Vikings in Space

Hi all

I told you about jewelry. Big gold credits to our teammates Martin & Tim for this beautiful sequence.

West

North

East

South

 

 

pass

1

pass

2

pass

2

pass

4

pass

5

pass

6

a.p.

 

Martin (North) thought he ended the auction with his jump to 4, but then his partner Tim (Hendrik had other duties) surprised him with a 5 (void)cuebid. Talk about hitting the sweet spot, North is now almost worthy of a jump to the grand. But Martin didn’t have the right surgical tools to show his happiness with the cuebid, so he settled for the small slam in , with a very large smile.

Tim ducked a to keep communications intact and he ruffed a in dummy. He got home when both black suits broke. In the post mortem at the bar Hoek mentioned that a crossruff also works (on a non-trump lead), cash both Ace-King in and and then score eight tricks in trumps. I like the latter one better because of aesthetics, but it looks like both plans are about equal in odds.

Hi all

Some jewelry last night. Hoek and I didn’t handle all freaky hands that well (there were several), but overall we were satisfied with bidding and play. Here’s one, repeat after me: powder and keg.

West

North

East

South

1

2

2

3

3

pass

4

dbl1

a.p.

 

 

 

1. Booomm!

I put a fuse in declarer and light it. The lead is easy: the King of and dummy comes down. I’m happy.

West mistook one of his little for a and starts with some apologies. I don’t mind, dinner just got a little bigger.

I continue with a to partner’s Queen and Hoek returns a for my Ace. An innocent little follows and declarer finesses into Hoek’s King. Another gets ruffed and overruffed. I exit in for dummy’s Queen. When declarer tried to cross to the Jack of I ruff and play another round of .

Declarer really in trouble has to ruff with one of dummy’s honors else Hoek gets a free ruff. But now he cannot draw both my remaining trumps. So my Queen of is good for down four. It has been a long time ago I had a gratifying double like this.

Hi all

The end is near, I look up and see the sky is red. I focus on my cards again and what I see looks promising.

It’s definitely a beast opposite a fitting hand.

 

21

3

42

pass

43

pass

???

1. Multicoloured (weak, 5+ card suit in a Major)
2. Asking for a transfer
3. Showing

What to do? The vulnerability is very favourable, so Dennis could be really light for his multi. I can’t, I bid 4 with pain in my heart.

Opportunity sorely missed. After some discussion I have to agree 5 is the expert bid here, it asks how good partner’s trumps are. Dennis has the easiest raise ever then. The finesse against the King of is just a formality, for East has made a vulnerable call on the three level. 

I’m a coward. And cowards don’t win matches. Aggressive bidding and playing finally got US (Amsterdam) the victory they deserved. Congratulations!

Next year we’ll battle for glory again.

Hi all

I put aside my trusted battle axe and stretch my aching arms and legs. This match isn’t as easy as expected. And it’s far from over, I still see fervor and frenzy on the faces of my opponents.

 

1

pass

21

pass

32

pass

43

pass

44

pass

4NT

pass

5

pass

6

1. Invitational with exactly three or natural
2. Natural, 14+ hcp
3. Splinter, agreeing
4. Cue

I like Dennis’ (canapé) approach, introducing his four card suit instead of his longer . Of course he still had his three card support to revert to. When I could show a fit with a non-minimum there was no way we could stay out of slam. Trade my Jacks for the Queen of trumps and it’s a fair grand. I wonder if we would have reached slam if the bidding had started with 1 – 2 – 3. Funny, didn’t I write a story lately about the power of the 4-4 fit?

Dennis received a passive lead. After some thought he played quite straightforward: Ace and King of , King of  to discard a , ruff out the Queen and he kept playing high cards until somebody came up with the Queen of trumps. Twelve tricks and no surprises or answers from our opponents’ camp.

Hi all

Last Saturday twelve heroic fighters from Dombo fought an epic battle against the dirty dozen from Groningen (APIH) and a number of vile, unshaved villains from Amsterdam (US). Here’s a story starring Dennis and yours truly.

4

dbl1

pass

52

1. (Moderate) values, pass would have been forcing anyway
2. Very offensive hand (nice!)

I chose to bid 6 and that was spot on, for this was the deal:

I took the lead, drew three rounds of trumps, ruffed a , cashed the Ace of and crossed to hand with the Queen to draw the last trump (safety measure against a 4-1 split). Claim in approximately 30 seconds losing only one trick in . It felt like a true coup de grâce, but to my surprise they scored +1370 at the other table too.

This is a very clean example of the power of the 4-4 fit. In twelve tricks are available too (on a non lead), but that’s way too sweaty and ugly for me if I have a solid alternative.

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.