Month: May 2008

Hi all

Here’s an interesting hand from Star.

11

1

???

1. Unbalanced with , or any balanced 15-19

A bidding problem in round one. What to do? I think it’s a fair assumption partner is holding a strong NT, so the fit is established. What bid do I have available to express my happiness about the lucky suit? And how do I cope with the expected heavy interference in ?

I don’t like 2, to me it shows values instead of shape, primarily looking for 3NT. I have great sympathy for a splinter 3, but I’m not sure if I bring enough tricks to bring home a NT contract. I decide to 4, showing my void and perfect fit. And I have canceled out all opposition with my brutal jump, I smile with confidence.

I have been too busy with my opponents I see. Hoek is gazing at his cards and he takes half a dozen moments and then some more. Finally he bids 5 and suddenly I get scared. Maybe I have overbid my hand, I hastily bid 6 and my confidence has just evaporated. I pray Hoek has a nice hand.

Hoek wasn’t holding a nice hand, he was holding a Superman-Batman-Spiderman-Hulk “OMG-I-cannot-dream-for-something-better” hand. When the trumps split friendly 6 was yawningly laydown, but we missed our best spot in 7. I don’t think Hoek is to blame for not forcing to the grand, his trump possession is just too thin. His 5 is a nice try, but I was too rigidly focused on the suit to think of anything else.

When I’m looking at the South hand now, I cannot imagine where I got my slam aspirations from. The grand is just unbiddable, I think.

Hi all

At the Dombo tournament last week my team performed solid. Martin and Hendrik bid a nice grand in just a couple of bids. We didn’t make any big mistakes (if I recall correctly) and with the slight breeze our way we finished up 8th out of 49 teams, just a few vip from the money. The guys from Apih had a strong gust of wind helping them, they outscored the rest by a fair margin.

Here’s a game with a lot of tricks for both sides.

1

2

4

5

5

pass1

pass

???

1. Forcing

We bid voluntarily to a vulnerable game, so Hoek’s pass is forcing. But what to do over 5? I don’t know if I’m right here, but Hoek surely would have doubled 5 had he held a lot of defensive power. And second, if I confidently bid slam, maybe they’ll save again. They sure have the vulnerability in their favour.

So 6 it is, I decide. My RHO doesn’t waste a second and returns to 6. Enough is enough, I double.

 

Though the penalty is just a meager +100, I’m glad I bid 6 over 5. For us it’s the polar express to 12 tricks and there’s no way we can defeat 5. A blistering total of 23 tricks combined. Martin and Hendrik were allowed to claim 11 in 5, so it was a double-digit gain for my team.

I’ll leave you with a picture from the Dombo tournament. It’s really my natural habitat, can’t you see?

Hi all

A couple of words on my holidays.

• Eating soup from a sourdough breadbowl in Fisherman’s Wharf / San Francisco, such delight
• Skiing in Colorado is magnificent; ultrawide slopes, groomed to perfection
• I broke my collarbone, fortunately there are no pictures of this event
• The Rosa-family, thanks for the stay and wonderful times
• Rocky Mountains national park
• I tried to park the car in the garage, but it had slipped my mind the door was still closed…

About bridge.

This partial is from an online competition, the BBO Intercity League. All vulnerable I open 3 and everybody is fine with that. LHO starts with a and dummy comes down.

East takes the trick with the King and switches to a for West’s Ace. I take the Queen and now I had my bright moment: I ruffed the third from dummy. I couldn’t go astray anymore, for this was the complete deal:

When East was in with the third round of trumps he was stripped from his safe exits and I didn’t need to find the Queen of myself. It didn’t gain much, but I’m still happy with my eye for detail on the right moment.