Month: August 2007

Hi all

There is no such thing as an innocent bystander. I swallow hard, there’s just so much justice to serve.

What do you do after pass – 1 – ???

1

double

redouble1

1

1. with violence
2. with confidence

I agree my takeout double is on the light side, but I have two Aces, some shape and it’s pairs. Where have I heard that argument before?

I really like Frank’s tactic 1 bid, he could see everybody was a bit overbidding. He started with a small declarer winning in dummy with the King. I took the third round of , effectively destroying declarer’s communications. I return my lonely , Frank winning the trick with his Ace, and another one is for dummy’s Queen (I discard my last ). Now declarer tried a to her King but to her big surprise Frank won the trick with his Ace. I get rid of all my garbage on Frank’s , keeping just . Finally I could claim the remainder when Frank’s Jack of pierced through dummy.

Declarer recounted her tricks several times, but down three stayed down three. Vulnerable.

I think about the power of quick tricks, about unjust arrogance, about pride. I take another sip from my beer and decide to say nothing at all.

Hi all

Last Sunday Star organized the 15th edition of their Grand Cafe Tour. Together with Frank "Vindaloo" I hopped from bar to bar playing games against a colourful melange of opposition. I really enjoyed the tournament a lot, resulting in a fine score of 61.26% (rank 23 out 250 pairs). But on Monday morning I had a hangover of mythic proportions. Did I enjoy too much beer? Well, not really, but let’s keep it at that.

All cheerful light has been barred from me. In darkness I dwell, seeking sweet, sweet solace. For I am the palooka killer. Behold!

I pass first hand and Frank opens in third hand with 2. That’s either weak with or some strong hand. I wait patiently with 2 and now Frank surprises me with a natural and strong 2. Wow! Do I have a gigantic fit. I can either splinter in or show my happiness with 3. I choose the latter and Frank cooperates with a 3 cue. I cue 4 and Frank completes the picture with a cue. The grand could still be on, but I have done enough, I jump to 6.

Frank ruffed the lead and I fell from my chair. Huh? What? He drew one round of trumps, crossed to dummy with his precious 6 of , and took a double finesse in losing to West’s Jack. Now West solved all problems by returning a . Frank could develop that suit without losing any tricks, and he had another entry to dummy to repeat the finesse in . Resulting in twelve tricks. Ugly slam, but we were very happy with +980.

First we analyzed you have to start with a to the Queen and then exit with a small . East is thrown in now and has to open up the suit or give a ruff and sluff. But East can shine by inserting the King of the first round, then there is no throw in anymore.

Hi all

Last Tuesday Star. With a running nose and midgets abusing their hammers in my head it was a difficult night. As South I open 3, West doubles and everybody except me is fine with that. West leads a high and dummy comes down.

Dummy (Hoek) really brings some nice cards and I have a lot of play. They try to cash two rounds of but I ruff the second round. Good news: no problem in trumps (1-3 split). I duck a and East persists in . I can play a towards the King but I don’t like to put all my eggs in one basket, I want my opponents to tackle the difficult suits. I wonder what will happen if I run some trumps, but it looks as if dummy gets into trouble too.

Let’s analyze. Why didn’t East take out his partner’s takeout double? He surely doesn’t have a four card Major, so he’s 3-3-4-3. Then West is 4-5-3-1 and that matches with the bidding too.

I hope for a throw in when I play the Ace of and another one. East comes up with the Queen, I discard a and West ponders for some time and decides not to overtake, so the problem really becomes academic, for East is holding only .

West took his eye of the ball when he didn’t overtake his partner’s Queen of to give me a guess in . With Queen-third in it’s a takeout double just the same. Now it was an easy +470 for me.

Hi all

This weekend, starting on Thursday actually, Dennis and I indulged ourselves (again) in music, beer, people and sunshine. Pukkelpop (Belgium) is such a nice festival. A bigger report will follow, but I need some time.

Here’s a competitive decision from last week.

Partner passes in first seat and my RHO opens 1. I have a clean and clear 2 and LHO jumps to 4. Now Hoek enters the bidding with 4. What’s that?

Surely he must have a four card  fit to justify his bidding. He didn’t open a Muiderberg first hand, so he must have introduced a four card suit. Well, I bring four very nice to his party. It’s my decision when LHO decides to bid 5. I accept the push to 5, I’m playing Hoek for the Ace of , a stiff and four  headed with at least the Queen. I just hope there is no enemy void or bad split in trumps imminent.

Too bad we were not vulnerable, otherwise this decision would have been worth a bit more than the three imp we gained now.

Hi all

Dennis showed me this deal a couple of days ago.

A very, very nice holding. Your partner starts the bidding with 2 (weak with !) and RHO follows with a natural 2. You end all bidding with a crude jump to 6. I guess opposite AQ – 6th you’re cold for twelve tricks on a lead, so it’s not that crude after all.

Lefty leads a and dummy comes down.

Partner brings some nice cards, twelve tricks are on ice. But it’s pairs, can you squeeze out a precious thirteenth trick?

When I looked at the problem, my first solution was to draw one round of trumps and then ruff out the with trump Ace as an entry. But this only works if split.

No, I tell you it’s a non-simultaneous, double squeeze. I’ll show you.

You take the lead perforce. Now drop seven of your trumps on the table, leading to this five card position:

On your final trump West has to protect and has to let go one of his . Dummy gets rid of a useless , and East can miss a . When you cash both your honours (ending in dummy), the pressure on East is too much to bear. Either the Jack of is your thirteenth trick, or A4 is good for two tricks.

Hi all

Last Tuesday at Star I had a magic moment with Hoek.

Nothing to see here, just garbage. RHO opens 1 and my only spot, the Ten of , drops in value too. LHO bids 2. Sunshine breaks through the clouds when Hoek enters the bidding with 2. Rho repeats he has and now it’s my turn. I have four trumps, lots of distribution, absolutely zilch defence and the vulnerability is in our favour as well. Hoek could have a good hand, but this moment just feels too right no to raise pressure. I jump to 5.

LHO looks annoyed and bids 6, passed out.

Now I have to lead. The plan is clear, get partner on lead to give me a ruff. Though we agreed odd leads, I start with the 2. Maybe partner can read it as a Lavinthal signal.

Hoek completely in sync with my plan, returns a for me to ruff. My RHO grumpily snorts why they have to suffer this defence, that we should do this to other opponents instead. I’m ecstatic, everything worked out the way I planned it. For West it’s impossible to see if 6NT is right, but East could have corrected to 6NT, on the other hand he doesn’t know on what hand or values his partner bid 6.