Bridge Today • December 2003 page 1

December 2003

ß
˙
∂
ç

Editor: Matthew Granovetter

The Magazine for People Who Love to Play Bridge

In this issue:
Page 29: Pointcount Theory
Some Thoughts on the “Worthless”
Doubleton by Dick Henry

The Best of the Bermuda Bowl

Barry Rigal’s daily picks for the best hands from this year’s world
team championships in Monte Carlo. Page 13.

Features

2 Viewpoint 11 Building Better Mousetraps

by Matthew Granovetter
3 Undertricks
by Bridget O’Day 11 Are You Thinking Logically?
by Marshall Miles
6 Bridge Yesterday
by Paul Zweifel 31 The Switch in Time Forum

8 Around the World 32 Hand of the Month

by Migry Zur Campanile by Pamela Granovetter

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Bridge Today • December 2003
Viewpoint page 2

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Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

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Bridge Today • December 2003 page 3

Undertricks

Psychology in New Orleans

by Bridget O’Day

Wherein the author learns some good lessons

about when and how to trick the opps

It wasn’t easy playing in my first Na-
tional tournament, mostly because I had to
partner my “ex,” Tom (my boyfriend, Bill, is
a pro and had to make a living with his
clients). But some great lesson hands came
up. Here’s one of them.
match. Our opps were experienced players
and I don’t mind telling you I was nervous.
On this hand, I was South in 3NT and
West led the çK. I had no problem at trick
one, playing the 2 from dummy and 3 from
my hand. East followed with the 6.

North dealer North West then went into a mini-huddle and

All vul ßAK876 out came the çQ. Well, Bill has been trying
˙A75 to teach me how to read these thoughts and
∂K6 it’s a lotta fun to try! In this case, I said to
çA92 myself, why is he huddling? If he started
çK with K-Q-10, he would have nothing else to
South (Bridget) do but lead the queen next. But what if he
ß92 doesn’t have that 10? If East has it, maybe I
˙KQ8 can block the suit. For example, if East has
∂ Q J 10 7 5 2 the 10-x-x, he can’t unblock the 10 because
çJ3 of the 9 in dummy. And if I duck again,
West will play a third round, and if he
West North East South holds the ∂A I’m finished. But if the clubs
— 1ß pass 1 NT are as I think they are and I win the second
pass 2 NT pass 3 NT trick and lead diamonds, they can’t take
(all pass) more than three tricks. Naturally, if the
clubs are 4-4, it doesn’t matter what I do —
Opening lead: çK I’m safe. Just to double-check, I looked at
their convention card and saw the queen
I was South in one of those two-day circled from K-Q-10. That was enough for
KO’s, and we had reached the semifinal me. I won the trick.
Bridge Today • December 2003 page 4

North dealer North Well, he had the blasted 10 after all!

All vul ßAK876 Tom is now on the zero-tolererance commit-
˙A75 tee, so he had to keep his mouth shut (but I
∂K6 saw his eyes bulge out of his head, practi-
çA92 cally). Later, I asked West why he had
West East paused, and he said he was thinking of
ß J 10 3 ßQ54 switching because he was without an entry.
˙ 10 6 2 ˙J943 Humph! I won’t fall for that one again.
∂98 ∂A43
ç K Q 10 5 4 ç876 After the game, at the bar, Bill said he
South probably would have done the same thing
ß92 (good old Bill), but then again maybe not,
˙KQ8 because West is so unlikely to lead the
∂ Q J 10 7 5 2 queen at trick two if he’s missing the jack
çJ3 and ten! “Mind you, it could be a great play
to lead the queen after the king holds, hold-
West North East South ing K-Q-x-x-x, because even if it crashes
— 1ß pass 1 NT partner’s jack doubleton, declarer will al-
pass 2 NT pass 3 NT most surely duck again, so no harm done.”
(all pass)
I decided to memorize that one for my
Opening lead: çK own repertoire.

Tom and I next ventured into the Open Three clubs was alerted as check-back,
Board-a-Match Teams, this time with Bill and I led the ß9. Dummy was really bad,
and his sponsor as teammates, and this was but declarer remained poised. He won the
a cool event. We played against many well- first trick with the ßK and then cashed the
known players. One of these “greats” made ace. Tom followed with the 4 and 5. I
a nice play against me.... assumed he was anxious for a club shift (we
play “obvious shift”!). At trick three de-
South dealer North clarer plunked the ∂K on the table, and I
None vul ß Q J 10 3 plunked down the 5, without a flinch. Bill
˙Q863 would have been proud.
∂J73
ç85 Declarer next produced a spade and I
West (Bridget) began to feel a little queasy....
ß986
N
˙972 W E
S
∂ A 10 9 5
çA73

South West North East Tom, my “ex”

1∂ pass 1˙ pass
2 NT pass 3ç pass
3∂ pass 3 NT (all pass)
Bridge Today • December 2003 page 5

South dealer North Declarer then cashed the hearts, as Tom

None vul ß Q J 10 3 almost got himself in hot water with his
˙Q863 own ZT committee. That was -400, and a
∂J73 lost board against +120 at the other table.
ç85
West (Bridget) East (Tom) Tom said, “Whadya doing? If he held the
ß986 ß754 ∂K-Q-x-x, he was going to lead a low dia-
˙972 ˙ J 10 4 mond next, so what good was ducking the
∂ A 10 9 5 ∂Q2 king?”
çA73 ç K J 10 9 4
South “In that case, maybe he would next play
ßAK2 the queen, hoping you held doubleton ace,”
˙AK5 I said, not really convincingly.
∂K864
çQ62 At the bar, Bill had some insights....

“Bridget, your smooth duck was brilliant, ß Q J 10 3

a great attempt to prevent declarer from ˙Q863
reaching dummy!” ∂J73
ç85
“Thanks, Bill.” ß986 ß754
˙972 ˙ J 10 2
“But Tom is right. With K-Q-x-x he ∂ A 10 9 5 ∂Q2
would probably play a low one next time.” çA73 ç K J 10 9 4
ßAK2
“Obviously,” said Tom. ˙AK5
∂K864
“Yes,” continued Bill, this time to Tom, çQ62
“but you should have doubled 3ç, don’t
you think? Then Bridget would lead a low Harvey turned to me and said, “If I had
club to your king and declarer would have been in your seat, I wouldn’t have been
to make a nice play to duck the jack at trick smart enough to duck the king of dia-
two to avoid a two-trick set.” monds, even if declarer opened
the bidding one club. I used up
Tom sank in his chair. all my imagination in business,
but I certainly enjoy seeing such
“I’ll tell you something,” said Bill, turning flair in you, Bridget.”
to his sponsor, Harvey. “If I had been in
your seat, I might have opened 1ç, not 1∂. Bill beamed, Tom steamed, and
You’re planning to rebid 2NT, so why tell I was so excited that I wrecklessly
the opps about your minor-suit holdings? treated the team to a bottle of
After a 1ç opening, you could no doubt champagne.
pull off that ∂K stunt with no problem,
since the opps would think you held only PS. Later (in private), Bill showed me
three diamonds.” how the contract could be made.
Bridge Today • December 2003 page 6

Bridge Yesterday

by Paul Zweifel

Zero Tolerance

Back in the good old days (the 50’s and ßQJ97

60’s) when I played most of my competitive ˙ Q J 10 9
bridge, it was considered de rigueur to insult ∂ 10 9
and excoriate opponents and partners alike. ç932
I once heard “Mr. Bridge” himself, Charlie
Goren, tell his partner, a well-known Cleve- You are not too surprised when lefty
land expert, “Sid, my girl students bid better opens two clubs. Righty responds two dia-
than you do.” (Sid had misconstrued a monds, lefty bids two notrump and righty
natural four-notrump bid as Blackwood.) overbids him to seven. Partner leads the ß2
Other colorful characters and incidents I and dummy tables:
could mention better not be published, as
many of the perps are still alive. North
ß K 10 8
Nowadays, of course, we have “zero ˙A87
tolerance.” This means we must grin and ∂AJ64
bear partner’s idiotic plays, pretending that ç 10 8 4
we view bridge as “only a game.” Here’s a East
case in which I almost got into trouble three ß2 ßQJ97
N
or four years ago; observe how cleverly I W E ˙ Q J 10 9
S ∂ 10 9
managed to worm my way out of it.
ç932
I’ll present the hand first as a defensive
problem. Say you hold this inspiring collec- The ß8 is played from dummy. Take
tion: some time, and plan the defense.

Solution from previous page: Cash eight major-suit winners, forcing East down to
two diamonds and three clubs. If East comes down to one diamond and four clubs,
lead a diamond. Otherwise lead a club and play East for the ∂Q. It’s a frozen suit!
Bridge Today • December 2003 page 7

Solution: It’s obvious that partner has a
Yarborough. Assume declarer has eight
tricks in the minors (if he has nine, you’re
dead, and if he has only seven, he’s dead).
Obviously you are in severe peril of being
subjected to a major-suit squeeze if declarer
holds three hearts to the K-6 or four hearts
to the king. In any event, you must give
him an alternative to the squeeze. Play the
ßQ at trick one! An expert declarer
wouldn’t fall for this — after all, who leads
from J-9-x-x against seven notrump — but
persuading him to finesse the ß10 for his
thirteenth trick may be your only hope.
If declarer has a 2-3-4* lacking the ˙6,
you can defeat the contract legitimately —
if you can persuade partner to hold all of
his hearts. This is probably best done by
discarding the ˙Q at your first opportunity
(unfortunately, you can’t discard a second
heart until declarer pitches one from
dummy). But if your aim is to fool declarer
into finessing the ß10, you must keep three
hearts and blank the ßJ, and then you
don’t have to rely on partner holding the
˙6.
I finally decided to take the legitimate
play, and discarded the ˙Q on the third
diamond, a spade on the fourth diamond,
*It’s about time somebody adopted this (Sidney)
Lorvan notation for hand distributions: a three
(occasionally four) digit integer gives the number of
spades, hearts and diamonds in that order. (To state
the distribution of all four suits is clearly redun-
dant.) I proposed this notation a number of years ago
to Jeff Rubens, editor of Bridge World. You would
have thought Jeff, being a mathematician, would
have like the idea, but instead he ridiculed it. Such
is the fate of so many geniuses!
then the ˙9 on the fourth round of clubs
after a heart was thrown from the board.
And my brilliant defense (should have) paid
off. The full deal was:
North
ß K 10 8
˙A87
∂AJ64
ç 10 8 4
West East
ß6532 ßQJ97
˙632 ˙ Q J 10 9
∂532 ∂ 10 9
ç765 ç932
South
ßA3
˙K54
∂KQ87
çAKQJ
So what does all this have to do with zero
tolerance? My (mercifully unnamed) partner
didn’t think very much about the hand,
and casually discarded a heart somewhere
along the line. So declarer took the thir-
teenth trick with the ˙5. To say I was
furious was an understatement. “Bravo!
Bravo!” I shrieked at partner with all my
ironically sarcastic might.
Declarer looked at me. “What are you
talking about?” he asked. Suddenly I saw
zero-tolerance suspension staring me in the
face. “Why, I was just congratulating you
on making seven no with a great squeeze,” I
replied. Quick thinking! “Why thank you,”
declarer said. “There aren’t many gentle-
men like you playing bridge these days.”
Maybe our teammates will be in the ice-
cold seven diamonds, I thought. But of
course, they weren’t! Oh well, c’est la guerre!
Bridge Today • December 2003 page 8

Around the world

with 52 cards
Travels and adventures of a bridge pro

Migry Zur Campanile

My French got better and better this
summer; I almost learnt how to make sense
of their restaurant menus!
After the fortnight in Men-
ton for the European Open
Championships with its
grueling playing conditions,
I felt I definitely had to give
the French bridge organizers
a chance to redeem them-
selves; so when a good
American friend, now living
in Paris (and not related to
Gershwin!), invited me to La
Baule to play with him in their 53rd Inter-
national Bridge festival, I was very happy to
accept.
La Baule is a well developed holiday
town on the southern coast of Brittany with
a gorgeous wide beach of golden sand
which stretches as far as the eye can see,
aptly gaining the appellate of the best beach
in Europe. Besides having lots of attractions
in its own merit, with open air markets full
of gastronomic temptations, La Baule func-
tions as a great base from which to explore
the real Brittany with the majestic cliffs and
the spellbinding sunsets of its Cote Sauvage:
the days are brisk and sunny and at night,
the dinner tables are loaded with freshly-
caught fish.
Is it any wonder that
the toughest part of the
day was to extract myself
from this kaleidoscope of
smells and colors to
return to the green cov-
ered tables of the Palais
du Sport, where the
tournament was hosted?
Right. The tourna-
ment. Well, for a start the participation of
several French, Belgian, Polish and Israeli
experts meant that the qualification of
international was truly deserved, but the
playing atmosphere was much more pleas-
ant than some other tournaments I have
played in. The tournament included all the
usual varieties of competitions: ladies’,
men’s, imps, mixed, teams, but some of the
sessions were rather long, stretching some-
times to 30 boards. The prizes were very
generous and were extended to the top fifth
of the field (which was often very large with
over 220 pairs attending, for instance, the
Open Pairs). Here are a couple of interest-
ing hands:
Bridge Today • December 2003 page 9

South West North East South declarer North

pass 4ß double pass None vul ß A 10 8
5˙ (all pass) ˙K83
∂987
After this short but explosive round of çAJ72
bidding, West (your partner) leads the ∂9 West East
and this is what you see in dummy: ßQJ4 ß752
˙AQ965 ˙J42
South dealer North ∂642 ∂ J 10 5
E-W vul ßA762 çQ3 ç 10 9 6 4
Imps ˙ A 10 9 5 4 South
∂K2 ßK963
çQJ ˙ 10 7
East (you) ∂AKQ3
ß3 çK85
N
∂9 W E ˙Q
S
∂ A Q 10 7 6 5 After a quick, unopposed auction to
ç 10 9 8 7 3 3NT, West leads the ˙6 to his partner’s ˙J
and ducks the heart return to keep the
Declarer plays low so you take the ∂Q communications open in order to be able to
and start getting those hyperactive brain clear the suit if either he or his partner
cells going. What do you play next? (Answer takes the lead. This looks like an unsound
on next page.) decision given that declarer has at least 27
points, and with West holding 11 and the
The next hand is taken from the Open ˙J already played, there is very little chance
Pairs (matchpoints) and shows how a sharp of East ever gaining the lead.*
declarer can often take advantage of a
minor defensive slip (upper right column): This paves the way to a nice endplay. I
cash the diamonds (throwing a club, not
planning to finesse) and take three club
tricks when the queen appears, to reach the
ß A 10 8 following layout (diagram on the left).
˙8
∂— At this point the ˙8 from dummy puts
ç— West in a difficult bind. He opted to exit
ßQJ4 ß752 with a small spade, playing East for the ß9,
˙A N ˙— and this allowed me to claim 11 tricks for
∂— W E
∂— an 80% score on the board. On a high level,
S
ç— ç 10 the correct exit card is the ßQ. West has
ßK963 come down to one heart winner and three
˙— spades, so he must be guarding spades (with
∂— the Q-J-x or Q-x-x). If he leads the queen, I
ç— might get it wrong.

*One advantage to ducking is to prevent declarer

from taking a risk-free finesse into the East hand.
Bridge Today • December 2003 page 10

Answer to first problem: must have a club honor. Now if we cash

the ∂A and play back a club, declarer will
South dealer North simply pull trumps and pitch a losing club
E-W vul ßA762 from dummy on the ∂J. If we play back a
Imps ˙ A 10 9 5 4 club, declarer can let West win the trick
∂K2 and if he has led from a singleton, we will
çQJ have no way to cash our diamond before it
East is pitched in dummy on the winning club
ß3 in hand. So it all comes down to whether
N
∂9 W E ˙Q partner has led a singleton or a doubleton.
S
∂ A Q 10 7 6 5
ç 10 9 8 7 3 Given the bidding, his likely shape
should consist of at least seven spades,
South West North East probably two hearts since South failed to
pass 4ß double pass open a weak two and three or four cards in
5˙ (all pass) the minors. It is unlikely, however, that
partner would open 4ß with a 7-2-2-2
Opening lead: ∂9 shape, and, therefore, we should credit him
with 7+-2-2/3-1 or 7+-2-1-2/3. We can
What did you play after winning trick deduce that in all likelihood the ∂9 is
one with the queen? indeed a singleton and the only return to
defeat the contract is a low diamond for
The question is how to defeat 5˙. We partner to ruff, thus not setting up any
can see two diamond tricks and since part- minors-suit winners for declarer on which
ner cannot possibly overruff dummy or be to pitch losers in dummy. Here is the com-
credited with a spade or a trump trick, he plete hand:

North
ßA762
˙ A 10 9 5 4
∂K2
çQJ
West East
ß K Q 10 9 8 5 4 ß3
˙82 ˙Q
∂9 ∂ A Q 10 7 6 5
çK54 ç 10 9 8 7 3
South
ßJ
˙KJ763
The author at the market in la bau
∂J843
çA62
Bridge Today • December 2003 page 11

Building Better Mousetraps Are You Thinking Logically?

by Matthew Granovetter by Marshall Miles

Here are three improvements you can

make on three popular conventions.

1. Drury
Do you use 2ç Drury? This leaves you
no bid for a natural two-over-one in clubs.
But you do have available a two-over-one
in diamonds. Shouldn’t it be reversed? If
you play a weak 2∂ bid, your much more
North
likely to hold a long club suit as a passed
ßKQ7
hand than a long diamond suit.
˙AKQJ43
Better Mousetrap: Play 2ç as natural and
∂7
use 2∂ as Drury. Opener rebids his major
çJ82
to show a bare minimum or subminimum.
East (you)
ß J 10 5
2. Weak or Strong Jump Shifts N
˙8
Would you like to play weak jump shifts, W E
∂3 S ∂AKJ8542
but you hate to give up strong jumps? Play
ç 10 6
both! The jump is strong in the bid suit or
weak in the next higher suit. Opener as-
South West North East
sumes the weak version until he hears
1ß pass 2˙ 3∂
otherwise. It doesn’t cover every sequence
pass pass 3ß pass
and, if you’re playing special jumps to the
4ç pass 4 NT pass
three level, you may want to use this idea
5˙ pass 6ß (all pass)
only at the two level.
Opening lead: ∂3
3. Keycard Blackwood for the Jack!
Include the all-important jack in your
You win with the king and declarer plays
keycard response. Use 5NT always to show
the 6. How do you plan the defense? [Solu-
the jack on the way to the six level. Bypass-
tion on next page.]
ing 5NT denies the jack.
Bridge Today • December 2003 page 12

Solution to Are You Thinking Logically?

by Marshall Miles (from previous page)

North Partner cannot have a singleton dia-

ßKQ7 mond. With ∂Q-10-9-6 South surely would
˙AKQJ43 have doubled 3∂ rather than passing. You
∂7 know the spades are breaking, so declarer
çJ82 has five spade tricks, at least one club trick,
West East (you) and six heart tricks if the hearts are break-
ß62 ß J 10 5 ing. Even if partner has five hearts, he will
˙ 10 9 6 5 2 ˙8 be squeezed if you make some innocuous
∂Q93 ∂AKJ8542 play like returning a club (provided South
çQ54 ç 10 6 has either the çK or a sixth spade for his
South opening bid). Declarer will cash three
ßA9843 rounds of trumps, the remaining high club,
˙7 and run the rest of the spades.
∂ 10 6
çAK973

So you should return the ˙8 to cut

declarer’s communication with the dummy.
Declarer can still make his contract if he
leads a low heart at trick three (or trick four
after cashing one high trump). If he does
lead a low heart, you should ruff with an
honor. When South overruffs, he still has
to guess whether to play you for an original
holding of three trumps or a doubleton
honor, in which latter case he would need
to finesse the ß7. He may guess right, but
at least you will make him work for his
contract.

[Editor’s note: East defeats the contract

with a club return when West holds the
çK. But South’s 4ç bid is probably based
on the ace-king.]
Bridge Today • December 2003 page 13

The Best of the Bermuda Bowl

by Barry Rigal

The reporter’s favorite hands (one per day) from the Monte Carlo world team championships.

Day One

Round 1 of the Round-Robin, Deal 12

Adam Wildavsky and Doug Doub were

making their debut for USA II. Adam hit
the ground running, as could be demon-
strated on deal 12.

USAII vs Chinese Taipei

East dealer North (Doub) On the defense of the ∂K lead overtaken

N-S vul ß 10 6 3 with the ace and the ∂J returned to the
˙AQ3 queen and the ∂10, Adam was forced to
∂52 ruff with the ß10.
ç A K Q 10 2
West (Wu) East (Huang) Patrick Huang, back on the Chinese
ß7 ßKQ84 Taipei team after a six-year absence due to
˙762 ˙J85 business commitments (a hero of the origi-
∂ K Q 10 8 7 4 ∂AJ nal 1969 Bermuda Bowl final), discarded a
çJ65 ç9874 heart from the East hand. Adam led a
South (Wildavsky) trump to the 4 and jack, then cashed three
ßAJ952 top clubs pitching two hearts. Now a trump
˙ K 10 9 4 to the ßQ and ßA saw Adam needing a
∂963 trump coup to make his game in this end-
ç3 ing....

Chin-Hsiang Doug Patrick Adam

Wu Doub Huang Wildavsky
West North East South
— — pass pass
3∂ double pass 4ß
(all pass)
Bridge Today • December 2003 page 14

North
ß—
˙AQ3
∂—
ç 10 2 Adam led the ˙K to the
West East ace and then the ç10,
ß— ßK8 ruffed in hand for a grand
N
˙762 W E ˙J8 coup. Now the ˙10 to the
S queen allowed a plain card
∂87 ∂—
ç— ç9 from dummy to score the
South (Adam) ß9 through East’s ßK-8.
ß952
˙ K 10
∂—
ç—

Day 2

Today, in the Seniors’ Teams, I saw a

possible entry for the best bid hand of year.

The Danish team was taking on the Any ideas how to bid to 7ß? East is the
leaders in the event on Tuesday afternoon, dealer and the opponents don’t bid.
Indonesia. Stig Werdelin is playing with his
brother Ole; that left the field clear for West East
Steen Moller (Werdelin’s usual partner) to ß A 10 8 7 4 3 2 ßKJ6
play with Peter Lund. They wrapped up a ˙KQ87 ˙A6
22-8 victory, and the highlight was a ∂ 10 9 ∂AK43
double-figure swing on a hand where Peter ç— ç J 10 5 4
and Steen (a once-a-year partnership) bid a
grand slam with a combined 25 HCP. Full deal on the next page....

Quarterfinal Matches

Bermuda Bowl Venice Cup

Italy vs. Australia China vs. Sweden

USA I vs. Chinese Taipei USA I vs. Chinese Taipei
Poland vs. USA II USA II vs. Canada
Norway vs. Bulgaria Netherlands vs. Germany
Bridge Today • December 2003 page 15

Seniors round 3, second half, board 1.

North dealer North Using a weak notrump range, Lund

None vul ßQ5 opened 1ç and rebid 1NT. Steen Moller
˙J953 relayed with a game forcing 2∂ and then
∂J872 raised to 3ß to make a mild invite to slam.
ç983 Peter Lund accepted with a 4∂ bid that
West (Moller) East (Lund) denied the ace or king in clubs.
ß A 10 8 7 4 3 2 ßKJ6
˙KQ87 ˙A6 Now Moller used keycard and signed off
∂ 10 9 ∂AK43 over the response, which might have been
ç— ç J 10 5 4 zero keycards. Lund was able to accept with
South 6∂, which denied the ßQ (5NT would
ß9 have promised that card) but showed the
˙ 10 4 2 ∂K. Moller, however, knew his partner
∂Q65 held the ßK third (from the 2ß bid) and
çAKQ762 that the partnership had a combined 10-
card trump fit.
Moller Lasut Lund Manoppo
West North East South So Moller bid 7ß, and with trumps 2-1
— — 1ç pass he had 13 tricks without a finesse. In the
1ß pass 1 NT (1) pass other room Indonesia reached the small
2 ∂ (2) pass 2ß pass slam — not so terrible you would have
3ß pass 4 ∂ (3) pass thought, but that was still an 11-imp pick-
4 NT pass 5 ∂ (4) pass up for the Danes.
5ß pass 6 ∂ (5) pass
7ß (all pass)

(1) 15-17
(2) gf checkback
(3) diamond control, no club control
(4) 0 or 3 keycards
(5) three and the ∂K

Semifinal Matches

Bermuda Bowl Venice Cup

Italy vs. Norway China vs. Netherlands

USA I vs. USA II USA I vs. USA II
Bridge Today • December 2003 page 16

Day 3

Defense is a partnership game, but signal-
ling accurately can sometimes be an issue of
one hand taking control. There are none-
theless situations where the opening leader
wants specific information, and part of the
job of a well-tuned partnership is to identify
which position requires a defender to an-
swer questions and which to show the way
on his own.
Match 8 — Board 26.
five-level or higher, or in a bid and sup-
ported suit.) The lead of an ace denies the
king except from A-K doubleton, and re-
quests attitude.
So when a deal of this sort comes along,
West can lead the ∂K and receive a count
5, and now know that it is right to cash a
second diamond and play clubs, to take
whatever top tricks are available before any
mouse might get at them.

South dealer North Playing upside-down signals the position

All vul ß873 is not so clear immediately. When the king
˙A draws the 7 from partner, that could be
∂9642 from doubleton jack or Q-7 as declarer
ç K J 10 7 2 produces the 10. But the second round of
West East the suit sees East echo and clears up any
ß 10 ßQ4 ambiguity. Note that even playing standard
˙J9853 ˙ K Q 10 7 6 signals where the ace suggests ace-king and
∂AK83 ∂Q75 requests attitude, East should discourage at
ç985 çAQ3 trick one. Looking at the çA-Q, East knows
South that whatever the defense does next, the
ßAKJ9652 diamonds can wait.
˙42
∂ J 10 But imagine the actual lie of the cards
ç64 and you will see why (as happened in USAI
vs Netherlands ladies) the diamond echo
South West North East proved fatal; it was admittedly very unlucky
3ß pass 4ß (all pass) for East to find declarer with the precise
doubleton diamond that made the ∂9 good
Every partnership has an agreement on the fourth round of the suit after West
about whether to lead ace or king from an had led out three rounds of diamonds. But
ace-king. But whatever your agreement, and East should also have been concerned that
I am not going to get into that, one thing partner had five diamonds and a doubleton
seems clear to me. When defending to a club when a second round of diamonds
preempt it is often right to lead an unsup- would lose the club ruff. This board re-
ported ace; thus you should lead king from sulted in a 12-imp gain for Netherlands
ace-king and signal count not attitude on when they managed the defense correctly.
that. (Other such positions might be at the The USAI ladies still won the match 16-14.
Bridge Today • December 2003 page 17

Day 4

There are teams representing North America other than the two USA teams. The
Canadian women have recovered from a poor start, while the men have been making great
strides in their effort to qualify for the Quarterfinals, with perhaps the youngest team to
try to achieve this feat for a while.

South dealer North of leading a trump to the king, assuming

Both vul ßQ984 that, as was the case, East would duck to
˙ J 10 9 3 preserve his trump tricks. Now Fergani
∂AKJ9 cashed the ∂Q, played the çA and ruffed a
ç7 club, then took dummy’s diamond winners
West East to pitch the two heart losers. Now came the
ß7 ß A J 10 3 ˙J, and when East smoothly ducked, so did
˙8765 ˙AK4 declarer, pitching a club. With eight tricks
∂ 10 8 5 ∂7643 in the bag, Fergani simply ruffed a heart
ç 10 8 6 4 3 çQ2 and led a winning club leaving East to ruff,
South but declarer was due one more trick what-
ßK652 ever East did.
˙Q2
∂Q2 In the other room Bobby Wolff and Dan
çAKJ95 Morse reached 4ß after a Stayman se-
quence, and Demuy doubled this, re-
Fergani L’Ecuyer doubled by Wolff. When Gavin Wolpert
South West North East (West) found the heart lead declarer was
1ç pass 1˙ double doomed, and when he misguessed trumps
1ß pass 3ß pass he found himself down 1000 — 17 imps to
4ß (all pass) Canada. The back-room analysts revisited
the deal later and found that Fergani had
Opening lead: ∂8 actually rejected a genuine line to make the
hand. (He did not know that West would
Kamel Fergani reached 4ß against the follow to three diamonds, given the MUD
USAII team (who were in the process of lead.) The winning line is to cash three
having an exceptionally poor day), learning diamonds pitching a heart and then to lead
en route that trumps were sure to split a trump; now East can’t cash two hearts, so
poorly. He received a temporary reprieve on he has to duck. Declarer can now play the
a diamond lead, and won in dummy, and çA and ruff a club, transposing into the
immediately made the psychological move winning line.

I just learned from my next door neighbor at the computer, Peter Lund, that Steen
Moller (his partner) found a defense to 3NT on this same deal — a contract that looks easy
to make. They were playing against a strong club pair who reached 3NT by North:
Bridge Today • December 2003 page 18

South dealer ßQ984 Steen (East) found the diamond lead,

Both vul ˙ J 10 9 3 which started to disrupt communications.
∂AKJ9 Declarer won the ∂Q and played the ˙Q,
ç7 taken by Moller, who returned a diamond.
ß7 ß A J 10 3 Declarer won and instead of cashing his
˙8765 ˙AK4 diamonds he played a second heart. Steen
∂ 10 8 5 ∂7643 won again and exited with the çQ. De-
ç 10 8 6 4 3 çQ2 clarer now thought he had a 100% line —
ßK652 he cashed the club winners and threw West
˙Q2 in to cash his two clubs — assuming that
∂Q2 West would only have red-suit cards left,
çAKJ95 since Moller had overcalled 1ß! He was
exceedingly embarrassed to find Peter Lund
South West North East (West) with a spade to play to his partner.
1 ∂* pass 1˙ 1ß
2ç pass 2 NT pass Declarer could have made the hand had
3 NT (all pass) he read the position by leading a spade to
the 8 after taking the çA-K, but Moller was
*could be short happy enough to take his imps.

Day 5

Today’s two deals* show the power of the needed. She took the heart finesse as East
ruff and discard. The first occurred in the split her intermediates, then carefully con-
Netherlands-China match: ceded a spade to cut the defensive commu-
nications — many declarers tried a diamond
ß65 instead and ran into two ruffs. When the
˙K52 defense exited with a club Vriend finessed
∂KQJ98 trumps again, then knocked out the ∂A,
çKQ9 losing only one heart trick.
ß K J 10 9 8 7 ßQ32
˙— ˙Q9843 Note the effect of a third spade at trick 5;
∂ A 10 6 3 ∂2 declarer ruffs in dummy, pitching a dia-
ç873 ç 10 6 4 2 mond, and leads a diamond to West. If the
ßA4 defense take a diamond ruff, declarer wins
˙ A J 10 7 6 the club return in dummy to ruff a dia-
∂754 mond winner, then goes to a top club and
çAJ5 runs diamonds for the trump coup. If the
defense play a fourth spade instead of
Four hearts by Bep Vriend on a spade taking the diamond ruff, declarer ruffs,
lead looked cold, but when Vriend won the cashes three clubs, and exits with a dia-
spade lead and led a trump to the king she mond. East ruffs, but must lead from the Q-
found that more than a little care would be 9 of trump at the end. That ruff and dis-
card would have failed, but on our next
*a double portion of manna since it is getting close to
example it would have succeeded....
Shabbat, after all
Bridge Today • December 2003 page 19

Gawrys and Jassem were sitting N-S. this Though I am not an expert in Polish
was the auction using Polish Club: Club, I understand that South’s 1ß call was
natural and a good hand, but the subse-
ß Q 10 quent auction suggested four spades and
˙32 possibly with longer clubs. Gawrys as South
∂ A 10 9 6 5 had not underbid his hand, particularly
çJ642 since Jassem’s auction did suggest only a
ß8432 ß976 doubleton spade.
˙AJ65 ˙ K Q 10 8 7
∂Q32 ∂J87 On the trump lead found at the table
çA8 ç 10 7 declarer simply knocked-out the çA and
ßAKJ5 claimed, since the heart ruff could be taken
˙94 in dummy. This time the post mortem
∂K4 analysts discovered that one ruff and dis-
çKQ953 card was not enough to set the hand; to
beat 4ß the defense must lead hearts at
West North East South tricks one, two, and three. More than that,
— pass pass 1 ç (12-14 or strong) when in with the çA, they must lead a
double 1 ∂ (5-7) 1˙ 1ß fourth heart for the second ruff and dis-
pass 2ç 2˙ 3ç card.
pass 3ß pass 4ß
(all pass)

Day 6 On this deal from the penultimate round

of the qualifying event, Sweden met Neth-
South dealer North erlands on VuGraph, and an interesting
All vul ß3 defensive problem arose, which was poorly
˙5432 dealt with by most of the field.
∂ A 10 9 8
çQJ63 The normal defense was to lead the ß10
West East to the queen and ace. In the closed room in
ß 10 6 ßKQ9874 the Venice Cup match, declarer led out the
˙A76 ˙8 ˙Q, ducked all round, then West took the
∂Q532 ∂J6 ace and returned a heart. The Swedish
ç 10 9 8 4 çAK75 declarer won and had little option but to
South cash the ∂K and pass a diamond to East.
ßAJ52 By a miracle, East was now forced to give up
˙ K Q J 10 9 a trick, quickly or slowly, in either spades or
∂K74 clubs, and that allowed declarer later to
ç2 guess diamonds and take 10 tricks.

South West North East By trick three the play had already
1˙ pass 3˙ 3ß included two major inaccuracies. To set the
4˙ (all pass) hand West has to take the first heart and
Bridge Today • December 2003 page 20

North pressure in the ending at all, since if de-

ß3 clarer draws all the trumps, the defenders
˙5432 have a spade winner, and if not, West gets
∂ A 10 9 8 the same trump promotion on another
çQJ63 spade play. Equally, West could have set
West East the hand by winning the second heart and
ß 10 6 ßKQ9874 leading a spade. So if the ˙Q is allowed to
˙A76 ˙8 hold, South must switch to clubs. East takes
∂Q532 ∂J6 his king and is again endplayed. He prob-
ç 10 9 8 4 çAK75 ably does best to lead his other top club but
South declarer ruffs and has a number of winning
ßAJ52 options. He can pitch his diamond loser on
˙ K Q J 10 9 the clubs and crossruff, for example.
∂K74
ç2 In the open room the play took a differ-
ent course; West took the first heart and led
return a spade — declarer has to ruff, or the ç10, covered all round. Back came the
East plays a third spade for West to ruff ßK, ruffed in dummy, and declarer drew
with the ˙6, and the defenders have their trump and exited with a diamond to the
fourth winner — and now there is no jack. This is the ending:

ß— from dummy, and East has to discard the

˙— two small club losers, marking him (since he
∂ A 10 9 is known to have the çA for the play thus
çQ63 far) with a 6-1-2-4 shape. Now declarer
ß— ß98 easily picks up the diamonds.
˙— N ˙—
W E
∂Q53 S ∂6 But with East on lead the position is not
ç984 çA75 the same. East exits carefully with a spade
ßJ5 to South’s jack, squeezing dummy in an odd
˙ 10 9 way, since he must pitch a club now. The
∂K7 top heart forces North to pitch a club as
ç— does East. Then on the next trump dummy
lets go the çQ, but East pitches the çA!
Curiously, if South is on lead in this Now declarer has to decide whether East
ending, he does not have to guess diamonds. has a 6-1-3-3 shape with the ∂Q-J-x, and
He can get an exact count on the East hand. even though he is favorite to get the ending
He cashes the heart winners, pitching clubs right, he does have to guess correctly.
Bridge Today • December 2003 page 21

Day 7

In the Venice Cup quarterfinals, the USAI women’s team had their hands full
with Chinese Taipei; the match was virtually level in the fourth set when USA took
the lead for what it transpired would be the final lead-change of the match....

East dealer North Tobi Sokolow had the difficult South

N-S vul ßA43 hand to evaluate, and opted for what might
˙A have appeared to be the rather inconsistent
∂KJ73 approach of passing initially then jumping
çAQJ54 over her partner’s double (which showed
West East extra values). In the other room a slower
ßK85 ß 10 9 auction had led to a contract of two spades,
˙QJ76 ˙K982 which crawled home with eight tricks.
∂AQ5 ∂ 10 6 4 2
ç862 ç K 10 3 On the top heart Tobi guessed to win
South and lead the çA and the çQ — a very
ßQJ762 good view. She ruffed the ˙K return* in
˙ 10 5 4 3 dummy, then ruffed a club to hand to lead
∂98 a diamond to the king and a fourth club, on
ç97 which she pitched a diamond as East
ruffed. This was the ending, with West to
West North East South discard (lower left side of page):
— — pass pass
1˙ double 3˙ pass
pass double pass 4ß *East should return a low heart instead of the king.
(all pass) Then West grabs the ∂A and leads a third round of
hearts. — Anti-editor
Opening lead: ˙Q

ßA4 West elected to discard a heart, so Tobi

˙— could ruff the diamond return, ruff a heart,
∂J73 ruff a diamond, then ruff a heart with the
ç5 ßA, and take one more trick from the ßQ-J
ßK85 ß 10 for her contract.
˙J7 N ˙98
W E
∂AQ S ∂ 10 6 4 In the ending the defense could have
ç— ç— done better. West might have pitched a
ßQJ76 diamond winner, not a heart, and even after
˙ 10 5 her actual choice of the heart discard, a
∂— trump back from East, ducked by West,
ç— would have sunk the contract.
Bridge Today • December 2003 page 22

Day 8 Today’s deal shows Janice Seamon-

Molson in prime form — at 10.30 in the
North dealer North morning no less. The deal comes from the
E-W vul ß A 10 6 2 first set of the match against Chinese
˙AQ74 Taipei, and Janice was sitting East against
∂8 Hu and Gong. Janice made her first good
çAKQJ move when she did not overcall against the
West East Precision Club — how many players do we
ßQJ ßK98753 know who might be that restrained? Ac-
˙86 ˙953 cordingly declarer had no reason to assume
∂ Q 10 9 5 4 3 ∂A2 East had the key outstanding highcards.
ç932 ç87
South Gong became declarer in six hearts on a
ß4 trump lead (often right against three-suited
˙ K J 10 2 auctions), and declarer won in dummy and
∂KJ76 led a diamond. It may be hard to see how a
ç 10 6 5 4 duck could succeed from East’s hand, but
Janice could see that an early diamond trick
West North East South might be essential for declarer — if South
— 1 ç (1) pass 2 ˙ (2) takes ruffs in her hand, she has no entry to
pass 2 ß (3) pass 2 NT (4) it later. Declarer naturally put in the ∂J
pass 3 ˙ (5) pass 4 ç (6) when Janice played low, and a trump back
pass 4 NT (7) pass 5 ç (8) now doomed her. She could ruff out the
pass 6˙ (all pass) diamond ace but needed two spade ruffs in
hand, and when she led the ∂K Janice
(1) strong could ruff for down one.
(2) 1-4-4-4 shape
(3) asking further Note that North had the chance to
(4) minimum flatten the deal (slam made in the other
(5) asking bid in hearts room) by playing six clubs. That slam has
(6) K-J-x-x additional chances because the communica-
(7) Blackwood tions are so much better.
(8) no aces

Venice Cup Winners

Janice Seamon-Molson, Sue

Picus, Jill Levin, Betty Ann
Kennedy, Kathie Wei-
Sender and Tobi Sokolow.
They defeated China in the
final.
Bridge Today • December 2003 page 23

Day 9

Jill Levin played a game to perfection on West North East South

this challenging deal from the VC semi- — pass pass 1˙
finals. pass 1ß pass 2ß
pass 3˙ pass 4˙
North dealer North (Picus) (all pass)
E-W vul ßK9832
˙ A 10 8 Sue Picus might have converted to 4ß —
∂K4 though that contract is far from cold. But
ç532 in 4˙ on a diamond lead, declarer has few
West East successful lines because of the potential for
ßQ4 ß765 a force or ruffs. In fact Jill received an even
˙2 ˙KJ73 more testing defense; on two rounds of clubs
∂ 10 9 8 7 6 3 ∂2 she was already reduced to four trumps.
çAQ97 ç K 10 8 6 4 But after she ruffed the second club, she
South (Levin) followed up with the good idea of playing a
ß A J 10 diamond to the king and a second diamond.
˙Q9654 East pitched a spade (might a club have
∂AQJ5 given declarer the wrong idea?) and Jill won
çJ and led a heart to the ace and a second
heart. East took the king, in this ending....

ßK9832 East led a top club, and Jill pitched a

˙8 diamond, then ruffed the next club in
∂— dummy pitching a spade. Now the ßA and
ç5 a spade to the king produced the trump
ßQ4 ß76 coup. Jill ran the spades and East was toast.
˙— N ˙J7 Note that if East had exited with the low
W E
∂987 S ∂— club instead of the king (threatening a
ç97 ç K 10 8 diamond ruff) Jill could ruff and play a
ß A J 10 winning diamond. When East ruffs and
˙Q9 leads a club declarer ruffs in dummy and
∂QJ can cross back to hand to play the last
ç— trump.
Bridge Today • December 2003 page 24

Day 10 — Board 72

West dealer North (Saelensminde)

None vul ßA8 The penultimate set of the match be-
˙ A 10 3 tween Norway and Italy in their semifinal
∂97 Bermuda Bowl match gave false hope to the
ç A J 10 9 5 4 Scandinavians, as they closed the gap from
West (Versace) East (Lauria) 60 imps down to 5 imps before the Italians
ß974 ß Q J 10 5 2 turned on the after-burner and ran away
˙Q54 ˙KJ987 with the match in the final set.
∂AKQ6 ∂853
ç763 ç— On this deal Saelensminde found an
South (Brogeland) ingenious way to keep East-West out of the
ßK63 auction when he opened a 15-17 notrump
˙62 and jumped to game over his partner’s
∂ J 10 4 2 Staymanic double of 2ç. Versace produced
çKQ82 a — they can’t do that to me! — but
declarer’s meager assets translated into nine
Versace Sael’nde Lauria Brogeland top tricks and that was a comfortable 550,
West North East South so far so bad for the Italians.
pass 1 NT 2 ç* double
pass 3 NT pass pass
double (all pass)

*majors

West dealer North (Fantoni) Helgemo Fantoni Helness Nunes

None vul ßA8 West North East South
˙ A 10 3 1∂ 2ç double 2 NT
∂97 pass 3 NT 4ç double
ç A J 10 9 5 4 4∂ double pass pass
West (Helgemo) East (Helness) redouble pass 4˙ double
ß974 ß Q J 10 5 2 (all pass)
˙Q54 ˙KJ987
∂AKQ6 ∂853 In the other room Helgemo opened his
ç763 ç— hand of power and quality in the West seat
South (Nunes) 1∂. Fantoni overcalled 2ç, and Helness
ßK63 doubled. It looks tough to reach 3NT now,
˙62 but Nunes (South) responded 2NT (stop-
∂ J 10 4 2 pers? I don’t need stoppers!) and Fantoni
çKQ82 raised to game. Now Helness came in with
4ç, and when doubled Helgemo ran to 4∂.
Fantoni doubled and Helgemo redoubled,
letting Helness play in 4˙ doubled....
Bridge Today • December 2003 page 25

West dealer North (Fantoni) necessary. Helness ruffed and led a dia-
None vul ßA8 mond to dummy and a trump to his king,
˙ A 10 3 then advanced the ßQ, ducked round to
∂97 Fantoni’s ace. Back came a second club,
ç A J 10 9 5 4 ruffed by Helness, and a low spade from
West (Helgemo) East (Helness) hand went to Nunes’ king.
ß974 ß Q J 10 5 2
˙Q54 ˙KJ987 At this point the defenders were at the
∂AKQ6 ∂853 crossroads. If Nunes had returned a spade,
ç763 ç— he could have given the ruff and set the
South (Nunes) contract a trick. But he knew that his
ßK63 partner could have played for this defense.
˙62 So his assumption was that maybe his
∂ J 10 4 2 partner had the ˙J instead of the ten; if so
çKQ82 a trump back would allow Fantoni to draw
trumps and run the clubs, for five down!
Helgemo Fantoni Helness Nunes
West North East South Given the result from the other room
1∂ 2ç double 2 NT perhaps Nunes made the right theoretical
pass 3 NT 4ç double play when he returned a trump, but that
4∂ double pass pass left the defense unable to take the ruff.
redouble pass 4˙ double Fantoni did his best when he won his ˙A
(all pass) and played a third club, but Helness ruffed,
led a diamond to dummy to draw the last
The defense did well to my mind to lead trump, and ran the spades for 590 and 15
a club, since a trump might have been imps.

BPT
Prize Money Bridge
$12,000 New York Open

Monday, Dec 29, 1 pm and 7 pm (qualifying rounds)

Tuesday Dec 30, 1 pm and 7 pm (final and consolation)

Entry fee: $100

Phone: 530 274-0923 or go to www.bridgeprotour.com

Bridge Today • December 2003 page 26

Day 11

How many times have you seen a player West dealer North
make a contract (or defeat a hand) when an N-S vul ßKQ54
irrelevant spot card turns out to be a trick, ˙9
and you hear him say: “I would never have ∂AQ95
bid without the six” — or seven‚ as it may çA986
be? Well, when the USA started their recov- West East
ery from 30 imps down in the fourth set ßA82 ß J 10 9 7 3
against Italy, the most unlikely of spot-cards ˙AKQ52 ˙76
turned out to be critical. If you want, you ∂J4 ∂K873
can try to guess which card made the differ- çKJ7 çQ3
ence between success and failure. South
ß6
Meckstroth’s 1˙ bid would always de- ˙ J 10 8 4 3
liver 4+ hearts, so Nunes doubled for take- ∂ 10 6 2
out, and when Rodwell redoubled ç 10 5 4 2
Meckstroth decided to go head-hunting. He
led the ˙K and shifted smartly to a low West North East South
trump to the queen, for a second trump Meckstroth Nunes Rodwell Fantoni
back. Fantoni could see that he did not 1 ç (1) pass 1 ∂ (2) pass
want to open up either pointed suit, so he 1˙ double redouble 2ç
led a third club to Meckstroth, and decided double (all pass)
to make him do the hard work. The ∂J
shift to the queen and king produced this (1) strong
position.... (2) 0-7

ßKQ54 spade from dummy.* When a diamond

˙— came through, Fantoni won the 10, led the
∂A95 ˙10 to the queen and a ruff in dummy,
ç9 then cashed the ∂A and ∂9 to discard his
ßA82 ß J 10 9 7 spade loser. He ruffed a spade, cashed the
˙AQ52 N ˙7 ˙8, and led the ˙4 to trick thirteen, trium-
∂4
W
S
E
∂873 phantly captured by Meckstroth’s ˙5!
ç— ç—
ß6 Since 3NT by the Italian East-West pair
˙ J 10 8 4 had gone one down in the other room, that
∂ 10 6 was a pickup for USA — and it began their
ç 10 climb back that led to their recapturing the
lead by the end of the set.
Rodwell (East) played back a heart, and
Fantoni (South) covered with the jack, *At this point the defense has five tricks. Meckstroth
Meckstroth (West) played the ace, and can cash the setting trick, but maybe he’s playing for
Fantoni did his best when he discarded a two down.
Bridge Today • December 2003 page 27

Day 12

Going into the last 16 deals of the Bermuda Bowl final USA had a 28-imp lead, which
they proceeded to squander in profligate fashion, with Lauria-Versace beating up on
Soloway-Hamman, mostly it must be said because the latter were not playing well. The
Italians took the lead midway through the set, then managed to increase that number by
virtue of a 300 penalty they had extracted in 6ç — which could have been 500, on a deal
where they would have been set at least that number in 5˙.

With two deals to go the Italians’ lead was up to 21 imps. On the penultimate deal
Bocchi-Duboin produced their first poor result of the set; they went one down in 5˙ on a
hand where the hostile distribution meant that 10 tricks were the limit , and Soloway only
made 10 tricks in 4˙ — the swing being 470 points for 10 imps. So 11 imps was the differ-
ence as the final deal came up, and this was a mine-field; last bidder gets the zero, as
Bobby Wolff says.

East dealer North The ßA was ruffed by Rodwell, who

E-W vul ßKQ987 cashed the ˙A and led a diamond. Down
˙7 four meant that +400 combined with a score
∂J3 of +100 at the other table would tie the
çQJ983 match for the USA team. Soloway and
West East Hamman had to score more than 100 to
ßA6543 ß J 10 win the match. In the other room the
˙ K Q 10 8 6 ˙542 auction went:
∂42 ∂A7
çA ç K 10 7 6 4 2 West North East South
South Soloway Versace Hamman Lauria
ß2 — — pass 1∂
˙AJ93 2∂ double 2˙ 3∂
∂ K Q 10 9 8 6 5 pass pass 3˙ 5 ∂ (!)
ç5 double (all pass)

At one table, the Italians reached 4˙. The çA was led. Hamman played an
encouraging ç7 — or was it suit-preference?
West North East South Soloway shifted to the ˙Q. Declarer, given
Bocchi Meckstroth Duboin Rodwell a reprieve (a trump shift would have meant
— — pass 1∂ down three with perfect follow-up defense),
2∂ pass 2˙ 3∂ won the ˙A, ruffed a heart, ruffed a club,
pass pass 3˙ pass led the ˙J to the queen and ruff, and led
4˙ (all pass) the ßK from dummy to the jack, 2, ace.
The defenders still had to score the ∂A, for
A diamond was led to the ace. Duboin a tie in the match. But there was also a
led a trump to the king and a low spade. losing heart in the South hand, and down
Meckstroth won and returned a diamond. two would mean 200 points and a win for
Rodwell won and led the ˙9 to the queen. the USA.
Bridge Today • December 2003 page 28

North one spade and four hearts (Hamman had

ßQ987 played up the line in hearts — ˙2, ˙4, ˙5
˙— — and perhaps Soloway was expecting to
∂— see the ˙2, ˙5, ˙4 from a three-card hold-
çQJ9 ing, with the ˙2 attitude and the ˙5-˙4
West (Soloway) East (Hamman) remainder count). In any event, Soloway led
ß654 N ß 10 a spade now instead of trying to cash the
˙ 10 8 W E ˙— heart trick, and now the story gets murky!
S
∂42 ∂A7
ç— ç K 10 6 4 Bob Hamman tells me that when
South (Lauria) Soloway returned a spade Lauria reached
ß— out and played the ß7 from dummy, and
˙9 when Hamman produced the 10 Lauria
∂ K Q 10 9 6 5 recoiled and said that he had actually
ç— played the queen — which of course is the
only logical bridge play. But who is logical
Versace (North), as dummy, had already on the last deal of a close match where you
left the table (perhaps to see the scores). have come from behind and think you may
Now Soloway thought his partner had only already have won?

East dealer North The director logically agreed with the

E-W vul ßKQ987 two defenders at the table, who agreed that
˙7 declarer had played the ß7. The appeals
∂J3 committee saw no reason to overturn this
çQJ983 decision just because the ß7 was a (clear)
West East blunder. The rule is: Any card in dummy
ßA6543 ß J 10 played by declarer is a played card. So
˙ K Q 10 8 6 ˙542 declarer had to lose a heart trick for down
∂42 ∂A7 two and the USA won 12 imps on the deal
çA ç K 10 7 6 4 2 and won the match by one imp. Had they
South won only 11 imps for this affair the match
ß2 would have gone to extra boards.
˙AJ93
∂ K Q 10 9 8 6 5 Those people who prefer not to have
ç5 appeals committees would not be happy
either, since the director would have had to
Some of the spectators thought that decide what to do. Was this good or bad for
Lauria followed with the ß7 under the bridge? Well, as the last deal was being
impression that Soloway had cashed a played I thought it was the most exciting
heart. One person suggested that Lauria match I’d ever seen. As it was, I’m left with
thought all the spades in dummy were now a bad taste in my mouth, but what could
high. Some people saw the announcer on the organizers do? They had to decide
the video screen actually say “the spade something, and from my position of relative
seven” and crossed off that card — I can’t ignorance I thought the director and com-
be sure. mittee made the only decision they could.
Bridge Today • December 2003 page 29

Some Thoughts on the “Worthless” Doubleton

by Dick Henry, Lewisburg, PA

We’ve all been taught that a small Holding Points (4321) Tricks P/T ratio
doubleton in a side suit is worth one point AKx xx 8 3 2.7
at a trump contract. That suggests it’s worth AQx xx 7 2.5 2.8
no more than a jack, or half as much as a KQx xx 6 2 3.0
queen. But why? Is there a technical reason, Axx xx 5 2 2.5
or is this just an empirical estimate? More to Kxx xx 4 1.5 2.7
the point, can we do better? Qxx xx 3 1 3.0

To discover a useful average value for a
small doubleton, one we can use during the
bidding, let’s look at the number of tricks
we can take with various three-card hold-
ings opposite the doubleton. I’ll consider the
six most likely three-card holdings, namely,
AKx, AQx, KQx, Axx, Kxx, and Qxx,
omitting AKQ and xxx. Notice that the
addition of a jack to any of these holdings
does not increase the number of tricks in
this suit when the holding faces a
doubleton!
Notice that the ratio of points to tricks
varies from a high of 3.0 for KQx or Qxx
opposite xx, to a low of 2.5 for Axx opposite
xx.
Bridge players have been counting one
point for a doubleton for at least 60 years.
Also, the P/T ratio for these holdings oppo-
site a doubleton is just about the same as
the overall P/T ratio for a game contract
(26 points for 10 tricks is 2.6 points per
trick.) So what’s the big deal?

In the table that follows, I include a
column for the total points of the combined
holding, including the usual one point for
the small doubleton, and a column for the
expected number of tricks that can be taken
in the suit. I also include a column for the
ratio of points to tricks. The lower the ratio
the better, because that means fewer points
are needed to take a given number of tricks.
The big deal is that we can do much
better! As I show next, it’s possible to
achieve a uniform value of P/T for a small
doubleton opposite the six holdings above.
Strangely, the problem is not with the value
we assign to the doubleton (no other value
assigned to a doubleton would give a more
consistent set of P/T values), but rather
with the points we assign to honors!
Bridge Today • December 2003 page 30

Instead of using the hallowed 4-3-2-1 North

system, let’s see what happens with a 3-2-1 ßKQxx
system. That is, three points for an ace, two ˙xx
for a king, and one for a queen, along with ∂Axxx
one point for a doubleton. In this scheme çKxx
there are only six high-card points per suit,
24 in the entire deck. South
ßAxxxx
Here is the corresponding table for the ˙KQx
same holdings as before, but with ace = ∂xx
three, king = two, queen = one and xx = one. çAxx
Only the numbers in the second and fourth
columns have changed. Here, North has 9 points (of the 3-2-1
variety) including one for the doubleton
Holding Points (321) Tricks P/T ratio heart and South has 10, including one for
AKx xx 6 3 2 the doubleton diamond, for a total of 19, a
AQx xx 5 2.5 2 half-trick more than we need for a spade
KQx xx 4 2 2 game. With normal breaks, the hands
Axx xx 4 2 2 produce 10 tricks half the time (when the
Kxx xx 3 1.5 2 ˙A is with West and is not led) and 11
Qxx xx 2 1 2 tricks half the time (when the ˙A is with
East, so that the hearts provide a club dis-
Remarkably, the points per trick ratio is card from dummy).
precisely 2 for all six holdings! Does that
ratio of 2 points required for each trick won Could such remarkable precision be why,
apply also to an entire deal? For example, in the last couple of years, I’m seeing occa-
do you need 20 points, including distribu- sional references to a 3-2-1 point count? My
tion, to make 10 tricks? No! You usually first encounter was in Anders Wirgren’s
need only 18 points for a good shot at 10 “Scania” dealing program. By the way, if
tricks, 20 points for 11 tricks, and 22 points you used a 1.5-1-0.5 point evaluation sys-
for 12 tricks (given enough controls)! tem, the points per trick ratio would be 1.0,
which seems even more sensible to me.
I’ll show just one example:

Coming in the January Issue:

The Jazziest and Spiciest Hands

from New Orleans
Bridge Today • December 2003 page 31

The Switch in Time Forum

Questions and Answers based on the defense-signaling book, A Switch in Time, now available
exclusively by e-book as part of club membership at Bridgetoday.com

From San Francisco: card from West. What do you think?

We had this problem in a swiss teams.
Answer
South dealer North No doubt West was influenced by the
All vul ßK85 3ß bid and thought that East was much
˙754 more likely to hold five spades and three
∂ Q 10 8 7 hearts than 4-4. We don’t think the ˙K
ç 10 8 6 switch is right, because West may not hold
West East the ˙A, and later, if West holds for ex-
ß J 10 4 2 ßAQ97 ample the ∂A, he won’t know what to do.
˙AQJ93 ˙K862
∂J93 ∂542 Some play that when dummy has three
çQ çKJ little, and you are over dummy, you switch
South to third and fifth leads. This doesn’t work,
ß63 however, because the ˙6 switch could be
˙ 10 from K-8-6 or K-8-6-2. A more clear ˙8
∂AK6 (showing an even number) is preferable, but
çA975432 this assumes West can distinguish between
East holding a doubleton or four hearts,
South West North East which isn’t clear at all on this hand.
2 ç* pass 3ç pass
pass double pass 3ß Another idea is for East to switch to the
4ç (all pass) ˙K from king-third only (or doubleton
king). Then the ˙2 switch would eliminate
*Precision the possibility of king-third and West
would know that East has king-fourth from
Opening lead: ßJ the switch. Still another method is for the
opening leader not to lead the jack from
I was East and bid 3ß rather than 3˙, five cards, but always lead low from five.
because if South bid 4ç, I preferred a spade We think the combination of these last two
lead. Declarer covered the ßJ with the “rules” will help. To sum up:
king. I won the ace and returned the ˙2
(we play fourth best). My partner won and (1) Never lead the jack from five to the
tried to cash another heart trick. So declarer jack-ten. Lead low instead.
ruffed, cashed the çA and led four rounds (2) Return the king from K-x or K-x-x.
of diamonds, discarding his second spade —
making four. My partner suggested to me If readers have any other ideas for this
that I lead the ˙K at trick two for a count difficult hand, please write in!
Bridge Today • December 2003 page 32

Hand of the Month

by Pamela Granovetter

East dealer North The last deal in the Bermuda Bowl was
E-W vul ßKQ987 surely the hand of the month, if not the
˙7 year. The American team came from be-
∂J3 hind to win 12 imps and win the champi-
çQJ983 onship by the smallest possible margin —
West East one imp. See pages 27-28 for a full report.
ßA6543 ß J 10
˙ K Q 10 8 6 ˙542 I’d like to focus here on the “destiny”
∂42 ∂A7 factor. Perhaps some will call it “luck.” In
çA ç K 10 7 6 4 2 either case, the American team overcame
South great odds to win 12 imps on this hand.
ß2 Look at what had to happen:
˙AJ93
∂ K Q 10 9 8 6 5 1. North had to make an aggressive
ç5 double of 2∂.

West North East South 2. South had to make an incredible jump

Soloway Versace Hamman Lauria to 5∂ over 3˙.
1∂ 2∂ double 2˙
3∂ pass pass 3˙ 3. North had to leave the table, which
5∂ double (all pass) forced declarer to play the dummy himself.

4. On the fatal trick, South had to play

the ß7 from dummy instead of the queen.

North 5. Finally, East had to hold the ß10,

ßKQ987 which was 4-to-1 odds against! The reason
˙7 for this is that when the ßK was led off
∂J3 dummy, Hamman had to play the jack from
çQJ983 any jack-doubleton. He had to give count,
West East and as most of us know, in this situation a
ßAxxxx ßJx small card from East would guarantee a
˙ K Q 10 8 6 ˙542 singleton spade. Therefore, East could hold
∂42 ∂A7 any of five cards under the jack. When
çA ç K 10 7 6 4 2 Lauria played the ß7 at the next trick, it
South was an “unitentional” finesse that was 80%
ß2 odds to work.
˙AJ93
∂ K Q 10 9 8 6 5 All in all, don’t you think the Americans
ç5 were destined to win this one?