Bridge

Hi all

I’m back after a short break. But before the Santa Clara Regional begins, I have to finish up some Philadelphia stories. Here we go:

Not too shabby! I love it when I pick up my cards and the stream of face cards just doesn’t end.

1. Beowulf: 15-17 balanced, or stronger any shape
2. 6+ hcp any shape
3. 18-19 bal, GF
4. Transfer
5. Splinter
6. That should be about right

I took some artistic liberty with 2NT, as it technically shows 18-19 balanced, but all I wanted to do was to establish a game force. I could always raise to slam myself if Geoff had no more than a simple raise to game.

Geoff did surprise me a couple of times during the bidding. First his positive response made my day a bit brighter (27-counts usually make me grin like a monkey in pairing season). And then his self-splinter over 3. At that point I figured Geoff had to hold very good trumps for a slam try opposite 18-19, because I’m holding everything else. Anyway, with my significant extras I had no problem emptying my bidding box.

16 tricks from top. And a fistful of IMPs when the other table closed out in small slam.

Hi all

The picture below is courtesy Antony Lee (Bo Xiao on the left). I’m actually holding a coffee, but he sure did have a knack for eternalizing me holding my phone. Really! On all the pictures he took I was either checking BBO for the latest Spingold updates, texting my lovely wife, or giving in to my WordFeud addiction. Of course only outside the playing arena.

Here’s a story on BridgeWinners that just left me awestruck, an enlightening and inspiring insight in the mind of Peter Fredin. The inferences and help I usually get from my opponents is more of caliber “sledgehammer”, not quite as subtle as Fredin’s analysis and projections. Take this one for example (Regional Pairs, July 18th):

1. Fit showing
2. “Choo-Choo”

When my LHO helped me out by bidding 3 it was quite obvious Michael was holding a stiff . All aboard the slam train! This was the full deal:

The opponents started with two rounds of , Michael ruffed, cashed both top and entered a crossruff for twelve tricks, and almost all the matchpoints. Probably some other West was less … disciplined holding two Aces.

Hi all

So here’s a small … kink from Philadelphia. Setting: Second day of the Spingold. Let’s call my RHO “Mad Bross”. I ask his partner for their convention cards and he hands me one. I politely ask if they have a second one for my partner, where “Mad Bross” responds: “You can share, we play very vanilla.” I say that the rules require you to hand over two cc’s. At this point he spits out: “Are you f*cking kidding me?”.

Fortunately his partner smoothly defuses the situation and offers to fill out a second one if desired. I let it pass, but the dark cloud at the table does not leave.

In retrospect I didn’t handle it correctly. I should have called for the director, nobody should be subjected to profanities. One of the directors confirmed with me that “Mad Bross” would have been given a Zero Tolerance penalty just for that. After that it’s three strikes and you’re out. Even famous players have to obey the rules. My bad for missing out on an opportunity.

It wasn’t all one way traffic against team Diamond. We had some pickups and system successes too. Not enough to make the match in any way exciting, but still. Here’s one:

1. Exactly four card in an unbalanced hand, 8-12 hcp
2. Natural and invitational+
3. Accepting, bidding my minor would have been a sign off

On a passive lead Geoff set up the suit and wrapped up 11 tricks for +660. Now at the other table things were less … sophisticated. Four passes in succession and that’s 12 IMP, thank you!

Hi all

So when we qualified for the second day of the Spingold, we were seed #62. I would have loved to play Monaco, but we got matched up with team Diamond instead (Hampson & Greco, Gitelman & Moss and Diamond & Platnick). Urgh! Some heavyweights.

The first quarter I had some startup problems, defending sub-optimally, choosing to defend with a 7-5 in the Majors, and throwing the towel too early in partscore battles. It all adds up so quickly. After the first 16 boards we’re staring into a 50 IMP abyss. Sigh!

Here’s an impressive sequence to a borderline slam, Hampson and Greco showing off their tools and agreements.

1. 19-21
2. Stayman
3. Natural, slammish
4. Keycards, are trumps
5. “I worry about the position”
6. “Don’t worry, I got it under control. Now show me your keycards!”
7. One keycard
8. Trump Queen?
9. Yes, and the King

This was the full deal:

As you can see 6 needs some work. Trumps splitting or the Jack onside (or stiff). King of onside and 3-3, or a squeeze against length and the Queen. Obviously Greco had no problem squeezing the life out of me. I don’t blame my team mates at all for not finding this slam.

Hi all

The Philadelphia NABC was awesome. I played lots and lots of bridge, I’d say about 50-60 deals per day for nine days straight. I did get to eat a Philly Cheese Steak, saw plenty of bronze statues around the city, the Liberty Bell, City Hall (close to the playing site), and that’s about it tourist wise. I’ve consumed some amazing food, even after being spoiled with all the great restaurants in Berkeley. And the beer… ohh… the beer. Gulden Draak 9000 from draft, I was in heaven.

I don’t have my paperwork in order yet, but I do have lots of nice deals. I had an amazing Nationals, we got to play team Diamond twice(!), more than respectable finishes in the Roth Open Swiss and the Fast Pairs, and I’ve amassed enough Platinum to play the Platinum Pairs next time. Yay! So here’s a random one where I was playing with Michael Bodell in the A/x Pairs Wednesday the 15th.

Michael has an uncanny talent for making exactly the right bid I want to hear.

1. No need to rush
2. Splinter
3. Pick a slam

My hand certainly is worth a distributional raise to 4, but I decided to take the slow route, visualizing my suit as a potential source of tricks. When Michael showed 18-19 balanced, I decided my hand was worth a slam try. Michael didn’t know what I was splintering for, but his 5NT said: “I don’t know what you’re looking for, but I’ve got it all…” This was the full deal:

When everything broke friendly Michael wrapped up all thirteen of them. A big fit and controls, the two main ingredients for cooking up a slam.

Hi all

In my mind I have prepared for Philly already (I’m flying tomorrow), but reality is less pretty. Instead of a packed bag I have a pile of laundry to sort through. Several Convention Cards but not the right ones. And I’m trying to figure out what to wear when it’s hot & humid outside, and bone-chilling cold in the playing arena. Wonderful!

So besides hosting the Summer NABC this year, I understand Philadelphia is known for steaks on sandwiches, something with independence and the constitution in the 1700s, brotherly love and Fairmount Park. Do share some more Philadelphia highlights when you see me. Or just drop by to say hi, I’d like that.

Not totally unprepared… In this bar they supposedly offer “Gulden Draak” from tap. Yummie!

Hi all

Some minor and Major events. Venus traveled across the sun earlier this month, appearing as a spectacular tiny black spot. Sanne and I saw The Beach Boys at the Greek Theatre, old men with Good Vibrations! The Danish brewer Mikkeller showcased some of his beers at The Trappist in Oakland. His #19 (referring to the total number of hops) is out of this world. And… finally I got to see The Avengers. Heh. Awesome!

I played with Michael Bodell in the 2 day Swiss in Sacramento (Mike Lawrence was there too). Our team had a very slow start with 0 VPs in the first round. But a collective group effort was enough to launch us into day 2 with some carry-over. I don’t know whether it was the lunch that turned our streak of wins into a downward spiral or what. But we ended with a dead average. Such sweat for nothing.

So after Michael rebid his suit I was at a crossroads. The singleton calls for NT. But the hard values call for a trump contract. So I made the slight unorthodox raise to 3. Michael accepted and my RHO had his own opinion about the health and sanity of our contract.

This was the full deal.

As dummy I witness the execution. I see the weight of two days of play resting on Michael’s shoulders already, the tumble finally stops at -1400. I can imagine my RHO standing at the bar, telling stories how he wanted to penalize 1, then in the rebound he wanted to shoot us again, but his patience paid off when we voluntarily bid game.

I hear the shrill squeal of crows. There must be some road kill for them to feast on, I think.

Hi all

My trip to The Netherlands was great. I saw my family again, got to hang out with wonderful friends, played both top and bottom bridge, bought some snazzy shoes and the 2 weeks just flew by. Of course I didn’t forget to bring treats back to Berkeley, so if you get to see me I might offer you a “stroopwafel” or black liquorice if you’re lucky.

Something totally random… my friend Wouter wore a t-shirt with the following text:

Haikus are easy
But sometimes they don’t make sense
Refrigerator

I think that’s just plain awesome!

Here’s a deal from a Friday night (Patton at BCO). I wasn’t successful in bringing the contract home, but in the post mortem I spotted a rare bird.

1. Invitational with

Perhaps my jump to 4 was a bit … unilateral, in retrospect bidding 3NT certainly has some appeal.

Anyway, my LHO thinks about her lead for a while and then puts down the Ace. Hmmm, leading an unsupported Ace? A low follows and I rise with dummy’s Ace intending to pitch a couple losers in my hand. But… East ruffs.

Excuse me?

Back comes the Queen and I’m in reasonable trouble. I have a and two losers, and then there’s the issue with trump Queen too. I let all the information sink in, and I figure West has led the Ace for a peek. Her switch worked out miraculously, I can’t draw trumps anymore and enjoy dummy’s suit.

All is not lost, though. Dummy can take care of my losers. But when I set out to ruff both of them, West ruffs the second one in front of dummy and I’m down one, losing the Ace, a ruff, a ruff, and a . Sigh!

This was the full deal.

Now let me tell you that West’s Ace of handed me the contract. If, a big IF, I had assessed the deal correctly.

So Ace of , then a ruff and a switch for my Ace. Now I ruff exactly one in dummy and then I drop all trumps on the table. On the play of the last this is the position:

West can miss a , so can dummy, and East has to let go of a (else my suit comes in). Now I exit with my 3, and West has an insolvable problem. Playing low will get East placed, while rising will eat East’s Jack, skyrocketing dummy’s Ten to stardom. And I can shake hands again with the King who was locked away like Rapunzel.

I guess this bird is called a winkle squeeze with a stepping stone element.

Hi all

My preparation for the Swiss teams last Sunday in Santa Clara consisted of hitting the freshly powdered & sunny slopes in Sugar Bowl on Saturday. Sanne and I took an obscenely early ski-bus to Tahoe and spent a wonderful day racing down amazing slopes (Trailblazer!). Of course I got wiped out in some unprepared pillow of fluff, where I had to clean the snow from the inside of my glasses. (Un)fortunately there are no pictures of that event…

Michael Bodell and I teamed up with Eugene (Bridge Winners) and Helen. The slow start was largely due to opponents stumbling into a vulnerable 3NT with a 6-4 fit. There were no ten tricks in a contract and some stiff King was required for there was no entry to take a finesse. Argh! We picked up some steam to end with 81 VP out of 7 matches (20 VP scale).

In round 5 after 6 boards I see only scores in the opponent’s column. We didn’t make a single contract and all theirs got home. Last board, we need a pickup. The opponents have an easy auction.

Michael leads the Ten. This is what I see:

Hmmm, hiding that poor 5 card suit, eh? I don’t know whether I would have done that myself.

Declarer takes his time and plays low in dummy to his Ace. It looks like Michael has led the highest one from an internal sequence. Do we have enough time to unblock our position? My holding suggests declarer will have 5 tricks there, so if South has the King 9 tricks are unavoidable. So I’ll assume Michael is holding that one. That means declarer has the Ace to get to opening values, and is either 5-2-3-3, 5-3-2-3 or 5-3-3-2.

Declarer crosses to the Ace and requests a low from dummy. The neurons in my brain are firing rapidly, new pathways emerge, logic clicks. If I play low declarer will for sure take some (double) finesse. Maybe Michael will win it but the position remains unresolved.

So I sacrifice my King by playing second hand high. This has unexpected results. Declarer wins his Ace but looks a little befuddled. With his entry removed prematurely he has to choose between setting up the in dummy and abandoning his , or give up the suit altogether. Or so I imagine his train of thought… His Jack wins the trick too, but Michael wins the third with his Queen.

Michael has a full grasp of the situation too, and plays a for my Queen. I get to nail the coffin closed by fixing declarer in dummy with a . Declarer loses track completely and ends up down 2.

Our team mates brought home 4 with an overtrick, so we score up 13 IMP.

There were several routes available that would have led to success. E.g. declarer could have cashed both when fixed in dummy with the King, effectively strip squeezing and then end playing Michael in to lead away from the King. Or declarer, after winning the Ace, could have unblocked the other in dummy before playing again.

Recognizing that not inserting my King was not going to win either left or right, was my learning moment of the day.

Hi all

I’ve got a small … riddle for you. I’m pretty sure it has crossed the vast social lands of Facebook and Google+ several times, but I assure you, you don’t want to miss out on this one. First you’ll look at it and wonder what it is and then it’ll dawn on you. Promise!

Here’s another small success from our too short performance at the GNT Open qualifiers. Deceptive Maneuvers in the Dark, with Lew Stansby starring as unsuspecting victim. I’m sitting East.

1. 11-14
2. &

Geoff leads a trump and this is what I see:

 

 

 

Geoff wouldn’t easily lead a trump from an honor card so declarer has KQJ, either third or fourth. I see we can take at most four tricks in the minor suits, so somehow we’ll have to conjure two tricks from the suit. I will assume Geoff has both the Ace and King.

But how do I convince declarer that I’m holding that King?

A cunning plan develops in my head. All I need is a clear moment to execute my devilry.

Lew wins the trump lead in his hand with the King and plays a to dummy’s Queen.

Ding-Ding-Ding!

This is the opening I was hoping for! I win it with my Ace. I return my trump via Geoff’s  9 for dummy’s Ace. When Lew asks for the 7 I play low smoothly, via the 9 for Geoff’s Ten. A proper switch to a and my Jack wins the trick. Next my King smothers the Queen in dummy and a third gets ruffed in dummy.

I can see declarer’s train of thought. This gentleman on my right wearing those brightly colored pants has shown up with the Ace and the KJ, so East needs the King to make up for his weak NT. What are my options?

This is the position now, with the lead in dummy:

 

 

 

Declarer has lost four tricks so far, so has to limit his losers to one. Lew crosses to a high trump in his hand and plays a to the Ten for my Jack.

Ka-Pow! I flick the King on the table for dummy to ruff. With no way back to his hand Lew has to surrender a trick to Geoff’s King. And down 1 it is.

Hehehe, a successful ambush by a guy who usually wears yellow, purple or orange pants. Beware!