengthen its links with similar modern industries, such as computer games.

In 1882 the Master of the Company produced a double-pack of cards to celebrate his installation (election to office, annually on November 30th). It has become a tradition for the Master to issue a set which depicts an event in the year of the Master’s Installation, and packs have been made every year since 1882. From 1888 onwards, the cards have also shown

the Master’s portrait on the Ace of Spades. This has become a very human record of the Company’s masters and the pictures capture changes in dress and style too. All liverymen of the Company receive these special packs, as well as guests at the Master’s Installation banquet. Completing a full set from the 1880s onwards is a challenge for collectors – the sets from the nineteenth century are particularly difficult to find.

The Makers of Playing Cards Charity is a registered charity, founded during World War II. In 1940, De La Rue’s main factory in the City of London was destroyed in the Blitz, and printing was delegated to Waddington’s (in Leeds). Both De La Rue and Waddington made financial contributions, with the immediate aim of supporting employees who lost work during the war. The Charity’s aims are now generally educational and for young people, with support for children’s charities and educational establishments in the City and beyond.

WCMPC 1948 – Celebrating the London Olympics at White City

Reverse of the first WCMPC Master’s

Installation pack, 1882.

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Sir Christopher Walford 1935-2015. Sir Christopher was Master of the WCMPC in 1987-8 (left) and went on to become Lord Mayor in

1994-5 (right).

The company holds an annual Inter-Livery Bridge Competition, now in its 35th year. All livery companies are invited and up to 64 pairs compete over an evening, with dinner during the half-way break. Players often represent around forty of the City’s different livery companies. The event attracts a mixed level of players from irregular club players to players of national representative standard; it is normally staged in the historic Drapers’ Hall (featured in the film The King’s Speech). While the Actuaries’ Company has the best record, WCMPC players have fared well in recent years.

The WCMPC has an extensive collection of playing cards, including some of the earliest surviving examples of the English card-makers’ craft. In some cases these fragile artefacts are the only surviving examples. This collection is believed to be unrivalled in the UK and brings together not only the Company’s own collection but a number of significant bequests. The Waddington collection is also currently in the Company’s care. The WCMPC collection is strong on English cards, particularly the ‘illustrated cards’ of around 1700, and it also includes fine examples from most countries with a tradition of playing cards. n

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Julian Pottage Answers Your Bridge Questions

What Should I Overcall In A Very Weak Suit?

or 14 points, should I say 3♥ instead of 2♥? Or is it up to partner to bid on if she/he has a good enough hand?Ann Yeldon,Seaford, East Sussex.

A 1. With five bad hearts, you might reasonably decide

either to double or to overcall 1NT rather than overcall 2♥. Since the spade holding is such that a no-trump contract might play better from partner’s hand, I prefer double to 1NT. As the cards lie, a 1NT overcall could work better, although double will be OK if partner bids 1NT rather than 2♦.

After your actual 2♥ overcall, your RHO might have reopened with a double, although this is risky with a minimum and an aceless hand. Your LHO could not have done anything differently – passing smoothly and hoping to get the chance to pass a reopening double was fine.

2. Yes, holding 4-card support (except perhaps with a 4-3-3-3 shape) it is often a good idea to make a super acceptance.

I usually play that a jump (in this case to 3♥) shows 4-card support and a minimum with other bids being descriptive and maximum. Playing a weak no-trump, it is common to play that a new suit shows a small doubleton (and you bid 2NT if you are maximum with 4-card support and no small

doubleton). Playing a strong no-trump, you are less likely to have a small doubleton so a new suit shows strength in the suit – you could play this with a weak no-trump too.

If you prefer to keep things simple, you could play jump acceptance as any maximum with 4-card support.

♣♦♥♠

Q I opened 1♦ with 15 points and six diamonds (A-K-10-

x-x-x). I can’t remember the rest of my hand but I was 2-2-6-3. LHO overcalled 1♠ and partner bid 2♥, which I took to show at least 5 hearts and 10+ points. I bid 3♦ which partner passed. We made 11 tricks. One pair bid 5♦. Partner had 11 points and three diamonds as well as five hearts.

My 3♦ could have been made with a 12 point hand, and no heart support.

Is there a bidding mechanism that I could have used to show a hand with game potential af-ter partner’s bid? What would 2♠ have shown? Mike Johnson by email.

A The opposing overcall makes life difficult because it denies

you an easy opportunity to make a natural strength showing rebid.

As it seems you have worked out, you do not want to be making a minimum sounding rebid that partner

might pass when you have 15 HCP facing 10+ from partner. Nor do you want to be going past 3NT when you have a long minor. Thus, you cannot immediately show the extra diamonds. If your doubleton spade is quite strong, particularly if it includes a tenace, you might reasonably rebid 2NT. If not, this leaves a bid of the opposing suit to show general strength as the only viable option. If partner continues with 2NT or 3♣, you will be able to show the extra diamonds on the next round.

♣♦♥♠

Q Playing weak twos, my partner bid 2♠ over my 2♥. I

passed with a weak hand and 2 spades, not knowing whether partner’s bid was forcing. We discussed it afterwards and realised it was something we need to agree on.

We realised that partner should not attempt a rescue with a weak hand, and with 16+ points partner can make a 2NT enquiry. But what about the ‘in-between’ hands?

Articles by yourself and Andrew Kambites in BRIDGE recommend that a new suit response is forcing for one round. Others recommend that it should be played as constructive but not forc-ing, not strong enough for a 2NT response (say 11-15

Q 1. Once again I had a strange hand to bid. I

was playing South:

♠ A 5

♥ 9 8 7 5 3

♦ A Q

♣ A J 7 5

My RHO opened 1♠ and I wasn’t sure what my call should be. Maybe double as I had shortage in the bid suit but I was holding the ace in that suit. In the event I bid 2♥.

My partner, North, held 5 points and passed:

♠ Q 9 7 4

♥ Q J 6

♦ 9 7 5 3

♣ 10 4

2♥ was passed out and I went two off only making 6 tricks. What should I have bid? Should the opponents have bid again?

They held:

♠ 10 3 ♠ K J 8 6 2

♥ A K 10 2 ♥ 4

♦ J 6 4 ♦ K 10 8 2

♣ 9 8 3 2 ♣ K Q 6

2. We do transfers, so if after my 1NT bid my partner bids 2♦, I am expected to bid 2♥. If I am holding 4 good hearts, ie A and Q and 13

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HCP), but indicating no interest in partner’s suit but with a good alternative suit to improve the partscore if opener has some support, and perhaps an outside chance of game if partner has the right sort of hand.

Before we flip a coin, could you advise on the pros and cons of each option?Mike Johnson by email.

AI recommend playing a change of suit as forcing so that hands

with their own suit do not need to start with the 2NT enquiry. This way, if the bidding starts something like 2♥-2NT-3♥-4♣ then the last bid is clearly a cue bid.

You could play a response at the two level as an excep-tion if you are happy to play that strong hands with long suit jump to the three level.

♣♦♥♠

Q Is it true that you should not have the ace or king of a

side suit to pre-empt in the first and second position, and what sort of hand should you have to pre-empt in the second position?Martin Epstein by email.

A Whatever your position at the table, it is best for you to pre-

empt when you have most of your values in your long suit and not too much outside. Saying that you cannot have an ace or king on the side is a bit too restrictive, however.

If you are going to have four points outside your suit, it is better to have an ace than a couple of doubleton queens. If you do have an outside ace, you would not want to have the ace in your own suit as well because then you have better defensive prospects

than partner would expect. Vulnerability as well as

position at the table affects pre-emptive bidding. In any position vulnerable against not, or in second seat at game all, it is a good idea to have a seven-card suit head-ed by two of the top three honours. In second seat even non-vulnerable you should have a seven-card suit.

♣♦♥♠

Q What would you open with this hand?

♠ A Q J 8 6 3

♥ K Q J 10 4

♦ 7

♣ 9

HCP = 13Playing Tricks = 9Quick Tricks = 2.5 David Cree,Strathaven.

A With only 13 HCP, this is an easy decision. Open 1♠.

A hand with a semi-solid 9-card suit (K-Q-J-x-x-x-x-x-x) and nothing else contains eight playing tricks – but you would not dream of opening a strong two with it.

Strong opening bids require high cards, not just playing strength.

♣♦♥♠

Q Please could you advise me about the bidding:

♠ J 9 4

♥ Q 8 5 3

♦ 7 2

♣ J 8 5 3


1♥ Dbl Pass ?

South bid 1NT.Should South have bid

2♣?North bid 2♣ and made

ten tricks. At other tables, when South played the hand, 5♣ made.

Was South wrong to bid1NT?

I will be interested to know what is the correct action.Elizabeth Hocken by email.

A A reply of 1NT to partner’s take-out double suggests a

stopper in the suit opened, no suit worth showing and a few values (say 6-9 HCP). With only 4 HCP, I would not bid 1NT, preferring 2♣ as you suggest.

If you bid 1NT and the doubler changes the suit, this ought to be forcing, although if you bid 1NT with only 4 HCP I can understand why you might pass.

♣♦♥♠

Q I came up against a decision and I knew what I bid

was not the right choice.Right hand opponent

opens 1♣. My hand was:

♠ J 5 3

♥ A K Q 4 2

♦ A K 10 6 4

♣ Void

I doubled and my partner bid diamonds.

I bid 3♦, which ended the auction. Should I have bid the hearts first?Doreen Parrington,Lytham St Annes.

A You say that partner bid diamonds but not whether that was 1♦

or 2♦. If you jump raised 1♦ to 3♦, that showed a pretty good hand (albeit giving

no clue about the strong five-card heart suit). A simple raise of 2♦ to 3♦ would not, however, do the hand justice. You started with a double because you considered the hand as too strong for a 1♥ overcall (and not suitable for an unusual 2NT overcall) so your second bid needs to show strength. If partner bid 2♦ (either as a jump or as a free bid over something like 2♣), I would be making a 4♣ splinter on the next round.

♣♦♥♠

Q Please can you advise us about this deal on which

we got a poor score?

♠ K 7 2

♥ 8 6

♦ A Q 8

♣ A K Q 7 2

♠ J 10 8 5 ♠ Q 6 4

♥ A K 9 ♥ Q J 10 5 4

♦ K J 10 3 ♦ 7 4

♣ 9 4 ♣ 6 5 3

♠ A 9 3

♥ 7 3 2

♦ 9 6 5 2

♣ J 10 8

I was sitting North, my wife was South, and the bidding went:


Pass

1NT Dbl 2♥ All Pass

Although they went down one for +100 to us, this was a worse score than the 2♣+2, 3♣+1 or 2NT that other N/S pairs were in, or the 1NT undoubled -2 that gave +200 to N/S.

I know the double of 1NT was for penalties but with 18 points this seemed sound enough, although it scared them off into a heart contract. u

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I couldn’t bid 2♣ as we’d agreed to play Landy and I couldn’t bid 3♣ as we are playing weak jump overcalls. Should I just pass on the principle that “my bid is taken away from me”? Or bid 2NT as we’re not playing unusual?

I felt I couldn’t double again as my partner had passed twice and could have had nothing, and that could give them game. My partner would probably take that as take-out and bid 3♦ or something and I couldn’t possibly bid 4♣ although it would have made.John Collins,Hertfordshire.

A To be honest your auction is one quite easy to replicate.

East would retreat to hearts even without the double, so collecting 200 from 1NT was not really an option.

The only thing you might do differently is double again on the North hand. My usual agreement is only to pass out the opposing retreat with length in their suit. If North does double again, which I play as more take-out than penalty, South has a tricky choice. I would bid 2NT to show two places to play. Then whether North bids 3♣ or takes a view and passes 2NT, you will be OK. If you play a second double as penalties, like most club players, you do not want to bid 3♣ on such a flat hand and are stuck.

♣♦♥♠

Q This bidding sequence came up the other day:


1♥ Pass 1NT Dbl

I was playing South and I

meant my double to show a shortage in hearts and the other three suits (I had 14 HCP and four good spades 4-2-3-4). Even though we got a top with 2♠ making, my partner was annoyed with my call.

Is it normal bidding for my double in this sequence to be a “take-out“ of hearts? Alun Williams,Llanfairpwll, Angelsey.

A Yes, after an opposing opening and a 1NT response,

it is standard to play double as take-out of opener’s suit.

The action should not annoy your partner, especially if you got a good score.

♣♦♥♠

Q Can you advise on the best bid here? N/S Game, IMPs

♠ A K 7 5 2

♥ 10 6 5 3

♦ A 2

♣ 7 4


Pass 1NT 2♣

?

1NT = 15-17 2♣ = Majors Huw Jones, Swansea.

AIt would seem that the opponents have chosen the wrong

moment to enter the auction and a big penalty beckons.

If you double and then double again (assuming 2♣ doubled does not get passed out), partner is likely to take that as for penalties. The slight downside is that doubling 2♣ gives North a natural 2♦ bid, whereas if you pass then 2♦ from North would presumably ask South to pick between the majors.

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As is so often the case, having an agreement about whether a double is penal-ties, takeout or simply values is useful. Since 2♣ is artificial, doubling that just shows val-ues rather than anything spe-cific about your club holding.

♣♦♥♠

Q My partner (North) and I, playing Multi Landy, held:

♠ K 9 7 6 5

♥ A Q

♦ A 10 5 2

♣ 7 2

♠ Q

♥ K 10 5 4

♦ Q J 3

♣ Q J 9 6 3


1NT 2♠ Pass ?

Should South just pass 2♠ or should he bid 2NT to find partner’s minor even if it is 1 level higher?Name and address supplied.

A With a singleton spade and a decent hand, I would not

want to pass 2♠. You will have a better fit in a minor, possibly much better if partner has five diamonds or a second suit of clubs. Bidding 2NT (rather than a ‘pass or correct’ 3♣) does seem reasonable when you have 11 HCP, although some of your soft values will be facing a shortage and not pulling full weight.

While the 2♠ overcall does not promise a five-card minor, one would not make the bid if the side suit is a poor four-card minor or with a 6-4 shape. With almost

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half of the 13 HCP in the short heart suit, North does not have an ideal hand for the 2♠ overcall – but passing is risky as well, especially if this is at love all, which is the bidder’s vulnerability.

♣♦♥♠

Q How do you make 3♠ on this deal?

♠ A J 8 7 6

♥ J 10 3

♦ 7

♣ A K 8 4

♠ 5 4 ♠ 10 9 2

♥ K 9 8 6 2 ♥ A Q 7 5

♦ A K 10 9 ♦ J

♣ Q 7 ♣ J 9 6 3 2

♠ K Q 3

♥ 4

♦ Q 8 6 5 4 3 2

♣ 10 5

Eardley Berkeley,Warwickshire.

A The simple answer is ‘only with some help from the defenders’.

On a trump lead initially and a second trump lead after they get in with a heart, the position is hopeless as you cannot take two ruffs in the South hand – you make five trumps, two clubs and one ruff. Even if the defenders al-low South to score two ruffs, the 4-1 diamond break and East’s ♠10-9-x mean that you should run into a trump pro-motion on the second round of diamonds. Remember, one of the ruffs in the South hand will be with an honour.

If the background to your question is that a computer printout showed 3♠ as makeable, I am afraid there is a flaw in the program. If 3♠ made at one or two tables at your club, I suspect that the defenders had the chance for the trump promotion but did not take it. n

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It is rather strange that this topic came up so late in the series of DVDs. Competitive bidding has

been dealt with variously, but here the topic revolves around overcalls and partner’s actions after them. In particular, the DVD studies the reasons for overcalling, rather than giving specific guidelines:

Competition, Lead, Disruption, Sacrifice, Spades and Vulnerability.

These are a few of the reasons for overcalling including the spade suit. The highest suit is very powerful in bridge because if the two sides are competing for a deal, then spades win at any given level, which makes it imperative that you try to find fits in that suit.

This hand has a number of points of interest, particularly about suit quality:

♠ J 9 5 3 2

♥ 7 4 2

♦ A K

♣ K Q 4

♠ A 6 ♠ K 8 4

♥ A K Q 9 ♥ J 10 8 5

♦ J 9 4 ♦ Q 10 5 3

♣ J 9 5 3 ♣ 7 2

♠ Q 10 7

♥ 6 3

♦ 8 7 6 2

♣ A 10 8 6


1♥ 1♠ 2♥ 2♠

Pass Pass 3♥ All Pass

West opens in his major with 1♥, planning to rebid 1NT. North has a pretty poor spade suit, which would fail on most suit quality tests, but more important is to think of the reasons for overcalling. With a hand

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Bernard Magee DVDs – Number Forty-Seven

Overcallsof opening strength and holding five spades, there is a reasonable chance for competing for the hand and you should go for it. However, as is made clear on the DVD whenever you have a weak all-round hand, then your suit quality should be good to make up for it.

Both East and South make supporting bids – no matter how weak you are it is important to try to show support because with a trump fit you can always make tricks.

Over 2♠ West passed because he was balanced and had no aspirations for game – he was aware that on some occasions East might have supported with just three cards in hearts.

Finally, the auction comes back to East: a rule that has come up in many of the DVDs on competitive bidding is important here.

If both sides have an eight-card fit, it is always correct to compete to the three-level over the two level. East bids on to 3♥ knowing that if it makes it is a good thing, but if it goes down, then surely 2♠ might have made. Note that East is sure of his side’s eight-card fit, rather than West.

There are indeed eight tricks for both sides with best defence. In 3♥, the defence can take ♦K, ♦A, ♣K, ♣A and then a diamond ruff – by reversing the order of his top diamonds North gets across the message that he holds a doubleton.

In 2♠, after a heart lead, the defence can switch to trumps – leading three rounds of the suit and clearing all of South’s trumps – that leaves declarer with five losers – two top trumps and three hearts. So 3♥ works out better (-50) than leaving 2♠ (-110). However, note that 3♠ does not work for North-South. This deal reminds us of the power of the spade suit – both sides have a fit with the points relatively even and it is the side with spades that goes plus.

After going over some of the reasons, the DVD deals with the disruptive element and advocates trying weak jump overcalls as a way of causing more disruption – these are very similar to weak two openings: a jump overcall shows 6-10 points and a six-card suit. As is emphasised during the seminar – you do need to agree to play these with your partner.

Then comes the question: ‘How many points do you need to overcall an opening of 1NT?’

The answers given range from 10 to 16 points, but of course if the reasons for overcalling are present then you might stretch a little bit more. Remember that an overcall of 1NT tends to disrupt your opponents’ conventions.

♠ 7 6 ♠ 8 4 2

♥ K 7 4 3 ♥ A Q 8 6

♦ A K 4 ♦ 8 2

♣ Q 10 9 6 ♣ A K 5 3

West East

1NT 2♣

2♥ 4♥

These two hands have a straightforward auction to 4♥, via Stayman. However, what happens if North overcalls 2♠?

Without sophisticated methods, reaching 4♥ is a lot more difficult. There will be players who will have conventions such as Lebensohl to deal with this intervention, but even if they do play such things they will often go wrong. Playing more naturally – East is a little bit stuck. They may still get to 4♥, but the overcall makes it so much more difficult.

Bearing in mind the disruption, when the vulnerability is right (you are non-vulnerable) then try getting stuck in with weaker hands, with a good 6-card suit. North held:

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is a bid of your opponents’ suit. West should bid 2♣ here, to tell his partner he is strong. West does not want to play in clubs, he simply wants to force his partner to bid again and try to find the best level and denomination. East should alert the call.

When you overcall in majors, cue bids promise support, but in the minors often the partnership will be looking for no-trumps. East might hold:

East 1

♠ 10 9 2

♥ 8 7 5

♦ K Q J 10 7

♣ J 3

In reply to a bid of the opponents’ suit there is one weak bid: repeating your suit. East would simply rebid 2♦ over your 2♣ to tell you that his overcall was in the weak range (6-9 points). And now West could pass.

On any overcall with reasonable strength the overcaller bids something other than 2♦.

East 2

♠ 10 9 2

♥ 8 7

♦ K Q J 10 7

♣ A J 3

With this hand, East might rebid 2NT to show a sound overcall with a club stopper and West could raise to 3NT.

East 3

♠ K 10 9 2

♥ 8

♦ K Q 9 8 7

♣ A 7 3

Or this East could rebid 2♠, allowing West to raise to 4♠.

The DVD covers all sorts of aspects of overcalling – dealing with simple elements and difficult elements to create a full picture. Repeated viewing will enhance your understanding of competitive bidding. n

♠ K Q 10 9 5 3

♥ 9 2

♦ Q J 3

♣ 7 4

Just eight high-card points, but with a quality suit, and spades to boot, the disruption the bid causes makes it worth going for it, non-vulnerable.

Later, the DVD deals with replying to overcalls. As the overcalling side the focus is on disruption, getting in your opponents’ way. So once again the idea of bidding to the level of your fit comes up. You can rely on five cards for your partner’s overcall so if you have four-card support you can jump from the one level to the three-level (for nine tricks).

So many of the hands shown display weak hands seeming to overbid! However, bidding more tends to work, particularly with big fits. Some of the hands demonstrate the idea of sacrificing where even when you are doubled you can make a saving – losing 500 points instead of perhaps giving up 620 for your opponents making a game.

The DVD then turns its attention to the less common circumstance when your partner overcalls and you have a strong hand.

♠ Q J 4 3

♥ A K 4 2

♦ A 3

♣ 9 5 2


1♣ 1♦ Pass

?

You are sitting West after this auction. With 14 points and your partner having bid, there is a temptation to leap to game, but remember that your partner might be weak. Overcalls at the 1-level with a good suit can be on as few as 6 or 7 points. So much of the competitive auction is based around showing distributional and weak hands, but there has to be one bid reserved for stronger hands and in the middle of a competitive auction that

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l Lead vs Suit Contracts

l Partner of Leader vs No-trump Contracts

l Partner of Leader vs Suit Contracts

l Count Signals

l Attitude Signals

l Discarding

l Defensive Plan

l Stopping Declarer

l Counting the Hand

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Identify Your Memory Strength

Everybody’s mind works differently, so getting to know your mind and making the most of it can help your bridge. Try to test your memory in a variety of ways and see which aspect you are best at.

You can use repetition to remember: by repeating and iterating certain things. You can use the photographic method – try to take a picture in your mind of what you need to remember. Or you can use an action to remember things – this can be all sorts of different things. Once again you can try different methods and see which works best for you. Moving the cards in your hand, asking a question or simply taking a conscious action of your own (smiling, laughing, adjusting your clothing, moving your arms, etc.)

Another way of remembering is using the story method – this works for some, but tends to be more useful for longer term memory – in this you attach pictures to those things you want to remember and make up a story containing the pic-tures – it tends to be used by memory ex-perts who try to remember the orders of multiple packs of cards.

Knowing which memory form works best for you is very important. Test your-self at the bridge table. On one evening, try to remember the first trick of each hand, but use different methods – when you get to the last trick see if you are right – perhaps you can do it every time, but keeping the information for the full hand is not easy. Remember it needs to be pre-cise otherwise you have failed – you are looking for the exact cards – that is what you tend to need if you are to know that the ♣8 is a winner at trick 13.

Note that doing this on one evening will seriously disrupt the quality of the rest of your game that evening, but by discovering your best form of memory, in the long run you will gain a lot.

Ask Partner, ‘Having None?'

The second tip is very simple, but very important. If you take this advice then your partnership should not have to suf-fer any established revokes. Every time your partner fails to follow suit for the first time in a hand ask him the question ‘Having none, partner?’

This should get him to look at this hand again and check – if he does have a card in the suit led, he can replace it and the revoke is not established. He may well have a penalty card to leave on the ta-ble, but less damage is done. Remember you can do this as a defender as well as the dummy. If everybody does this, then really, there should be no established revokes. Revokes are relatively common at the bridge table – quite often we plan ahead and go one step too far too fast, or perhaps the cards are a little sticky, or perhaps we lose concentration, see dummy discard in a suit and follow in the same suit as dummy.

Whatever the reason, if the revoke is found right away, little embarrassment is caused, and more importantly, there are fewer penalties involved. ■

Try To Identify Your Memory Strength & Always Ask Partner, ‘Having None?'

More Tips from Bernard Magee

This month I am giving you two tips at the same time because they are not tips that require demonstration.

BERNARD

MAGEE

TUTORIAL

DVDS

Set 843 TEAMS OF FOURThis form of the game is the most common at international level and is great fun to play at club level and even in the home. I will discuss the basic format and then look at the tactics you might use in the bidding and play.

44 GAME TRIESWhen your partner raises your suit to the two-level, you have a variety of options available to you, in order to find out whether game is a sensible option. I will talk about major suit game tries to find better games and minor suit game tries, when you consider the option of a no-trump contract.

45 DISRUPTING DECLARERA defender needs to try and predict what declarer might want to do. Your job is then to disrupt declarer’s plan. Stop him ruffing, stop him establishing suits and generally try to put him off, by using only your cards, of course.

46 DEFENDING SLAMSMaking the right plays against slams can make a huge difference. Knowing when to attack and when to lie low: should you lead an ace or not? We will not just consider slam contracts, but also other high level contracts in competitive auctions.

47 OVERCALLINGDuplicate bridge is so much more competitive now and it is important you are part of this. Knowing the reasons for overcalling and understanding them will allow you to compete more and at the right time.

48 PRESSING THE DEFENCEAs declarer there are ways you can make life more awkward for the defenders, particularly by disguising holdings in your hand for a little longer. I will be exploring a number of tactics that will help you to exploit the defenders, including the dreaded squeeze.

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I n an earlier article it was pointed out that one should not use names in describing systems, conventions

or agreements. The reason for this is that different people play these things in different ways and tend to assume their way is the only way so this misleads people. However, most bridge players tend to make some assumptions and use names which they think clear so perhaps it would be helpful if we were to look at what those names mean.

Let us start with Acol, which these days is the most common British and Irish system. Please note that it is spelt Acol and not ACOL: it is a proper name named after a bridge club (which was named after a road, which was named after a village in Kent) and it is not an acronym. It is a system that includes four-card major openings and light two-over-ones. What does that mean? It means that when an Acol player responds 2♦ to 1♠ he is showing a minimum of nine points (or possibly eight or ten) and it is forcing for one round. Those are the cornerstones of Acol. Players tack on many conventions to Acol, like Benjamin, or three weak twos, or the Multi, or splinters. None of these are basic and do not affect the approach which defines Acol. How about the ‘Acol with five-card majors’? There is no such animal: they are playing ‘five-card majors’, some even play ‘five-card spades’.

For the minor suits, the majority of Acol players play a weak 1NT and do not need to open a prepared minor with three cards. But not every Acol player does and three-card minors are still perfectly possible in Acol. They are not alerted, being considered natural, so you cannot assume that an opponent playing Acol will always

have four cards for a 1♣ or 1♦ opening. If you need to know, you ask or check the system card.

How about Stayman? That is a 2♣ response to 1NT or a 3♣ response to 2NT that asks for a major. Does it show a major? No, not necessarily. Pairs may play it to show a major but many pairs do not. It is unfortunate that some players who play Stayman to guarantee a major get quite upset when opponents say they are playing Stayman but do not have a major. This is a frequent example of what was said earlier when players assume other players play conventions their way.

What does a Transfer mean? It is a bid that shows another suit, often the one above, and frequently asks partner to bid that suit, though it may only suggest it. So if 2♥ over 1NT shows spades it is a Transfer. How about 2♦ over 1NT that is either showing hearts or a sign-off in diamonds? That is not a Transfer because 2♦ does not guarantee hearts. So how do you describe it if asked? “It is either showing hearts or is a weak take-out in diamonds” seems clear enough. You must not announce “Hearts” (you should alert it) nor describe it as a Transfer. If the next player held six hearts he might be seriously misled if told it is a Transfer and will probably pass believing his partner to have a void heart. Similarly players who play a 2NT response to 1NT as sign-off in either clubs or diamonds must not use the word “Transfer”.

What is “Benji”, or Benjamin to give it its correct name? It is a method of being able to show an old-fashioned Acol 2♣ and an eight plus playing trick hand and weak twos. You can have Reverse Benjamin (2♣ and 2♦ are reversed) or even Upside Down Benjamin (2♥ and 2♠ are Acol, 2♦ is

David Stevenson answers your Frequently Asked Questions

Correct Names

SET 1 1 Ruffing for Extra Tricks

2 Competitive Auctions

3 Making the Most of High Cards

4 Identifying & Bidding Slams

5 Play & Defence of 1NT Contracts

6 Doubling & Defence against Doubled Contracts

SET 2 7 Leads

8 Losing Trick Count

9 Making a Plan as Declarer

10 Responding to 1NT

11 Signals & Discards

12 Endplay

SET 3 13 Hand Evaluation

14 Pre-Emptive Bidding

15 Splinter & Cue Bids

16 Avoidance Play

17 Play & Defence at Pairs

18 Thinking Defence

BERNARD MAGEE

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David Stevenson answers your Frequently Asked Questions

Correct Names

the Acol 2♣, and 2♣ shows a weak two in a major). But they all are able to show the eight playing trick hand, which is the basis of Benjamin. Players who play weak twos in other ways, for example with the Multi or they play three weak twos, sometimes referred to their two bids as Benjamin. But this is confusing and wrong. Note that a Benjamin 2♣ is expected to show a strong hand of 16 points or more. If you play it as possibly weaker within the new EBU rules you should describe it as “Benjamin, may be weaker with distribution”.

Let us look at defensive carding. Under signals a pair puts natural, or they say “Natural” in answer to a question. What does this mean? Either they play high-low to encourage, or they play high-low to show an even number. Annoyingly people who play it either way call it “Natural” as a result of which the EBU has very sensibly banned the term. The correct terms are “Standard Attitude” or “Standard Count”. Why Standard? Some people reverse the meaning so that high-low discourages or shows an odd number, so then they call their method “Reverse Attitude” or “Reverse Count”. This also applies to Discards.

Suit preference signals are often played where a high card asks for the higher suit, usually in ruffing situations. They are also played as Discards. They are called Lavinthal after the American inventor, or McKenney after another American who popularised them, or even McKinney by people who cannot spell! At least there is no ambiguity in the way they are played.

Another area where names are misleading is in defence to 1NT. There are various defences that use 2♣ and 2♦ bids such as Landy, Asptro

and so forth. Let us consider Asptro. 2♣ shows hearts and another suit. Supposing a player bids 2♣ and over a fairly negative 2♦ or over 2♥ rebids 3♣. What has he got? An expert will have hearts and clubs. But less experienced players often have clubs only: they bid 2♣ because they do not know what else to do and then rebid 3♣. It is perfectly legal to play 2♣ as either hearts and another suit or just clubs, but it is not Asptro and should not be described as Asptro: just say “Shows hearts and another suit or just clubs”. An Asptro 2♣ guarantees hearts.

There are four different conventions called Blackwood, Key Card Blackwood, Roman Blackwood and Roman Key Card Blackwood. The second and third are now rare in some circles but some people still play and teach them. Blackwood asks for aces, 0 or 4, 1, 2, 3. Key Card Blackwood includes the king of trumps, 0 or 4, 1 or 5, 2, 3. Roman Blackwood specifies which two aces if there are two, 0 or 3, 1 or 4, 2 of the same colour or rank, 2 other. Roman Key Card Blackwood, as the name suggests, is a mixture of Roman and Key Card Blackwood, including the king of trumps and the queen as well, 0 or 3, 1 or 4, 2 or 5 without the queen, 2 or 5 with the queen. When you ask what a 4NT bid means you are entitled to a correct answer. Sadly, people playing Roman Key Card Blackwood can be quite casual, saying “Blackwood”, “Key Card Blackwood”, “Roman Blackwood” or even just “asking for aces”.

I have only dealt with the more common cases but the moral is clear: if you use a name, make sure you use it correctly and make sure it is not ambiguous. Opponents have an absolute right to know what you are playing. n

SET 4 19 Defensive Plan

20 Further into the Auction

21 Weak Twos

22 Trump Control

23 Sacrificing

24 Improving Bridge Memory

SET 5 25 Defence as Partner

of the Leader

26 Aggressive Bidding at Duplicate Pairs

27 Strong Opening Bids

28 Take-Out Doubles

29 Suit Establishment in Suit Contracts

30 Landy / Defending Against a 1NT Opening

SET 6 31 Counting Defence

32 Extra Tricks in No-Trumps

33 Supporting Partner

34 Finessing

35 Bidding Distributional Hands

36 Coping with Pre-Empts

BERNARD MAGEE

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Answers to Julian Pottage’s Defence Quiz on page 13

1. ♠ A K 6 5

♥ K 10 5

♦ A K 7 3

♣ Q 4

♠ Q 7 2 ♠ 10 8 4 3

♥ 8 7 3 2 ♥ A Q 6

♦ Q J 6 ♦ 10 5 2

♣ A 8 7 ♣ 9 6 2

♠ J 9

♥ J 9 4

♦ 9 8 4

♣ K J 10 5 3


1♠ Pass 1NT

Pass 3NT All Pass

You lead the ♥7. East plays the ♥Q, ♥A and a third round, all following. Now the ♣Q goes to the ♣2 and ♣3. What do you do?

In a no-trump contract you know that the ♣A is not going to run away. You should also know from how few points were missing that the ♣K is on your right. Your opponent will make at least one club trick whatever you do. If you hold up the ♣A, maybe it will be just the one. You take the second club, cash the long heart and exit safely with the ♦Q. (If you are very confident from partner’s signal who has the ♦10, you will then unblock the ♦J to allow partner to win the third diamond, possibly getting a second undertrick.)

2. ♠ A K Q

♥ Q J 10

♦ K J 9 8 3

♣ Q 4

♠ 9 7 6 ♠ 10 8 5 3

♥ A 9 3 ♥ 8 6 5 2

♦ A 10 7 5 ♦ 2

♣ A 10 7 ♣ K 8 6 2

♠ J 4 2

♥ K 7 4

♦ Q 6 4

♣ J 9 5 3

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1♦ Pass 1NT

Pass 3NT All Pass

You lead the ♠7: ♠Q, ♠8 and ♠2. At trick two, dummy leads the ♦K, on which go the ♦2 and ♦4. What is your plan?

You cannot completely shut out the diamonds because dummy has plenty of entries. What you might manage is to stop declarer from getting to hand to finesse against your ♦10 (you expect partner to show out on the second round, exposing the position). You let the ♦K hold and capture the ♦Q with the ♦A on the second round, noting that partner discards the ♥2. Continuing the good work you play a second spade and later duck the ♥Q to stop the ♥K from becoming an entry. (You would also duck the ♣Q if you thought declarer had the ♣K.) Patience can be a virtue!

3. ♠ Q J 10 7 5

♥ Q 9

♦ A K 7 3

♣ J 4

♠ A 9 6 ♠ 8 3

♥ J 10 8 6 3 ♥ A 7 5 2

♦ 10 8 ♦ Q 6 5

♣ A 8 7 ♣ 9 6 5 2

♠ K 4 2

♥ K 4

♦ J 9 4 2

♣ K Q 10 3


1NT1


Pass 3♦ Pass 4♠

All Pass1 12-142 5+ spades

You lead the ♥J: ♥9, ♥7 and ♥K. Declarer crosses to the ♠Q and leads the ♣J, on which go the ♣6 and ♣3. What is your plan?

The encouraging ♥7 at trick one means

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you place the ♥A opposite and most of the other high cards on your right, something partner’s seeming inability to cover the ♣J confirms.

You wait until the second round to take the ♣A and next play a heart. Partner wins that and has a safe exit with a trump. You then play the ♠A on the same trick as the ♠K appears, thereby keeping declarer out of hand.

4. ♠ A K Q 10 6

♥ K 9 5 3

♦ J 9

♣ 8 4

♠ 8 5 4 ♠ 9 2

♥ A J 2 ♥ 10 7 6

♦ Q 10 8 6 ♦ K 7 5 3 2

♣ A J 7 ♣ 10 6 2

♠ J 7 3

♥ Q 8 4

♦ A 4

♣ K Q 9 5 3


1NT1


Pass 3♥ Pass 4♠

All Pass1 12-14 2 5+ spades

You lead the ♦6, which goes to the ♦9, ♦K and ♦A. Declarer leads the ♠3 to the ♠Q and then the ♣4 back to the ♣K, East playing a two each time. What is your plan?

Since you hold the ♣J, do you think there is no point in holding up? Spades are trumps and, if South has ♣K-Q-x-x-x, a single ruff will set up the suit. This is a likely holding if you take partner’s ♣2 as showing on odd number of clubs. You duck the first club. Later you capture the ♣Q with the ♣A, cash the ♦Q and exit with a trump. Declarer will take the third trump in hand and ruff a club, hoping that the ♥Q is an entry. You will time when you play the ♥A to ensure it is not.n

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1. ♠ K 7 6

♥ A Q J 2

♦ 10 9 5

♣ K 6 2

♠ Q J 10 8 4 ♠ 9 5 3

♥ 8 3 ♥ K 7 6 4

♦ A 7 3 2 ♦ 8 4

♣ J 9 ♣ Q 10 8 5

♠ A 2

♥ 10 9 5

♦ K Q J 6

♣ A 7 4 3

You are declarer in 3NT and West leads the ♠Q. How do you plan the play?

It looks as though you have an abundance of tricks one way or another but you have to be a little careful in how you tackle the red suits. Suppose you take a heart finesse after taking the ace of spades but it loses and East returns a spade. Then if it is West who can win the ace of diamonds it is possible that he will have enough winning spades to defeat you. So play on diamonds first. Duck the anticipated spade return, win the continuation and now take the heart finesse. If it loses it is highly likely that East will be out of spades or the suit originally broke 4-4. Either way you have made your contract.

2. ♠ A 8 7 5 4

♥ A 10 2

♦ 8 5 4

♣ Q 5

♠ K J ♠ Q 10 6 3

♥ 8 4 3 ♥ 6

♦ J 9 7 2 ♦ Q 10 3

♣ J 10 8 7 ♣ 9 6 4 3 2

♠ 9 2

♥ K Q J 9 7 5

♦ A K 6

♣ A K

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You are declarer in 6♥ and West leads the ♣J. How do you plan the play?

The reality is that the twelfth trick can only come from the spade suit and for that to happen you need spades to break no worse than 4-2. Win the lead and duck a spade. After winning the return play a spade to the ace and ruff a spade high. If the spades broke 3-3 all you need do is to draw trumps ending in dummy and claim. If there is still a spade extant however you will need to re-enter dummy and repeat the process. Note that you mustn’t touch trumps prematurely yourself or a mean defender might play a second one when in with the spade and you would find yourself short of entries to dummy.

3. ♠ 10 6 5

♥ 7 6 4

♦ J 6

♣ A K Q 7 4

♠ A 7 ♠ K Q 9 4

♥ J 9 8 3 ♥ K 10 5

♦ Q 10 8 7 2 ♦ 9 5

♣ 10 2 ♣ J 9 8 5

♠ J 8 3 2

♥ A Q 2

♦ A K 4 3

♣ 6 3

You are declarer in 3NT. West leads the ♦7. How do you plan the play?

If you believe that West has led his fourth best diamond, it is odds on that he will have the queen because the Rule of Eleven tells you that East only has one card higher than the seven – and if it was the queen, West would have a suit headed by the 1098 and would surely have led the ten. When the jack in dummy wins, you need to know how many club tricks you need, so take the heart finesse at trick two. If it wins you can afford to duck a club to cater for a 4-2 club split, but if

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it loses you will need clubs to break 3-3.If East covers the ♦J (the lead being

second highest from a poor suit), you will need the heart finesse to work and clubs to break 3-3.

4. ♠ J 6 5

♥ 7 6 4

♦ A 7 3

♣ A Q 5 3

♠ A K 7 4 3 ♠ Q 10 8

♥ J 5 ♥ K 9

♦ J 8 ♦ 10 9 5 4 2

♣ 10 8 7 4 ♣ K 9 6

♠ 9 2

♥ A Q 10 8 3 2

♦ K Q 6

♣ J 2

You are declarer in 4♥ after West has overcalled in spades. West leads three rounds of spades with East following. How do you plan the play?

This problem is very like the last in many ways in that you need to make a play in one suit in order to determine how to play another. After ruffing the third round of spades take an immediate club finesse, because you need to know whether you can afford to lose a trump or not. If the club finesse fails you will need to find trumps 2-2 with the king onside, while if the club finesse works you can afford to lay down the ace of trumps first, to cater for a singleton king in the West hand. n

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Answers to David Huggett’s Play Quiz on page 15

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♠ A J 10

♥ A Q 8 4 3

♦ Q J 2

♣ Q 6

♠ Q 9 8 4 2 ♠ 7 5

♥ 5 ♥ K 9 7 6 2

♦ 9 8 3 ♦ 7 6 5

♣ 9 5 4 2 ♣ K J 3

♠ K 6 3

♥ J 10

♦ A K 10 4

♣ A 10 8 7

Thor-Erik took the ♣A, because he expected to have twelve tricks if the hearts were no worse than 4-2.

The effect of playing back the ♣J was:

(a) It made declarer make a decision earlier than he wanted to;

(b) It induced him to consume an entry in his hand, perhaps when it was inconvenient;

(c) It now meant that East could not be squeezed.

The ending, on the switch to the ♣J taken by the ace:

♠ A

♥ A Q 8

♦ —

♣ —

♠ Q ♠ —

♥ — ♥ 9 7 6

♦ — ♦ —

♣ 9 5 4 ♣ K

♠ 3

♥ —

♦ —

♣ 10 8 7

East can discard the ♣K on the ♠A as there is no entry back to hand.

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Put yourself in Gunnar Hallberg’s position, for this rubber bridge deal, from the big game at TGR.

Dealer South. Game All.

♠ A J 10

♥ A Q 8 4 3

♦ Q J 2

♣ Q 6

♠ 7 5

♥ K 9 7 6 2

♦ 7 6 5

♣ K J 3


Robert Artur Gunnar Thor-Erik

Sheehan Malinowski Hallberg Hoftaniska

1NT

Pass 3♥ Pass 3NT

Pass 4NT Pass 6NT

All pass

Thor-Erik opened a strong no-trump (15-17). Artur, manager of the club, jumped to 3♥. In rubber bridge this call is initially forcing with 5 or more hearts. Thor-Erik signed off in 3NT. Next came 4NT; this is a quantitative bid, asking partner to bid 6NT holding a maximum. Which the tall good-looking unshaven Nordic duly did.

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Gunnar’s Good Switch by Robert Sheehan

Rubber Bridge

Sitting West, I led the ♦8. Declarer won that in hand with his ♦K. He then ran the ♥J.

Gunnar recognised that this was not a moment to duck. Why? Because declarer does not know yet that he has only three heart tricks, because of the 1-5 break.

In no time at all, Gunnar placed South with the outstanding high cards, and recognised that after six tricks have been taken in diamonds and spades, his hand would be:

♠ —

♥ 9 7 6 2

♦ —

♣ K J

It was quite likely that South had a seventh trick to cash in those suits (after all, all he needed to have was either 4 spades or 4 diamonds), in which case he would be squeezed in hearts and clubs if declarer held the ♣10.

So at trick three, having won the ♥K, he played the suit that put declarer on the spot: a club. The card he chose was the ♣J.

Let’s look at the full deal now:

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This article is part of an occasional

series written by guest authors

Thor-Erik Hoftaniska. Photo by Peter Hasenson


Now contrast with the ending if Gunnar had returned a “safe” diamond at trick 3:

♠ A

♥ A Q 8

♦ —

♣ Q

♠ Q ♠ —

♥ — ♥ 9 7 6

♦ — ♦ —

♣ 9 5 4 2 ♣ K J

♠ 3

♥ —

♦ —

♣ A 10 8 7

This time the ♠A squeezes East: if he throws a club, declarer can take two hearts and two clubs. Some further instructive points to this deal:

1. Thor-Erik accepted the slam try because, even though he had just 15 HCP, his holding of J-10 opposite partner’s known five-card suit was gold dust, his other high cards were aces and kings and he had attractive tens in his own long suits. His judgement to treat his hand as a maximum was impeccable.

2. Thor-Erik would be able to locate the ♠Q because the odds favoured his LHO having the card, once he knows the layout of the heart suit.

3. Why did Gunnar play the ♣J? He was trying to persuade declarer that he did not have ♣K.

If your clubs were ♣J-x-x, what would you switch to? n

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Artur Malinowski was born in Poland, moved to Norway and then England where he is now a full-time bridge professional. He won silver medals at the 2007 European Pairs, and the 2008 World Mind Sport Games (representing the England Open team). He says “I am fairly fluent in seven languages, and I sport a proud Polish accent in all of them. This is not a problem in England, where people are tolerant, and it is this tolerance that, to me, represents the major charm of this country.”

Photo by Peter Hasenson

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Where did we go wrong?

This slam deal, sent in by Clive Nussey, caused problems in a duplicate at Stowmarket Bridge Club:

♠ A 2

♥ Q

♦ J 9 8 3

♣ A K Q 10 9 8

♠ 10 8 6 3 ♠ K Q J 9 7 5

♥ 8 6 ♥ 10 9 5 4

♦ K 7 6 4 2 ♦ Q

♣ 5 3 ♣ 7 6

♠ 4

♥ A K J 7 3 2

♦ A 10 5

♣ J 4 2

With North/South only vulnerable there was some barrage from East/West. I was asked, firstly, how the bidding should go if East opened 2♠ and West bid 3♠ over South’s 3♥. I think this is relatively straightforward:


2♠ 3♥

3♠ 4♣ Pass 4♠

Pass 4NT Pass 5♥

Pass 7♣ All Pass

Here North has an easy 4♣ bid and South, with a good hand in support of clubs, can bid 4♠ to show his control. This is enough for North to use Roman Key Card Blackwood and bid the grand slam.

It is harder if West bids 4♠, either after a 2♠ opening, or after a more aggressive 3♠ opening. Here North might easily give up and just bid 6♣. However, it wouldn’t be ridiculous for him to take a pot at the grand slam. He has a very good hand facing a partner who has overcalled at unfavourable vulnerability.

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Sally’s Slam Clinic

Sally Brock Looks At Your Slam Bidding

Slam of the month

Gad Chadha sent in this hand on which he thought his partner, Mary Oury, did particularly well:

♠ Q 10 ♠ A K 8 7 3

♥ A K J 7 4 ♥ 9 8

♦ A 4 ♦ 9

♣ J 7 6 5 ♣ A K Q 4 3

This was their auction:


1♥ 2♦ 2♠ Pass

3♣ Pass 3♦ Pass

3♠ Pass 4NT Pass

5♠ Pass 5NT Pass

6♦ Pass 7♣ All Pass

The key to this deal was West’s fine 3♠ bid over East’s 3♦ cue-bid – many would have preferred 3NT to show the stopper. That enabled East to wheel out Roman Key Card Blackwood agreeing spades, so he found out about the ♠Q as well as the other two aces. It did not matter which king his partner held (though it surely was the ♥K), as he could be sure the grand slam in clubs was an excellent contract. ■

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1 At love all how should East continue with these hands?


1♥ Dbl ?


♠ 4 2 ♠ 4 2 ♠ 4 2

♥ K 7 6 2 ♥ K 7 6 2 ♥ K 7 6 2

♦ 9 8 3 2 ♦ A 8 7 2 ♦ A Q J 2

♣ 10 6 5 ♣ 10 6 5 ♣ 10 6 5

Hand D Hand E Hand F

♠ 4 2 ♠ A J 8 ♠ 7 4 3 2

♥ K 7 6 2 ♥ K 7 6 ♥ K 7 6

♦ A K 7 2 ♦ 6 4 3 2 ♦ 6 4 3

♣ Q J 7 ♣ 9 4 3 ♣ A J 6

Hand G Hand H Hand J

♠ 7 4 ♠ A Q 10 5 ♠ K Q J 6 5 4

♥ K 7 6 ♥ 6 ♥ 6

♦ 6 4 3 2 ♦ 9 8 4 ♦ 8 6 3

♣ A 4 3 2 ♣ A J 7 5 4 ♣ A 5 3

Hand A 2♥. Bid one more after the double.

Hand B 3♥. Bid one more after the double.

Hand C 2NT. At least a good raise to 3♥. If opener now bids 3♥ you should pass.

Hand D 2NT. At least a good raise to 3♥. This time intending to raise 3♥ to 4♥.

Hand E 1NT. Still 6-9 points after the double.

Hand F 1NT. The spades are too weak to introduce after the double.

Hand G 2♥. This time three-card support and a side suit doubleton.

Hand H Redouble. You will double a black suit and will be happy if partner can double diamonds.

Hand J 1♠. Natural and forcing.

2 With E/W vulnerable how should South continue with these hands?


1♥ Dbl Redbl ?


♠ Q 5 4 ♠ Q 6 4 3 ♠ Q J 10 7 4 2

♥ 9 5 2 ♥ 9 5 2 ♥ 9 5 2

♦ 9 6 4 3 ♦ 8 5 4 ♦ 8 5

♣ Q 10 3 ♣ Q 10 3 ♣ 10 3

Hand A Pass. Let partner choose the escape.

Hand B 1♠. This time you can choose a four-card suit at the one level.

Hand C 2♠. Pre-emptive.


Auction (i)


1♥ Dbl Redbl 2♣

?

Auction (ii)


1♥ Dbl Redbl Pass

?


♠ Q 2 ♠ Q 3 2 ♠ 3

♥ A Q 6 4 3 ♥ A Q 6 4 3 ♥ A Q J 6 3 2

♦ 9 5 ♦ A K 7 ♦ Q J 10 6 3

♣ K J 10 3 ♣ 7 2 ♣ 7

Partner is hoping that the auction will end with a penalty double.Hand A (i) Dbl. (ii) Pass. See which suit they try

to escape into.Hand B (i) Pass. You cannot double

clubs. Maybe partner can. (ii) Pass. Wait for their escape.Hand C (i) 2♦. You are not interested

in a penalty double of a black suit even if partner is scenting blood. 2♦ suggests a weak, shapely hand.

(ii) 2♦.

4 At game all how should East continue with these hands?

Answers to Take-Out Doubles Part 2 Quiz on page 11


1♥ Dbl Redbl 2♣

Pass Pass ?


♠ J 5 3 ♠ A J 10 9 ♠ A J 9

♥ 5 ♥ 5 ♥ 5 3 2

♦ K Q 5 3 2 ♦ K Q 5 3 2 ♦ K Q 10 9

♣ A J 10 9 ♣ J 5 3 ♣ 8 5 3

Hand A Dbl. For penalties.Hand B 2♦. Forcing, just like 1♥ 2♦

would have been. You cannot double 2♣, but you are not allowed to pass.

Hand C 2♥. Your redouble denied four hearts. This suggests three hearts and a minimum redouble.


Auction (i)


1♠ Dbl 2NT Pass

?

Auction (ii)


1♠ Dbl 3♠ Pass

?


♠ A Q 6 5 3 ♠ A Q 6 5 3 ♠ A Q 6 5 3

♥ 7 3 2 ♥ 7 3 2 ♥ K 3 2

♦ K Q 10 ♦ K Q 10 ♦ A Q 10

♣ 8 2 ♣ A 3 ♣ A 3

In Auction (i) East is showing a good raise to 3♠ or better. In Auction (ii) East has bid pre-emptively. He has a normal four-card raise to 2♠.Hand A (i) 3♠. Minimum opening. (ii) Pass.Hand B (i) 4♠. (ii) Pass.Hand C (i) 4♣. A cue bid in case

partner is interested in a slam.

(ii) 4♠. ■


Robin Hood’s Bridge Adventures by David Bird

Robin Hood’s Clever Tactic

On the last round of the teams-of-four championship in the Baron of Beef alehouse, Robin

Hood could not believe his eyes when he saw who their opponents would be. Feebly disguised as a commoner, in worn peasant’s costume, was none other than Sir Guy of Gisborne. He was partnered by some unknown middle-aged woman.

‘Pretend we haven’t recognised him,’ Robin Hood instructed his team mates. ‘I’m looking forward to this match.’

For just a moment, Gisborne’s mouth fell open when Robin and Nazir took their seats at his table. These were the outlaws he had been trying to capture for many months.

This was an early board.

Dealer South. Love All.

♠ 10 5 2

♥ A 6 5

♦ 5 3

♣ 10 8 7 5 2

♠ K 8 7 ♠ Q 9 6 4 3

♥ J 10 9 8 4 ♥ 7 2

♦ J ♦ Q 10 9 8 6

♣ A Q 9 6 ♣ 3

♠ A J

♥ K Q 3

♦ A K 7 4 2

♣ K J 4


Robin Meg Nazir Guy of

Hood Tursop Gisborne

2NT

Pass 3NT All Pass

Robin Hood led the ♥J against 3NT. Nazir played a discouraging ♥2 and

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Gisborne won with the king. He could see six top tricks, so three more tricks from the club suit would give him an easy game. It would be an excellent start to the match.

At trick 2 Gisborne led the ♣K. Placing him with the ♥Q after Nazir’s ♥2 on the first trick, Hood saw no future in winning the first club and trying to establish the hearts in one more round. He held off the ace.

Gisborne next led the ♣J, tossing the card slightly to his left to encourage his opponent to take the trick.

It was clear to Robin Hood what would happen if he did. Declarer would win the next heart with the queen and lead a third round of clubs towards dummy’s 10. He would then score three tricks in the suit. Once again, Robin Hood played a low club, retaining his ace-queen.

Looking none too pleased at this development, Gisborne sat back in his chair. Hood had obviously been hoodwinked by his clever disguise, but it seemed he knew a fair bit about defending a bridge hand.

Gisborne switched tack, ducking a diamond. Hood won with the ♦J and played another heart. When the diamonds broke 5-1, Gisborne had no way to turn. He was one down.

‘I had an ace and two tens,’ reprimanded Meg Tursop, whose capacious rust-coloured dress had seen better days. ‘That should be enough opposite a 2NT opener. Did you have your bid?’

If anyone had spoken to him in such tones back at Nottingham Castle, Gisborne would have hit the roof. In the present circumstances, he would have to restrain himself. ‘All the suits broke badly, Meg,’ he replied. ‘There

was nothing I could do.’Meg Tursop had not watched the

play. ‘Couldn’t you set up dummy’s long suit?’ she persisted. ‘That normally works.’

Gisborne ignored her comment and turned towards Robin Hood. ‘Are you from these parts?’ he enquired. ‘A nearby village, yes,’ Hood replied. ‘Little Tundringham. You know it?’

‘I can’t say I do,’ Gisborne replied.‘And you?’ asked Robin Hood. ‘I

haven’t seen you before. What’s your name?’

Gisborne could not believe what he was witnessing. How could this thieving villain, with a huge price on his head, be so gullible as not to recognise him? ‘Joseph Farre from Nottingham town,’ Gisborne replied. ‘My wife and I live in the northern outskirts, quite a rough area.’

‘So, I’ve heard,’ said Hood. ‘It’s a pity the castle’s soldiery can’t keep order a bit better.’

At the other table, Little John and Friar Tuck faced Gisborne’s team-mates, two local farmers. This was the deal before them.

Dealer North. Game All.

♠ J 8 6 2

♥ Q 2

♦ A K

♣ A Q 6 3 2

♠ 9 ♠ K Q 10 5 4 3

♥ 9 8 6 ♥ 4

♦ 9 8 7 6 2 ♦ Q J 10 5

♣ J 9 8 4 ♣ K 10

♠ A 7

♥ A K J 10 7 5 3

♦ 4 3

♣ 7 5

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George Little Haryld Friar

Platt John Combes Tuck

1♣ 1♠ 2♥

Pass 3NT Pass 6♥

All Pass

The red-faced George Platt led the ♠9 against the slam. ‘Don’t believe in hangin’ around, do you?’ he said. ‘Do you not play the Richmond 4NT ace enquiry? It only takes a few seconds. Better than bidding a slam with two aces missing.’

‘We bid the cards as we see them,’ Friar Tuck replied. ‘Jack please.’ He won East’s ♠Q with the ace and drew trumps in three rounds. His next move was to play the ♠7 from hand. West discarded a diamond and East won with the ♠10.

Friar Tuck won the diamond return and was then able to lead the ♠8 for a ruffing finesse. Haryld Combes blinked unhappily at this development and eventually covered with the king, hoping that declarer had lost track of the spade spot-cards.

It was not to be. Friar Tuck ruffed in his hand and returned to dummy to throw his potential club loser on the established ♠6. ‘There you are,’ he said. ‘The Richmond 4NT wouldn’t have made any difference.

Combes looked across the table at his partner. ‘What would have made a

difference was a club opening lead,’ he informed him. ‘Sets up my king before he can discard his club loser.’

Friar Tuck could see that a club lead would make no difference. He could easily have established the ♣Q for a spade discard. ‘It was a lucky one for us, partner,’ he said. ‘A club lead and I’m sunk.’

Back at the other table, the players had drawn these cards:


♠ J 7 5

♥ 8 5 3

♦ A K 9 7 5

♣ 6 3

♠ 10 6 2 ♠ 9 8 4 3

♥ J 7 ♥ Q 10 9 6 4

♦ Q 4 3 ♦ J 10 2

♣ A K Q 10 9 ♣ 4

♠ A K Q

♥ A K 2

♦ 8 6

♣ J 8 7 5 2


Robin Meg Nazir Guy of

Hood Tursop Gisborne

1NT

Pass 3NT All Pass

With high hopes of scoring five club tricks, Hood led the ♣A. Nazir

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followed to the first round but showed out when the ♣K was played. Hood paused to re-assess the situation. How should he continue?

Few players would have found the answer, but at trick 3 the outlaw continued with the ♣10. Gisborne threw a heart from dummy and won with the jack. The local populace seemed to look up to Robin Hood, almost as if he were some sort of god. How absurd! Not only had he failed to recognise one of the shire’s most eminent soldiers, he had also offered an entirely weird defence against this 3NT contract.

Gisborne now had eight top tricks. If the diamonds were 3-3, he could maybe duck a round into the safe East hand and end with an overtrick.

Gisborne led the ♦6 and Robin Hood played the ♦Q in second seat. His intention was to prevent declarer from ducking the trick into Nazir’s hand.

The appearance of West’s diamond honour was entirely unwelcome, as far as Gisborne was concerned. He understood why Hood had set up a fourth club trick for himself. Declarer could not now afford to let West’s ♦Q win the first round.

The game could no longer be made. Gisborne took his top eight tricks and conceded one down.

‘Was I not entitled to bid 3NT?’ demanded Meg Tursop. ‘I added a point for my good diamonds.’

She turned towards Robin Hood. ‘I didn’t watch the play,’ she said. ‘Did the diamonds break badly?’

‘They were 3-3,’ Hood replied. Meg Tursop raised her eyes to the

ceiling. ‘I normally play with a much better partner,’ she declared. ‘Munwys Glasson. She would have made it easily.’

Hood shook his head. ‘There was no way Gisborne could make it,’ he said. ‘Not the way we defended.’

Gisborne sat upright in his chair. ‘By the Saints!’ he exclaimed. ‘You knew who I was all the time?’

Hood laughed. ‘At the very first glance in your direction,’ he replied. ‘I didn’t want you taking flight prematurely. We needed a good final match to make sure we won the event.’ n


QI note in an EBU article on slow play that it states

if a table is behind all the others, the TD can, of course, remove a board and award an average – adjusted if appropriate – but a board should not be removed once it has been started.

There seems to be a difference of opinion in our club as to when the hand starts. Can you clarify exactly when it starts and therefore cannot be removed? If possible please indicate where we can see this written in an EBU publication.Peter McWhirter by email.

A Law 17A says that the auction period starts for a side when either

partner takes his hand from the board. So the moment any player takes his hand from the board in theory the board has started. In practice directors tend to bend this law a little, removing a board if necessary so long as no call has been made.

♣♦♥♠

QLast week there was a minor infringment at our

club. A thought occurred to me which I would be interested to hear your comments on. The bidding

went as follows, me sitting South, and dealing.


1♠

Dbl Pass 3♥ Pass

3♥!

My partner says this is insufficient and accepts the correction to 4♥ without the director being called. 4♥ was an easy make.

Let us change the situation slightly. Suppose my partner accepts the insufficient bid, and also suppose there is no doubt that RHO definitely had only minimum values for his jump to 3♥. Would RHO be allowed to bid 4♥, or would that be seen as using unauthorised information? In other words, the fact that his partner obviously wanted to bid 4♥ but under the rules was only allowed to bid 3♥.

If RHO is not allowed to correct to 4♥ this would be a strong reason to accept insuf-ficient bids, when not accept-ing the bid would mean the opponents bidding a game which you think has a good chance of making.

Law 27D does not seem to cover this situation.Ian Van Maanen by email.

A If your partner accepts 3♥ then he has made the

bid legal and there is no unauthorised information.

The partner of the 3♥ bidder can make any deductions he likes from the sequence.

It might be different if the 3♥ bidder said something unnecessary, as players are wont to do. He might say “I meant to bid 4♥” and then that is unauthorised information and the director will rule accordingly. But without such a comment his partner can make any deductions he likes.

♣♦♥♠

Q Please give your definitive ruling on the

following infraction:1NT – Pass – 2♦ (announced hearts) – Pass – Pass

Some directors at the friendly clubs at which I play say that opener’s pass can be changed as it was an unintended call (and partner has yet to bid); others say that it cannot because it was ‘a loss of concentration regarding the intent of the action’.

Although we are friendly, we do strive to give the correct rulings.Lesley Colligan by email.

A It is not possible to answer this without being there and

speaking to the player concerned. When he was

going to call did he intend to bid 2♥ but his hand went to the pass card? If so it may be changed. However if he was going to pass when he was going to call because of a loss of concentration then it cannot be changed. I think the loss of concentration more likely.

♣♦♥♠

Q The play went North 1 Club, East 3 Diamonds.

South commented “ ‘Stop 3 Diamonds’ it’s the rule.”

Is the opponent allowed to comment in this way or even remark asking if he meant to jump bid?Ron, Alton Bridge Club.

A You are allowed to draw attention to an irregularity and

making a jump bid without a Stop card is an irregularity. Of course you should also call the director but players often point such things out without the director.

Asking whether a player meant a jump bid seems wrong, however. You do not ask a player who made a bid if he meant a different bid. In some situations it could even provide unauthorised information to partner.

Article continues on page 44

David Stevenson Answers Your Bridge Questions

When Does a Hand Start?


1. Dealer West. Love All.

♠ A K 10 9 5 ♠ Q 8 4 2

♥ 4 2 ♥ 6 5

♦ K Q 2 ♦ A 8 7 5

♣ J 6 5 ♣ 9 4 3


?

1♠. Some might include a five-card major in their 1NT openers, but when the suit is spades and is this good, it makes little sense. 1♠ is just as pre-emptive as 1NT, but more importantly you find any spade fit you might have. Spades should be your favourite suit, so when you have five good spades, bid them.Some will ask what you choose to rebid if partner responds in a new suit – you simply rebid 2♠ happy to have a good five-card suit – after all, that is all the rebid of 2♠ promises.


♠ 4 2 ♠ 7 6 5

♥ A K 2 ♥ 9 8 6 5

♦ 7 6 4 ♦ A 8 5

♣ K Q J 6 5 ♣ A 4 2


?

1NT. This hand is a stark contrast to the first one – if you open 1♣ it is easy for the opponents to come in to the auction. This is why opening 1NT with these types of hands works well. The hope is that your opponents do not find

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their major suit fit and you either make 1NT or even go down, when they are able to make 2♠.You do not need stoppers in all the suits for a 1NT opening, just a balanced shape: you might lose the first five spade tricks in 1NT, but should make the rest.


♠ A J ♠ K 7 6 5

♥ A J ♥ K 10 4 2

♦ Q 8 7 3 ♦ J 10 6

♣ J 8 7 5 4 ♣ 3 2


?

1NT. Part of basic bidding is to remember to plan for your rebid. The normal opening bid with this hand would appear to be 1♣ – your longest suit. However, when your partner responds 1♥, what would you do next?A 2♦ rebid would be a strong bid – in a higher suit than you opened, it would be a reverse bid promising 16+ points. Your only choice would be to rebid 2♣, which does not look attractive.There are two other options: open 1♦ and plan to rebid 2♣, but this is a downright lie and will often result in playing in a 4-2 fit instead of a 5-3 fit. The best option is a small fib about your shape: with all your strength in your short majors, open 1NT. You are suggesting a balanced shape, but with your strength in your doubletons it is likely that the hand will play reasonably. n

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Answers to Bernard Magee’s Bidding Quizzes 1-3

on the Cover and page 7

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Continued from page 42.

Q Could you advise me on the following:

Dealer North. N/S Game.

♠ Q 9 6 3

♥ 9 8 7

♦ 9 7 6

♣ 10 9 8

♠ A K 7 5 2 ♠ J 10 8

♥ 10 6 5 3 ♥ A K Q 2

♦ A 2 ♦ K J 10 8

♣ 7 4 ♣ K 6

♠ 4

♥ J 4

♦ Q 5 4 3

♣ A Q J 5 3 2

Our bidding:


Pass 1NT 2♣

3NT Pass Pass Pass

2♣ explained by North as majors.3NT by East made.Declarer was surprised when South showed out on the second round of spades. If East had gone off in 3NT, would he have any redress because ofmisinformation? Am I correct in saying South is not allowed to explain that his bidding does not show the majors until the end of play?

If the bidding had gone:


Pass 1NT 2♣

Dbl 2♠ Dbl 3♣

Is South entitled to bid 3♣ or is he obliged to bid as if his 2♣ showing majors is correct?Huw Jones by email.

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A The director has to decide what the correct explanation is.

It is possible South forgot that they play 2♣ as the majors and East would have had no redress if 3NT had gone off since mistaken bids are just bridge.

Alternatively North forgot that 2♣ showed was natural in which case the director might adjust to 4♥ or 4♠ but neither is guaranteed to make: a weighted score would be suitable.

Unfortunately some players remember that 2♣ shows the majors and bid 2♣ anyway, assuming partner will understand if they rebid 3♣. That is more complicated and suggests their actual agreement is that it shows the majors or clubs. That is also a perfectly legal arrangement but the opponents must be told so and again the director would adjust as before.

If South bids 2♣ and after it is doubled and 2♠ is doubled he rebids 3♣, then he has unauthorised information that his partner has taken it as the majors, which suggests rebidding 3♣. But is pass of 2♠ a logical alternative?

It could be argued that with a singleton spade and six good clubs he will always bid 3♣.

The director should poll people, not telling them about the misinformation, just giving them the auction and assuming 2♣ was natural and see whether players pass 2♠ doubled: if some do then he adjusts to 2♠ doubled, but if practically no-one considers passing then 3♣ is allowed. n

E-mail your questions (including your postal address) for David to: [email protected]

2018 9-11 November £228

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8-10 November £264 Game Tries



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players will always be found a partner. The Mr Bridge Team will offer support during the set hand sessions, on the

seminar events, and make up the numbers in the duplicates, so there should never be a half table.

All rooms are ensuite, have tea & coffee making facilities and have free Wi-Fi. The venue has a lift.


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Answers to Bernard Magee’s

Bidding Quizzes 4-6


However, when you have 6-9 points you should look at your hand and consider which bid suits your hand better – surely 2♠ better describes your hand? With a high trump honour and an outside single-ton, 2♠ is a more appropriate description.

Even if you play in a 4-3 fit, a ruff in your hand would of-ten be worth an extra trick.

6. Dealer East. Love All.

♠ K 9 6 5 ♠ Void

♥ A 2 ♥ K Q 8 6 3

♦ A Q 10 6 5 4 ♦ K 9 8 7

♣ 4 ♣ A J 8 3


1♥ Pass

?

2♦. When you have a strong hand you should bid your hand as naturally as possible: showing your longest suit first.

With some weaker hands you bid a four-card major first, but here you bid your diamonds and can then follow up with spades later if necessary.

If you had chosen a 1♠ response partner would rebid 2♣ and reaching a diamond slam would be very difficult. Instead over your 2♦ bid, your partner will support right away. n


♠ 3 ♠ K Q 8 7 6

♥ A 8 6 4 ♥ K 9 3

♦ Q 6 ♦ A K 2

♣ J 8 7 6 5 4 ♣ 3 2


1♠ Pass

?

1NT. Two rules apply here: (1) With 6+ points you should respond.(2) You need 10 points to bid at the two-level.

Both these lead to the answer of 1NT: not strong enough to bid 2♣, but strong enough to respond.

A 2♣ response would push your partner to game – he would expect 10 points.Instead he will pass your 1NT response (6-9 points).


♠ A 4 2 ♠ K Q 8 7 6

♥ 6 ♥ K 9 3

♦ J 8 4 3 ♦ A K 2

♣ Q 9 8 7 5 ♣ 3 2


1♠ Pass

?

2♠. With 6-9 points you have two choices: 1NT or 2♠.

2♠ would usually show four card support because 1♠ only promises four cards.

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2018 9-11 November £218 Better Finessing Hosted by Michael Haytack

16-18 November £208Just Duplicate

For Festive events, see page 37

201918-20 January £208

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The Mr Bridge team will offer support during the set hands sessions, on the seminar events, and make up the numbers in

the duplicates, so there should never be a half table.

All rooms are ensuite, have tea & coffee making facilities and free Wi-Fi. The venue has a lift.

This charming rustic hotel is set in the beautiful countryside of Grantham in the heart of England. Comfortably furnished and tastefully decorated rooms, with a traditional bar, contemporary lounge, atmospheric restaurant, and health club altogether make for an idyllic retreat.

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Mr Bridge Holidays Croatia 2019

Rovinj is situated on the western coast of Istria in Croatia, boasting a rich natural and cultural heritage with beauti-ful landmarks such as the old town and the Golden Cape Park Forest. Rovinj has many loyal visitors and has de-veloped into a popular tourist destination. The climate is warm and semi-dry, with 134 sunny days in a year, Rovinj is the third sunniest spot in the Adriatic.

Hotel Eden is wedged right between a peninsula covered by a one hundred year old park forest and a quiet cove. The old city centre is just a 20 minute walk away.

Bridge:Land based holidays allow time for plenty of bridge, but there is also time to both visit the local area and just sit back and relax. Over the fortnight the bridge programme includes four seminar & set hands sessions, which gives you the opportunity to enhance your bridge skills, as well as duplicate bridge every evening. You can play as much or as little as you wish and the excursions* are fitted around the bridge programme to maximise your enjoyment.

Singles: There is a sole occupancy supplement of £12 per room per night. If you are a single bridge player please do not worry about being on your own. We will always be able to find you a partner so you can always have a game.

For an information pack and booking form

Mr Bridge on 01483 489961or visit www.mrbridge.co.uk

Half board only, including flights from Gatwick. Selected regional flights may be available at a supplement. Terms and conditions apply. These holidays have been organised for Mr Bridge by Great Little Escapes LLP,

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at Hotel Eden, Rovinj

4-18 May 2019 from £1499 per person sharing

4-11 May or one week from £1139 per person sharing

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20193-5 April £349

Better Finessing with Bernard Magee


Prices shown are per person sharing a twin or double bedroom, full board including tea & coffee during breaks and a welcome drinks party.

There is a single supplement at Two Bridges of £70, subject to availability. Single players will always be found a partner. The Mr Bridge Team will offer support during the set hand sessions and make up the numbers in the duplicates, so there should never be a half table. Room

upgrades may be available at a supplement.

All rooms are ensuite, have tea & coffee making facilities and have free Wi-Fi. The venue has a lift.

The Two Bridges Hotel is in the heart of Dartmoor National Park, perched on the banks of the beautiful West Dart River. Step inside and discover a warm Devon welcome, comfortable hotel rooms,

fine restaurant dining, characterful lounges and a bustling bar in beautiful historic surroundings.

The first seminar deals with situations that occur on every deal you play; learning to make the most of your high cards –

particularly leading low towards your high cards.

The second seminar is on a similar topic, but this time focussing on finesses of all different types. Leading up to two or more cards

and playing a lower card to try to gain an advantage.

Gourmet food at The Two BridgesThe Saturday evening meal consists of a five course tasting menu. Executive Chef Mike Palmer’s creative flair comes into its own with

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specialist and ales from their own Dartmoor Brewery.





♠ K 3 ♠ A 8 7 5

♥ J 10 9 6 5 ♥ Q 2

♦ K Q 10 ♦ A 8 7 5

♣ A J 10 ♣ 8 3 2


1♥ Pass 1♠ Pass

?

1NT. Some of you might have been thinking that you would have opened 1NT with this hand, but this West was a little bit more thoughtful. He evaluated his hand as 15 points so opened 1♥ and planned to rebid 1NT. You have 14 high card points, but three tens nestled with higher honours as well as the inner strength and length of your five-card suit should persuade you to upgrade the hand to a good 15 count.

Carrying your plan throughyou rebid 1NT and your partner raises to 3NT. Hopefully your tens will allow you to establish your hearts and make your game.


♠ K 2 ♠ A Q J 5

♥ A K 4 3 2 ♥ 7

♦ J 8 7 6 ♦ 9 4 3 2

♣ Q 2 ♣ J 8 4 3


1♥ Pass 1♠ Pass

?

2♦. A fundamental part of the Acol system is that when you rebid in a new suit, you suggest five cards in your

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first suit – this means you do not need to rebid 2♥ on this hand to show the 5-card suit. Clearly your hearts are much better than your diamonds, but length is strength as the saying goes.

Rebid 2♦: showing 5 hearts and 4+ diamonds and allow your partner to give preference. Here, he would probably pass 2♦ and the best fit is found.


♠ 7 6 3 ♠ A J 9 5

♥ A K J 6 5 4 ♥ 2

♦ K Q J ♦ 8 7 6

♣ 7 ♣ K 9 8 3 2


1♥ Pass 1♠ Pass

?

2♥. You have a strong six-card suit, but you have minimum strength for an opening bid, so you should not consider rebidding with a jump. Remember you can only get excited about a singleton once you find a fit. Although you can get excited about your heart length, the requirements for a jump rebid in your suit are: 16+ HCP and a six-card suit, so you are some distance short.

Your partner would leave you in 2♥ and you might scrape home. n

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The Mr Bridge team will offer support during the set hands sessions, on the seminar events, and make up the numbers

in the duplicates, so there should never be a half table. All rooms are ensuite, have tea & coffee making facilities and free Wi-Fi. The venue has a lift and is located in lovely Steyne

Gardens, close to the sea front. Garden view or sea view rooms may be available (sea view at a supplement). Books on bridge.

Gordon Bickley 07530553594

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♠ A 9 6 3 ♠ 2

♥ 5 4 3 ♥ A J 10 9 2

♦ Q 9 4 3 ♦ A J 8 2

♣ A 5 ♣ K 8 2


1♥ Pass

1♠ Pass 2♦ Pass

?

3♥. You have good support for diamonds, but more importantly you have three-card support for hearts as well. Your partner has promised five hearts so you should support the major rather than the minor. With 10 points and a double fit, you should jump to 3♥.

Your partner would push on to 4♥ and you reach an excellent game.


♠ A K 8 7 6 ♠ 5

♥ 4 2 ♥ A J 10 7 6

♦ K Q 3 ♦ A J 6 5

♣ J 6 5 ♣ A 4 2


1♥ Pass

1♠ Pass 2♦ Pass

?

3♣. Once again, your partner has shown 5 hearts and 4+ diamonds. You have 13 HCP so you want to play in game, but with not much support for partner’s two suits you would like to find out whether you do have a fit, if partner has three spades for example, or whether the partnership can play in no-trumps – requiring some strength in clubs in your partner’s hand.

You need a strong bid that forces

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your partner to bid and also asks these questions. Fourth Suit Forcing is the answer – using a bid in the fourth suit as an artificial forcing bid – asking your partner to make one more bid to describe his hand.

3♣ shows nothing in clubs, but simply says you are strong and are unsure of which contract your side should be in. East can show spade support if he has it, or bid no-trumps with something in clubs, as he will here.


♠ A 8 7 2 ♠ K 3

♥ K 4 3 ♥ A Q 9 7 6

♦ A 9 8 5 ♦ K Q 2

♣ 5 3 ♣ J 8 6


1♥ Pass

1♠ Pass 1NT Pass

?

3♥. Your partner has rebid 1NT which suggests 15-17 points. You have 11 points which means you want to play in a game contract. 3NT looks the obvious bid, but if your partner has five hearts, then 4♥ might be a better contract.

Jump to 3♥ to show your strength and heart support. Your partner will know that you do not hold four hearts, as you did not support right away.

Here, East will raise to 4♥ and the best game is found. n

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Spot cards often play a role in the play that was not obvious during the bidding.


♠ A 10 9

♥ 6 3

♦ Q 8 7 6 4

♣ A 7 2

♠ Q

♥ A 10

♦ A K J 10 9 5 3

♣ K 5 3


1♦

2♦ 2♠ Pass 4NT

Pass 5♠ Pass 5NT

Pass 6♦ All pass

South reaches 6♦ after trying for a grand. The 2♦ bid by West was Michaels, showing 5-5 in the majors. North’s 2♠ bid showed a limit raise or better in diamonds. If North had a good club hand he would have bid 2♥.

South asked for aces and then asked for kings. North denied a king and South chose to sign off in 6♦. Given the evidence, 7♦ was still possible if North had good clubs but South chose to give up on it. As it was, even 6♦ was not cold.

West leads the ♥K. You win with the ace and draw the one outstanding

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trump. East has it.Here are two questions for you.

1 If there had been no bidding, what are your chances of making 6♦?

2 Given that you learned something from the bidding, what are your chances of making 6♦?

The answers to these questions are:1 With no bidding, 6♦ is 50%.

Quibblers might say it is better than that, but it is fair to use 50% as close enough.

2 With the actual bidding, 6♦ is closer to 80%.

Last hint. The correct line is the same, regardless of whether you have opposition bidding or not.

How do you continue after drawing the trump?

One possible line is to ruff out the spades, cash the ♣A-K, and give West a heart trick. If he has no more clubs, he will have to give you a ruff and discard.

The problem is that West may have a club to cash or that East can win with the jack of hearts which will allow him to cash the setting club trick.

The key to this hand is to spot the spade spots in dummy.

Try this. Draw trump and lead the ♠Q. If

West plays low, finesse it. If West covers, lead the ♠10.

If East plays the jack, you ruff and discard a loser on the ♠9. If East does not cover, discard your heart. West can win but the ♠9 is now good for a club discard.

Basically, the slam is cold if West has the ♠K. With no clues from the bidding, West is about 50% to have it and with the actual bidding, he is even more likely to have it.

The complete deal:

♠ A 10 9

♥ 6 3

♦ Q 8 7 6 4

♣ A 7 2

♠ K J 8 7 5 ♠ 6 4 3 2

♥ K Q J 9 4 ♥ 8 7 5 2

♦ Void ♦ 2

♣ 10 6 4 ♣ Q J 9 8

♠ Q

♥ A 10

♦ A K J 10 9 5 3

♣ K 5 3

North probably looked more fondly at his ♦Q than he did at his ♠10 and ♠9.

He was wrong. ■

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Fireside Chats with Mike Lawrence

The Power of Spot CardsPart Six

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