Jannes

Hi all

No money at Star yesterday. René had troubles with public transportation so he asked me to find a substitute 40 minutes before kickoff. Yikes!

@Remco: Thanks for playing on such short notice.

No real misunderstandings, but we just didn’t score much. Add the few disasters we encountered and the minus 30 imp has been explained.

Our opponents couldn’t get to the good slam. After a strong 1NT in South you have problems in describing your playing strength. I guess the most reasonable (natural) sequence to slam is something like this:

This is only playable if you also play transfers on the four-level. You need them for hands that are just worth game. Via a transfer on the two-level and then bid game like above is mildly slam going. South has a true fit + three Aces and should advance to the slam. Holding three keys I wouldn’t even ask for Aces. Have a little faith.

Now how would I bid this one with René? Probably something like this.

1. Stayman or GF relay
2. GF relay
3. No 5 card minor
4. relay
5. 3-3-3-4
6. relay
7. 3 Aces
8. This should have play, but you’d better not have that wasted Queen of trumps!

It’s so simple.

Hi all

There was this 3NT Wednesday that has been bugging me. Itch, back, you know what I mean. Taking nine seemed possible, I just couldn’t get to the solution. Here’s the full layout.

Our opponents had an undisturbed auction to 3NT. I could have interfered by bidding my , but my holding was so anemic I threw it away. Declarer didn’t have any trouble on a non lead. At the other table though, they did interfere with 1. And the lead ducked to the Ten to keep communication intact left Sjoerd in a very miserable position. Eventually leading to one trick short.

So what to do?
You should take the lead with the Ace, and play a towards the King. It doesn’t matter if East rises or not, so let’s assume he ducks. Now play a small to dummy and finesse the Ten (or duck if your psychic). East will again play a small (communication!), but you take it with your Queen and then exit with your remaining .

East has to take his two because it’s the last time he’s on lead. Now the spotlights go to West, what to discard on the next two ? One small is easy, but on the 5th West is squeezed in three suits.

West still has to find a discard. Impossible!

A or a is immediately fatal, so West discards a . East plays back a trying to disrupt communication, taken in hand. Now cross over to the Queen and cash the other high as well. You discard your remaining small and West is now caught in a criss-cross squeeze.

That’s nice, first your partner murders you with too many , then declarer shakes a criss-cross squeeze out of his sleeve. I think I would stop playing bridge if I couldn’t see the beauty of it.

I need to practice, then practice some more and then just for the fun of it even a little bit more. Because three days to formulate a winning plan isn’t exactly winning bridge.

Edit: 26-11-2006
Kees-Jan has pointed out there is no three suited suicide squeeze if East doesn’t take his 5th . So you’re still stuck on just eight tricks. There is a way, though, and that is being crystal ball psychic when touching , so small to the King and then ducked to the bare Ace. Now if West refuses to take all his , you have three tricks in , two in and the Ace of . The necessary tricks in can be developed safely.

Hi all

We scored 10 victory points yesterday against fair players from Culemborg. After the first twelve boards we were ahead by an incredible 7 whole imp. Then the second half started. René played a boring 3NT and all other boards were for our opponents. And these opponents were solid, I mean solid. With gentle touch they maneuvered every contract home. Even strong defensive carding they could handle. It’s so frustrating when you recognize you’ve lost all grip on the match.

I have a nice game where Sjoerd and Wim had a little success.

1. Splinter

Wim led the 2, obviously asking for a ruff. Sjoerd didn’t disappoint him.

At our table the auction proceeded a little different.

1. Twosuiter, including
2. Fitshowing jump

René kicked of with a high . Declarer took it and played a trump, René took the trick with his King and cashed his high . The continuation was ruffed in dummy and again a trump. Looking for a ruff I rose with the Ace, crushing René’s Queen. I couldn’t believe my eyes, West bid 4 on three small . Daredevil!

So the result was +100 at both tables. Well it’s a plus, but not really satisfying. Were we outgunned? I think not. Outplayed I can live with, but I have to say that stocks dropped badly on our shares of luck.

Hi all

It was so easy, I just had to sit back and let René do his thing. His true Viking nature showed. No fancy bidding involved, just bid the level you value your cards for. Then add some because you’re a Viking, and your name is René, and because you feel like you hit the jackpot.

The bidding was easy, we were done in approximately 37 seconds. West opened 1, I overcalled 1, East passed (didn’t feel like introducing his collection of garbage) and René bid 6. Yes, you read it correctly: 6. There was no play to it.

So this story isn’t about bidding or playing. It’s not about style, tablepresence or luck. It’s just the naked Viking approach, blunt axe involved. Tow away the 15 imp you butchered from the opponents. Thanks, goodbye, and have a wonderful evening!

Hi all

I found this one while cleaning my room and reorganizing my personal administration. So before it gets lost I have to document it here on Vikings In Space where it can shine on for eternity. Yeah, I’m proud of it, did you notice?

No one vulnerable, it’s up to you after pass – pass:

I couldn’t find a bid with this holding so I passed as well. The opponents have an undisturbed auction: 1 – 1 – 2 – all pass. Now what to lead? In a moment of divine inspiration (insanity?) I led the 4 of . Yes, a trump. This was the complete layout:

Declarer, still unconcerned, played small for René’s Ten of . I saw a small twitch in his eyebrow when the Ten held. Three rounds of followed and I was on lead again. I cashed the Ace of and exited with a .

Now declarer really dug his own grave by taking the in dummy. But without this error there wouldn’t have been a story, now would there? After some thought declarer decided he wanted to lead from his hand so he played a towards his Queen, René ruffed in front of him.

Now René put the icing on the cake by playing the 13th . I ruffed with the Ace of and played another for the final blow on the chin. Declarer dazzled and confused wrote -150 and left the table somewhat trembling.

I try to be a nice and friendly opponent, really I do. But this time the “High-Five” was truly unavoidable.

Hi all

Despite of my lousy play yesterday (minus 25 imp), I have a nice gem. Though it’s mostly declarer’s error, René and I gave declarer all the room he needed to go wrong. RHO opens a strong 1NT and everybody is silent.

You lead a heart (3rd – 5th) from:

Dummy puts down a collection of garbage, including a stiff Ten of .

We start with five rounds of (declarer throws a ), taking René’s signals into account I exit with the Jack of . Declarer tries the King and Jack of , but I duck both. A small to dummy is for René’s Queen and again a for declarer. He could have cashed out for down two now, but he exited with a small for my Ace.

With a bang I smack down the Ace of . It’s a complete guess for declarer which King to hold on to. After some thought (or could it have been a prayer?) he discards the King of . With a merciless grin I put down the smallest in the pack for down three. Vulnerable. Yummie!

Hi all

Yesterday I played with Dennis. Me bidding like a hesitant snail on sedatives didn’t really work out for our score. Next deal is nice and compensates a little for all disasters.

Dennis showed a 6-4 with 4NT. East wasn’t happy with our bidding and showed his discomfort with a booming double.

I ruffed the Ace of and drew one round of trumps with the Ace, West playing the Jack. I took stock, E-W bidding game on such a low point-count meant that there was shape involved. I cashed both honours and ruffed a third round, West discarding. Another ruff in dummy and I started playing dummy’s high diamonds. East ruffed, I overruffed and crossed to the Queen of (extracting the outstanding trump in the meantime). After cashing the remaining , I led a towards the King for an unexpected overtrick.

Well, I guess +650 isn’t really uncommon, but I wonder whether a lot of people can say that they scored it in a contract.