August 2007

♠
♥
♦
♣

Editor: Matthew Granovetter

The Magazine for People Who Love to Play Bridge

Building Better Mousetraps

Seven practical conventions for summer experimentation — page 13

2 The Red Pencil 18 The Wizards of Aus

Time to get rid of: by Ron Klinger
Diamond Suit By-Passes!
25 Bridge History
4 Among Friends It Happened 70 Years Ago
by Anders Wirgren by Pietro Campanile
The analysis of a partscore hand
based on the author’s Swedish 28 Sputnik (part 2)
methods and SST formula from the Al Roth archives

8 European Open Championships: 30 Summer Reading With Hugh

A Study in Squeeze Technique Kelsey

NOTICE: Please share this issue of Bridge Today eMagazine with your partner. Better still, give him a
subscription of his own. You’ll be glad you did. He will thank you each month and he will become a better
player. Subscriptions are $33 per year for 12 monthly issues or packaged with a Bridgetoday.com $59.95
club membership. Thank you! — Matthew and Pamela Granovetter
Bridge Today • August 2007 page 2

The Red Pencil

by Matthew Granovetter

Frequently bypass 1∂

Politically correct bidding has most of the You LHO Partner RHO
bridge world checking on their convention — — 1♣ pass
card: frequently bypass diamond suit. ?

This occurs when your side has opened You: ♠ A x x x ♥ x x ♦ Q J 10 x x x ♣ x

1♣ and the next hand passes. Then re-
sponder, with five or six diamonds and a
four-card major, responds in the major. He
does this only with a weak hand. With a
game forcing hand or, sometimes with a
10-11 point hand, he responds 1♦. The
purpose of this method is to find that ma-
jor-suit fit early, before that nasty fourth
hand overcalls or jump overcalls in the
other major. This is the stated purpose.
I don’t believe it, however. I believe the
person who made up this convention did so
because he was playing professionally with
a weak partner and he wanted to grab the
major suit ASAP before his partner got his
mits on the dummy.
OK, I’m a skeptic. But let me show you
a few examples of why this method is not
only poor strategy but can also cause hor-
rible results.
The auction starts:
You respond 1♠, because you were told
to do this by the local authorities of bid-
ding, who heard about it in the men’s room.
“This is a one-bid hand,” someone says later
in the postmortem. Well, there’s a new cli-
che’ — or is that impossible? Anyway, this
is not a one-bid hand. You bid 1♠ and now
partner bids 2♣. The auction has gone:
You LHO Partner RHO
— — 1♣ pass
1♠ pass 2♣ pass
?
Since 2♦ is forcing (and probably some
other convention), you must pass 2♣ and
your partner plays it with:
♠Kx ♥Axx ♦Ax ♣Kxxxxx
The ♣A is onside, so he is only down
one. Strange, but you can make 130 in dia-
monds. Never mind. Who cares about that.
Bridge Today • August 2007 page 3

The prosaic auction at the prosaic table respond 1♠. Partner gives you 4♦, splinter.
was: Wow. This is great. But still, not enough
You LHO Partner RHO potatoes for slam here. So you bid 4♠ and
— — 1♣ pass partner passes. The opening lead is the ♥Q
1♦ 1♥ 2♣ pass and dummy comes down:
2♦ (all pass)
♠AJxx
♥Kxx
The more stereo-type bypass example is ♦x
the one with hearts: ♣AKQJx
♥Q
♠ x x x ♥ J 10 x x ♦ K Q x x x ♣ x ♠Qxxx
♥xxx
Over 1♣, you respond 1♥, for surely ♦AJxxx
you have a one-bid hand. Now if they ♣x
jump into the auction with spades, you and
partner are well placed to compete in your Gulp. Oops. Well...uh, duh.
jack-fourth suit.
Down one is good bridge and you did ev-
OK, suppose partner has this hand: erything right, right? Except the 90-year old
guy in the corner responded 1♦ to 1♣ and
♠xx ♥Axx ♦Axx ♣KQJxx then raised his partner’s spades. For some
reason, he scored 650 on the hand. What a
If he opens 1♣ and hears you respond surprise — the hand played better from the
1♥, and his RHO chimes in with 2♠, is he strong side.
well placed?
If you’re not convinced by now, let’s look
In fact, he is well placed for nothing. If at one last example. You hold vul vs. not:
he bids 3♥, a risky call, he will get a zero. ♠xx ♥9xxx ♦Qxxxx ♣Ax
Not so, however, if you had responded in
your king-queen fifth suit! You might even Over 1♣, you respond 1♥, before they
make 3♦, a better score than -110 in two jump in there with spades. It goes 1♠ over-
spades. Notice, please, that I gave opener call and partner makes a support double.
equal length and values in the two red (You haven’t red-pencilled that one yet, but
suits. It was your perverted 1♥ bid that you should.) Over the double, RHO looks
caused you to miss your diamond fit. at the vulnerability and sees that you are
and they are not. But he’s wily. He passes!
OK, these examples are unfair. Let’s try
one where opener has a nice big fit for the You LHO Partner RHO
major.... — — 1♣ pass
1♥ 1♠ double pass
You hold: ?
♠Qxxx ♥xxx ♦AJxxx ♣x
So you bid...you bid...err...
Partner opens 1♣ and you dutifully See you next month.
Bridge Today • August 2007 page 4

Among Friends

by Anders Wirgren, Limhamn, Sweden

Recently I played an imp match against with a five-card major are perfectly accept-
four good friends. Or so I thought. I have able.
met them many times before and according
to the statistics I was a three-to-one favorite You may find the latter part strange, but
to win the match. But not this time! Now, it works well in practice. The reason is that
they were just terrible against me, winning a balanced 5-3-3-2 hand has not much
by 90 imps over 28 boards. And they call playing strength, so starting low often works
themselves “friends”… to your advantage. If you instead open
with your major suit, the bidding will often
In spite of the big loss, I enjoyed the escalate. If you play 2-over-1 game forcing,
match because of many interesting boards. I you have to find a second bid both after a
found this one especially fascinating. two-level response and one notrump (if it is
forcing). We don’t have such problems. Our
North dealer North one club opening slows things down – and
E-W vul ♠J642 it has worked very well for us.
♥A942
♦853 A Swedish Idea
♣64 Here, West doubled for take-out, and my
West East partner responded one diamond, transfer to
♠ A Q 10 5 ♠73 hearts. Many people play transfer responses
♥ J 10 8 7 ♥3 after a take-out double nowadays, but we
♦Q64 ♦J972 do it even without the double. Incidentally,
♣K2 ♣A98753 a couple of the very best Italian pairs use
South similar methods, so it can’t be that bad. But
♠K98 if you think I have stolen the idea from
♥KQ65 them you are wrong — I am pretty certain
♦ A K 10 that nobody used transfer responses to one
♣ Q J 10 club with or without intervention earlier
than I did. Incidentally, the transfer idea
I was South, and after two passes, I originally comes from Sweden, when Olle
opened one club, natural or a balanced Willner presented the idea in a series of
hand, outside the strength for a one- articles in the Swedish magazine Bridgetid-
notrump opening (either 11-14 or 18-20 ningen in the early 1950’s.
HCP). With the balanced type, notrumpish
5-4-2-2-hands (with any suits) or 5-3-3-2 Anyway, after pass from East, I had a
Bridge Today • August 2007 page 5

choice. With four-card support for partner’s lead in hand and made sure of my seven
major and the strong balanced type I could tricks by leading the ♣Q from hand. West
jump to three diamonds, artificial, to show won the trick and played back the ♥8, hop-
exactly that type. But it also requires me to ing his partner had Q-x of hearts left.
have a maximum hand,* which I didn’t, so
my only option was to rebid one notrump, No such luck: East parted with a spade.
showing 18-20 HCP. Had I had 11-14 I played a second club to East, who got out
balanced, I would have rebid one heart with the ♦J (a low one would have been
(showing a weak notrump and any number better, but he hoped for A-Q-10 opposite). I
of hearts) or two hearts (a maximum weak won, finessed in hearts, and played a spade
notrump with four [or five] hearts and a to the king. West ducked, won the second
doubleton). Had one club been based on spade, exited in hearts but was put in in
a club suit, I would have rebid naturally, spades for a diamond up to my tenace.
like two clubs or one spade with spades and Making three.
clubs, etc.
After the deal East said “Maybe I should
North dealer North have bid two clubs.” That would indeed
E-W vul ♠J642 have been a good idea, since they can take
♥A942 nine tricks in clubs, and even if I bid two
♦853 hearts over that, East-West will go plus on
♣64 the board: on a club led they get two club
West East tricks, two spade tricks, a spade ruff and a
♠ A Q 10 5 ♠73 late heart trick. So even if we located our
♥ J 10 8 7 ♥3 4-4 heart fit, playing in notrump was the
♦Q64 ♦J972 thing to do.
♣K2 ♣A98753
South (Anders) Will a diamond opening lead do it?
♠K98
♥KQ65 At first it looks like two hearts played by
♦ A K 10 South is also defeated on a low diamond
♣ Q J 10 lead from West. If South draws one round
of trumps, then plays on clubs, East can win
West North East South the first trick and fire back a diamond so
— pass pass 1♣ that the defense has two spade tricks, one
double 1♦ pass 1 NT heart trick, one diamond trick and two club
(all pass) tricks, for one down.

Opening lead: ♥J Not so fast! If declarer times the contract,

a diamond lead isn’t enough. First, declarer
It went all pass over one notrump, and captures East’s jack with the ace, draws one
West led the ♥J. It looked like we had done round of trumps only and plays the ♣Q....
the right thing by staying low, so I won the

*By “maximum,” the author means a maximum 18-

20! — editor
Bridge Today • August 2007 page 6

♠J642 West for a second time, and South gets a

♥A94 trick with his ♠K.
♦85
♣64 The New Way
♠ A Q 10 5 ♠73 Have you wondered why North-South
N
♥ J 10 8 W E ♥— can take only seven tricks in hearts against
S
♦Q6 ♦972 best defense, while East-West take nine in
♣K2 ♣A98753 clubs?
♠K98
♥Q65 Did I hear you say “according to the
♦ K 10 Law.” I hope not. Because that is only a
♣ Q J 10 pseudo answer. It does not address the key
question, namely why the two sides take so-
West ducks (best) and East wins the trick and-so many tricks.
with the ace. A diamond is returned to the
king and a second club is led to West, who And, besides, how come there aren’t
can cash his diamond trick. But what shall fewer total tricks than trumps when there
he do after that? are two minor honor problems on this very
deal? South’s club honors are useless in a
This is the position: heart contract (he doesn’t lose more tricks
if his own clubs were three small) but they
♠J642 take one trick on defense against a club
♥A94 contract. And the same is true for West’s
♦— hearts: swap the ten or the jack for one of
♣— North-South’s small hearts and they will be
♠ A Q 10 5 ♠73 useless in both a heart and club contract.
N
♥ J 10 8 W E ♥— So the fact that trumps equal tricks is pretty
S
♦— ♦9 odd, isn’t it? Wouldn’t the likely outcome
♣— ♣9875 be two tricks less than trumps under such
♠K98 circumstances? Or have I missed something?
♥Q65
♦— No, I haven’t, but the Law of total tricks
♣ 10 has. Now, I will tell you the truth about
the deal, and I will tell you more than the
The defense would indeed get three more Law addicts are capable of. I will show why
tricks if any of the other three players were each side takes its number of tricks. And I
on lead, but not when West has the ”plea- will do so by concentrating on the two most
sure” of leading first to the next trick. He is important factors, distribution and relevant
the victim of an unusual endplay and will honors, by using the method outlined in
eventually lose one of his “sure” tricks. my and Mike Lawrence’s book “I Fought
The Law of Total Tricks.”
A heart gives up his trump trick, so it
won’t do. It looks safe to exit with a low
spade. But it is only solves West’s problems
temporarily. South puts up the jack, and (Continued on next page)
plays three rounds of hearts, endplaying
Bridge Today • August 2007
♠J642
♥A942
♦853
♣64
♠ A Q 10 5 ♠73
♥ J 10 8 7 N ♥3
W E
♦Q64 S ♦J972
♣K2 ♣A98753
♠K98
♥KQ65
♦ A K 10
♣ Q J 10
Each sides’ distribution is measured by
their two shortest side-suits.* North had a
doubleton club, while South has 4-3-3-3.
Their SST (short suit total) is therefore 5 (3
+ 2). That means that if nothing bad hap-
pens, they will lose five tricks if they have
half the deck in working honors. For every
extra 3 WP (working points) they will re-
duce their loser count by one. Since North-
South have 23 HCP, one may think they
should lose four tricks, but they don’t. And
the reason is that some of their high-card
points aren’t working. In fact, their 23 HCP
are more than a bit less than 23 WP.
After two rounds of clubs, two spade
tricks and a spade ruff, and an unexpected
trump loser (bad trump split), North-South
only take seven tricks.
Now, let’s see how many WP North-
South have. In spades they have 4 HCP,
but since they were ruffed away, they
*To clarify: The shortest two suits could be both
in one hand or in different hands. For example, if
South held a doubleton diamond, the SST would be
4, counting the doubleton club in the North hand
and doubleton diamond in the South hand. In the
actual case, North’s doubleton club counts as 2 and
you may count North’s tripleton diamond or either
of South’s tripletons as 3.
page 7
weren’t worth anything. In hearts they
have 9 HCP. That is 9 WP. In diamonds
they have 7 HCP. Another 7 WP. And in
clubs they have 3 HCP. Most of the time,
queen-jack opposite a doubleton isn’t worth
anything (since you have two losers any-
way), but here the club trick took care of
one diamond loser, so North-South did in
fact have 3 WP in clubs. All in all 19 WP.
That is “half the deck in working points,”
so they have the potential for eight tricks
(only losing as many tricks as their SST,
which is 5) – but with trumps breaking 4-1,
and the ruff in the defenders’ short hand,
North-South ran into some unpredictable
bad luck, which no system of estimation
can anticipate. Had trumps been 3-2, as
they usually are (or if the ruff had been in
the long hand, or if East had held the ten
or jack singleton), the formula’s estimation
would have been spot on. Now it is one less
trick, since we lose an unexpected trump
trick.
For East-West the calculation is even
easier. They have 6 HCP in spades. With
the king onside that is 6 WP. In hearts the
jack isn’t worth anything. In diamonds they
have 3 HCP, which can be used to develop
tricks in the suit. That is 3 WP. And in
clubs they have 7 HCP. All in all 16 WP.
But when it comes to distribution, they are
better equipped than North-South. Their
two shortest suits are 3 (two spades and one
heart). Since their strength is 3 WP less
than average (19-21 WP), we will add one
loser to their SST. So, instead of losing three
tricks (their short suit total), they lose four.
13-4 = 9, and nine tricks they take. QED.
If you are interested in learning more
about this new way of estimation, please
take a look at our home page www.new-
bridgelaw.com, where you can learn more
about the method and also order the book.
Bridge Today • August 2007 page 8

European Open Championships

by Matthew Granovetter

This tournament was held in June, in This was the full deal:
Antalya, Turkey. It was open to anyone,
whether you reside in Europe or not. Play- East dealer North (Lilo)
ers from Israel and Bulgaria did especially E-W vul ♠54
well. The Mixed Teams was won by Heath- ♥ 10 9 6 5 3
er and Jeremy Dhondy of England and ♦J83
Matilda and Lilo Poplilov of Israel (both ♣753
immigrants from Bulgaria!). Rosen Gunev West East
and Dessislava Popova, of Bulgaria, won ♠AJ82 ♠KQ976
the Mixed Pairs. The Open Teams went to ♥QJ7 ♥AK
Michel and Thomas Besis of France, and ♦— ♦K96
Eldad Ginossar and Ron Pachman of Israel. ♣AKJ982 ♣ Q 10 6
The Open Pairs was won by Victor Aronov South
and Julian Stefanov of Bulgaria. The Neth- ♠ 10 3
erlands’ Carla Arnolds and Bep Vriend won ♥842
the Women’s Pairs and Teams, along with ♦ A Q 10 7 5 4 2
Jet Pasman, Anneke Simons, Marion Mich- ♣4
ielsen and Meike Wortel. The Senior teams
went to Amos Kaminski and Sam Lev of West North East South
New York, along with Yehayahu Levit, Pin- — — 1♠ 3♦
chas Romik, Rami Sheinman and Adrian 5♦ 7♣ double pass
Schwartz, of Israel. Finally, the Senior Pairs pass 7♦ double (all pass)
were won by Patrick Grenthe and Philippe
Vanhoutte of France. Lilo’s 7♣ was based on the idea that he
was giving his partner a lead against 7♠,
In the Open Teams, Lilo Poplilov, of Tel should East-West bid it. Was he void in
Aviv, won 11 imps when he picked up: clubs? This may have been what East and
♠ 5 4 ♥ 10 9 6 5 3 ♦ J 8 3 ♣ 7 5 3. West were thinking when they allowed
North-South to play in the 7♦ sacrifice.
He was favorable and heard the bidding Declarer lost two spades, three hearts, one
go 1♠ on his left, 3♦ by partner, 5♦ on his diamond and one club, for down seven,
right! What would you do? 1700. Lilo’s teammates bid to 7♠, for 2210,
and the 510 swing was worth 11 imps.
Bridge Today • August 2007 page 9

Squeeze Gems ♠Q
The following hands, all squeezes, are ♥—
more eloquent than the first hand present- ♦43
ed. Squeeze number one, from the Mixed ♣ 10
Teams, was a classic Vienna Coup: ♠J76 ♠K
N
♥— W E ♥—
S
East dealer North ♦9 ♦ J 10 6
N-S vul ♠ Q 10 8 ♣— ♣—
♥QJ4 ♠—
♦A43 ♥—
♣ 10 8 4 3 ♦KQ7
West East ♣7
♠J765 ♠K32
♥ 10 9 8 2 ♥K763 On the ♣10, East was squeezed.
♦98 ♦ J 10 6 5
♣AQ5 ♣96 Question: Would it have helped West if
South (Lilo) he had not cashed the last heart trick?
♠A94 Let’s see. UNDO! Let’s put back the four
♥A5 cards to that trick and the spade trick and
♦KQ72 the third club trick….
♣KJ72
♠ Q 10 8
West North East South ♥—
— — pass 1 NT ♦43
pass 3 NT (all pass) ♣ 10 8
♠J765 ♠K32
Opening lead: ♥10 ♥8 N ♥6
W E
♦9 S ♦ J 10 6
Lilo was behind the wheel. He covered ♣5 ♣—
the heart lead and East produced the king. ♠A9
Lilo won the ace, led a diamond to the ace ♥—
and a club to the jack and queen. Back ♦KQ7
came a heart. Lilo ducked once and won ♣72
the next round, throwing a spade from
hand. He then led a club to the king and West does not cash the ♥8. Instead he
ace. West cashed a heart trick for book, as exits with a safe club. Declarer wins the 8
declarer threw a second spade. West exited in dummy as East throws a spade. Declarer
with a spade to the ace, which only took must now play the ♣10, squeezing East out
away declarer’s pleasure of unblocking the of his ♥6. Then three rounds of diamonds
♠A himself. He then led a club to dummy endplays East! Perhaps East should throw
and cashed the last club: both little spades on the clubs. But then
declarer knows, after cashing the diamonds,
that East has a heart left (West would have
cashed two heart tricks if he had them) and
only one spade. So declarer would be forced
to try the ♠A, dropping the king.
Bridge Today • August 2007 page 10

Our next squeeze, from the same event, ♠—

was a non-simultaneous double squeeze, ♥ A K Q 10 8
performed by two players at their respective ♦—
tables, Andrzej Jeleniewsky of Poland and ♣4
Mohammed Heshmat of Egypt: ♠— immaterial
♥97432 N
W E
South dealer North ♦— S

N-S vul ♠A3 ♣K

♥ A K Q 10 8 ♠ J 10
♦832 ♥J
♣A64 ♦4
West East ♣QJ
♠6 ♠KQ98752
♥97432 ♥65 On the led of the ♦4, West is finished.
♦A96 ♦5
♣ K 10 9 7 ♣852 But both declarers, afraid that East might
South hold only six spades for his favorable pre-
♠ J 10 4 empt, chose to play top hearts after the ♠A.
♥J On the second heart a spade was discarded,
♦ K Q J 10 7 4 but on the third heart East ruffed with the
♣QJ3 ♦5. Declarer overruffed and drove out the
♦A. West won the second diamond and
In both cases, East had preempted in exited with his ♦9. Declarer then ran his
spades and South landed in 6♦. West led diamonds again, coming down to this posi-
the ♠6. tion:
♠—
Declarer can attempt to make the hand ♥ 10 8
in simple fashion by playing West for a ♦—
singleton spade and the ♦A. He wins in ♣A64
dummy and leads a trump, reserving the ♠— ♠KQ
N
heart suit for discards later. ♥97 W E ♥—
♦— S ♦—
Against this, West might win the ♦A and ♣ K 10 9 ♣852
shift to a club, preventing declarer from ♠J
unblocking the ♥J and scoring five heart ♥—
tricks. Declarer can counter by finessing or ♦4
— much better — by going up with the ♣A ♣QJ3
and setting up our familiar Vienna Coup!
He runs diamonds, squeezing West out of On the ♦4, West was squeezed and had
his fifth heart: to throw a club. Declarer made the excel-
lent discard of the ♥8 and East threw a
spade:
Bridge Today • August 2007 page 11

♠— Now back to real life:

♥ 10
♦— East dealer North
♦A64 None vul ♠ A Q 10 8 2
♠— ♠K ♥72
N
♥97 W E ♥— ♦ 10 5
♦— S ♦— ♣ A 10 8 5
♣ K 10 ♣852 West East
♠J ♠J74 ♠K863
♥— ♥Q ♥9853
♦— ♦KQJ932 ♦A8
♣QJ3 ♣QJ2 ♣643
South (Nick)
Now the ♣Q was led. West had to cover. ♠5
The ♣A won the trick and now the ♥10 ♥ A K J 10 6 4
squeezed East! ♦764
♣K97
So far we’ve seen a Vienna Coup and
Double Squeeze, but hang onto your hat. West North East South
Here is a unique version of a Transfer — — pass 1♥
Squeeze by Nick Sandqvist (formerly of 2♦ 2♠ 3♦ 3♥
Sweden, now in England). It is unique in pass 4♥ (all pass)
that the transfer occurred after the squeeze!
To illustrate, in a transfer squeeze, you Opening lead: ♦K
transfer the menace, usually early in the
hand: East won the first trick with the ♦A
♠xx and returned a diamond. West won and
♥Jxxxx led a third diamond, ruffed with the ♥7
♦ Q 10 and overruffed with the 8. East returned
♣ A 10 x a trump at trick four and declarer judged
well to play the ace, dropping the queen.
♠AK Nick drew trumps and thought something
♥AKQxxxx like the following: “I can make this hand on
♦Ax a spade finesse, but East’s raise to 3♦ on a
♣Kx doubleton ace suggests he has another high
honor in his hand, i.e., the ♠K.”
For example, let us say you are in 7NT
and you want to squeeze West who has the Declarer can make the contract on a
♣Q-J along with the ♦K. You cash the ♦A transfer squeeze. He goes to the ♠A and
and run all your cards, squeezing West, you leads the ♠Q, ruffing out East’s king. Then
hope. But if you think the ♦K is with East, he leads his last trump, squeezing West
you first go to dummy in hearts and lead down to three cards. West cannot keep both
the ♦Q. East covers with the king and you the ♠J and the ♣Q-J-2.
have transferred the menace in diamonds to
West, if he has the jack. Instead Nick led the fifth trump before
Bridge Today • August 2007 page 12

transferring the menace: Bulgarians reached 7NT when 7♥ was

laydown. But perhaps they were going for a
♠ A Q 10 top score. West led a spade, to the 8 queen
♥— and ace. That brought declarer up to 12
♦— tricks with three spades, five hearts, one
♣ A 10 8 diamond and three clubs. Valio unblocked
♠J74 ♠K86 spades, cashed hearts and cashed the last
N
♥— W E ♥— spade, to reach this position with East still
♦— S ♦— to play a card:
♣QJ2 ♣643
♠5 ♠—
♥64 ♥—
♦— ♦ Q J 10
♣K97 ♣AQ
♠9 ♠—
On the ♥6 West was squeezed out of a ♥— N ♥—
W E
spade. A club was thrown from dummy and ♦97 S ♦K3
East threw a club. Now Nick led a spade to ♣ 10 5 ♣J632
the ace and the ♠Q, ruffing out East’s king ♠—
and at the same time pinning West’s jack. ♥—
He was so anxious to execute the squeeze ♦A
that he did it before he transferred it. Well, ♣K987
that was fine too!
East must let go of a diamond or a club
Finally we have an example of the Criss- and the ball is now in declarer’s court.
cross squeeze, artistically done by Bulgaria’s Declarer leads a club to dummy and then
Valio Kovachev in the Open Pairs: must decide which minor suit is coming in.
Did one defender, who presumably held
North the ♦K and at least four clubs, unblock
♠K8 diamonds or clubs? If the defenders want to
♥ K 10 7 5 3 fool declarer, they must be in cahoots with
♦ Q J 10 8 each other. For example, East might throw
♣AQ a diamond in the end position, pretending
West East he has no problem. Meanwhile, West must
♠9543 ♠ Q 10 7 2 pretend he is the one with four clubs and
♥9 ♥84 two diamonds, and has thrown off a club. It
♦97654 ♦K32 takes incredible depth for West to get into
♣ 10 5 4 ♣J632 this game!
South (Valio)
♠AJ6 In most circles, East will pitch a club and
♥AQJ62 declarer will play the defender to let go
♦A the club, cashing the clubs in dummy and
♣K987 leading a diamond to hand. Valio made his
grand slam and made the newspapers and
The bidding was not as artistic, as the magazines as well.
Bridge Today • August 2007 page 13

Building Better Mousetraps

by Matthew Granovetter

One trouble with conventional bids is Here are a couple examples. Both times I
that they are often too carefully defined, was responder.
so much so that they rarely come up at the
table. C.C. Wei, the inventor of Precision, Opener Responder
taught me a lesson in system development ♠Axx ♠xx
— make meanings for bids that have a ♥AKJ ♥Qxxxx
high frequency. Unfortunately, many of ♦KQxx ♦Axxxx
the meanings for conventions we currently ♣Kxx ♣x
play are infrequent and I’m going to try to
change this, starting here with this article. 1♦ 2♥
I’ll present a few ideas where otherwise ?
(more or less) useless bids will be given a
new meaning that will become more fre- At this point opener can Blackwood into
quently used. slam!

Opener Responder
1. Fit-Showing Jumps ♠AKxx ♠Qxxx
These are the latest rage, but are applied ♥Jxx ♥—
usually as a passed hand in competition ♦Kxxx ♦Axxx
only, so they come up rarely. In addition, ♣Qx ♣ A J 10 x x
strong jump shifts and weak jump shifts are
both rare birds as well. Opener Responder
1♦ 1♥ 3♣ 3♥
Here’s a new idea: Use fit-showing jumps pass pass 3♠ pass
all the time. Really — all the time. Without 4♠ (all pass)
exceptions. The formula is this: Any single
jump shift in response to an opening bid or This time my partner was thrilled to
an overcall is fit-showing, at least five cards have me play it in 4♠. In fact good splits or
in the suit bid and at least three cards if a successful club finesse would allow me to
partner promised a five-card major, but at make six. But diamonds were 4-1 and the
least four cards in partner’s minor. These club finesse was off. Still I had a unique op-
fit-showing jumps are forcing one round portunity to describe my hand completely.
only. If opener rebids his suit, it is not forc- (To be truthful, I was experimenting with
ing, but anything else constitutes a game this new toy. Perhaps I could hold three
force. spades for my 3♠ bid, but then we’d reach
a pretty 4-3 fit.)
You may want to define these jumps by
quality as well, but for now you should try I hope to write more about this idea, as
them free-style to get used to them. I tried it’s tested in the marketplace. In the mean-
them in a recent regional and it was fun! time, please test it yourself.
Bridge Today • August 2007 page 14

2. The Support Reverse 3. The NEW Four Suit Transfers

We’ve written about this before, but I’ve
mousetrapped it to make it more frequent. Over a 1NT opening or 2NT opening,
In the latest version, opener makes a touch- this new method of showing a long minor
ing reverse (the suit above opener’s first-bid is easy and saves lots of space, and frees up
suit) to say he has at least three-card sup- other bids.
port for partner and at least a maximum
raise to the two level. Opener Responder
1 NT ?
Opener Responder
♠Axxx ♠Kxxx 2 ♦ = hearts or clubs
♥xx ♥Axx 2 ♥ = spades
♦AQJxx ♦Kxx 2 ♠ = diamonds
♣Kx ♣xxx
After 2♦, opener bids 2♥ and responder
1♦ 1♠ bids 2♠ to show clubs. It’s that easy!
2♥ 3♦
4♠ pass If opener has a super accept in hearts,
opener bids 2♠ over 2♦, and responder re-
Responder has the sort of hand that bids 2NT with hearts. Anything else shows
doesn’t quite evaluate to a game try over a that his long suit is clubs.
2♠ raise. The 2♥ support reverse, however,
allows responder to try for game. Notice that this frees up the direct 2NT
response to 1NT as natural. And you no
Opener Responder longer need to go through Stayman to invite
♠Kxx ♠xxx game in notrump (which you did if you
♥AKxx ♥QJxxx were using 2NT as a transfer bid to dia-
♦xx ♦ A 10 x x monds).
♣ Q 10 x x ♣K
Using the new four-suit transfers, you
1♣ 1♥ usually land at 2♠ with either long minor,
2♥ pass giving opener lots of room to learn more
about responder’s hand.
This time opener had the chance to bid
2♦, the support reverse, but did not. So I suggest you play a direct jump to 3♣
responder knows he is facing less than a or 3♦ to play, so that the two-level transfer
maximum raise. always shows at least invitational values.
Then opener can bid 2NT to hear more
As we wrote in previous issues, using the about partner’s hand, unless he really hates
support reverse, you must find another bid the minor — in which case he attempts to
for a real reverse, such as a jump to 2NT or sign off by bidding 3♣ or 3♦.
a jump to the three level. The good news,
however, is that the support reverse is much Let’s look at how the auction progresses
more useful, because it occurs much more after responder lands in 2♠. In either case,
than a real reverse. whether responder holds clubs or diamonds,
Bridge Today • August 2007 page 15

when opener bids 2NT, responder rebids Opener Responder

3♣ artificially, to say he has a singleton 2 NT 3♦
somewhere, or bids 3 of a suit to show a 3♥ 3 ♠ (clubs)
second suit. The rebid of 3♦ shows dia- 4♣
monds if clubs was the long suit, or clubs if
diamonds was the long suit. Opener Responder
2 NT 3 ♠ (diamonds)
Let’s look at some examples. 4♦

Opener Responder Now opener can bid the suit first to

♠Axx ♠xx become declarer! And if opener has a poor
♥Kx ♥Axxx hand in support of the minor, he can bid
♦Qxx ♦AKxxxx 3NT, stopping low. Responder has suggest-
♣AKxxx ♣x ed a minor suit below the 3NT level, some-
thing he cannot do in any other system.
1 NT 2 ♠ (diamonds)
2 NT 3 ♥ (natural) Opener Responder
4 NT 5 ♣ (0 or 3) ♠AQx ♠xx
7♦ ♥Qx ♥Axx
♦Kxx ♦QJxxxxx
Opener Responder ♣AKQxx ♣x
♠AKJx ♠xx
♥Qxx ♥Kx 2 NT 3♠
♦AKxx ♦xxx 4♦ 4♥
♣xx ♣KJxxxx 4 NT 5♦
6♦
1 NT 2 ♦ (hearts or clubs)
2♥ 2 ♠ (clubs) Here responder was able to introduce dia-
3 ♣ (ugh) pass (OK) monds below the four level, in case opener
did not match up well. Then opener was
Another advantage in this method is that able to set trumps from his side of the table!
you free-up the minor suits after a Stay- Responder cuebid and opener used Black-
man auction. For example, if you start with wood.
Stayman and then rebid 3♣ or 3♦, it could
mean something other than a suit (or it 4. Asking for hand type after a jump raise
could be a five-card suit only). One idea is
to play that Stayman followed by 3♣ shows These bids help clarify responder’s jump
a singleton major and 3♦ shows a singleton raise. These aren’t new. We’ve used them
minor — opener than bids the next step to for years, but very few players are familiar
get responder to clarify. with the method. Here’s how it works:

Using the New transfer system, you can

bid the same way over 2NT openings:
Bridge Today • August 2007
Opener Responder
1♦ 1♠
3♠ 3 NT (what was your 3♠ bid based on?)
?
4♣ = I have a 14-16 pt hand with a singleton some-
where
4♦ = I have a balanced 18 but not great trumps
4♥ = I have a balanced 18 with great trumps
4♠ = I have diamonds and spades, period.
Over 4♣, responder will usually bid 4♦
to ask for the singleton in two steps.
Over 4♣, responder may instead bid 4♥
to say: I don’t care about your singleton, I
care about your trumps. I have the other
suits controlled, but my trumps are weak.
Opener Responder
1♣ 1♥
3♥ 3 ♠ (what was your 3♥ bid based on?)
?
3NT = 14-16 with a singleton somewhere
4♣ = 18 balanced, not great trumps
4♦ = 18 balanced, great trumps
4♥ = clubs and hearts, period
Over 3NT, 4♣ asks for the singleton in
steps.
Over 3NT, 4♦ instead asks for good
trumps.
5. 1♠-2♥ auctions
Over the years, I’ve had more trouble
with 1♠-2♥ auctions than any other.
These require some sophisticated rebids,
because so much room has been taken. Try
something like this:
page 16
Opener Responder
1♠ 2♥
?
2 ♠ = minimum, but no heart support
2 NT = extra values, but may include 3-card support
and extra values (in which case, opener will next
come back with a cuebid in a minor or a jump to
game)
3 ♣ = clubs, extra values
3 ♦ = diamonds, extra values
3 ♥ = a minimum raise
3 ♠ = spades, extra values
3 NT = balanced 16-17, without support
When you rebid 3♣ or 3♦, you should
have either five of them or four of them
with two small in the other minor — other-
wise rebid 2NT. Over 2NT, responder can
show a minor if he has extra values or 5-5,
so opener doesn’t need to show his four-
card minor when he’s 5134 or 5143 shape.
6. 1♠-2♦ transfers
If you are more adventurous, try play-
ing 2♦ over 1♠ to show hearts! You do it
over 1NT, don’t you? Then opener bids 2♥,
or 2♠ to show a minimum hand without
support, and responder continues naturally.
Responder may hold a weak hand with
long hearts or a good hand with 5+ hearts,
similar to bidding over 1NT.
Playing this idea, what do you do with
diamonds in response to 1♠?
You can play 2♥ shows diamonds!
Bridge Today • August 2007 page 17

7. Old, old, old-fashioned Drury For example, in a recent regional KO, I

held:
This convention works well for many ♠KQxxxxx
types of bidders, light openers, sound open- ♥x
ers, people who play non-forcing 1NT re- ♦x
sponses, four-card major openers, and works ♣ 10 x x x
very well for passed-hand bidding, where
third seat might be light. Forgot to mention, Partner opened 1♦ and the next hand
you can play this after first or second seat bid 1♥. I bid 3♠. My LHO bid 4♥ and my
openings too! Barry Crane played some- partner held:
thing similar. ♠Jx ♥Ax ♦AKQxxxx ♣Jx

Opener Responder We could make 4♠ but not 5♦. At the

1♥ or 1♠ 2 ♣ (clubs or any 10-11 point hand) other table my hand bid 1♠ and when the
? fourth hand bid 4♥, opener bid 5♦, natu-
rally, not knowing that partner held seven
2 ♦ = I have diamonds (in which case I will bid spades.
again) OR I have a minimum opening bid without
four cards in the other major This idea helps when RHO has not bid
as well.
Responder can now attempt to sign off at
the two level, stopping low. ♠x
♥KQJxxxx
If you open four-card majors (or even ♦x
if you open four-card majors in third or ♣ Q J 10 x
fourth chair), you can use the 2♦ rebid to
specifically show four cards in the major, You Opp Pard Opp
while two of your major shows five. Other- — — 1♦ pass
wise, 2 of your major would show six. ?

Bid 4♥ not 1♥. Here you have enough

7. Double Jumps to 3♥ or 3♠
Many play these as splinters in support
of the minor opened. In 40 years, I’ve never
seen such a hand.
These jumps are more useful as seven
card suits, non-forcing, to get your hand
across immediately in what might become a
competitive auction.
for 4♥, but take away a little and you bid
only 3♥. You’ll be happy you bid 4♥ if
LHO chimes in with a spade bid, because
you won’t be wondering what to do on the
next round — you have already described
your hand!
Bridge Today • August 2007 page 18

The Wizards of Aus (and one Italian)

by Ron Klinger

Let’s start this month with a bidding 3. North dealer, none vulnerable
question we frequently face. Try these prob-
lems: West North East South
1. North dealer, none vulnerable — 1NT* pass ?
* 12-14
West North East South South
— 1NT* pass ? ♠97642
♥KJ8
*15-17 ♦ Q 10 8
♣K9
South’s action with:
Partner opens 1NT and you have a hand
♠Q43 with a poor 5-card major and not enough
♥97654 points for game. Should you pass 1NT or
♦J5 should you transfer partner to play in the
♣Q54 major?

Problem 1 comes from “Modern Con-

2. North dealer, none vulnerable structive Bidding” by Marshall Miles and
was Bidding Forum Problem #3 in a recent
West North East South issue of Australian Bridge magazine. The
— 1NT* pass ? panel majority voted for the 2♦ transfer by
14 votes to 10. Some consider that to justify
* 12-14 it, the transfer needs to make two tricks
South more than the 1NT contract. If both con-
♠ 10 9 7 5 4 tracts make eight tricks, then no difference
♥AJ5 at teams, a gain at pairs to 1NT. If both
♦64 contracts make seven tricks, 1NT wins at all
♣874 forms. The transfer gains well at pairs and
slightly at teams when both contracts just
Would you take the same action if the make, i.e., the transfer brings in eight tricks,
1NT opening is 15-17? 1NT only seven, so that the transfer scores
+110 to 1NT’s +90. The only big result at
Bridge Today • August 2007
teams for the transfer comes when there are
eight tricks in trumps and six or fewer in
notrump.
That would suggest you should be wary
of transferring. The panel majority had
other ideas:
Andrew Robson: 2♦. Always do this.
Prefer to think at other times.
Paul Soloway: 2♦. My style is always
transfer. On the whole it has been a win-
ner. But you know there are many hands
where 1NT will be right.
Eric Kokish: 2♦. This should never be
a guess. It would be a useful topic for a
simulation, kids, but without that the idea
should be to go the same way every time...
Mike Lawrence: 2♦. Just because I have
seen computer simulations suggesting that a
transfer is best...
Tim Bourke: 2♦. Computer simulations
support the view that taking out into hearts
is a long term winner.
It is good to see simulations mentioned,
since problems 2 and 3 were the subject of a
simulation by David Stern of Sydney. His
analysis assumes that makeable contracts
assume perfect play and defense and ignores
favorable leads (more likely against NT than
a suit), picking singleton honors offside, the
times partner super-accepts, the times they
double 1NT in either direct or indirect
seat, the preemptive effect of transferring
especially to spades and the fact that the
transfer allows them to double 2♥.
These were the results of analyzing 2,000
deals for Hand #2 opposite a 12-14 1NT:
page 19
Average number of tricks: In 2♠ 6.90
(2♠ making: 28.4% of the time); in 1NT
5.18 (1NT making: 13.3%)
Average score in spades: Not vulnerable
-24.70, vulnerable -82.37
Average score in 1NT: Not vul. –79.33,
vulnerable –171.33. This means that at
imps, playing 2♠ is about 2 imps better
than 1NT not vulnerable and almost 3 imps
better if vulnerable.
For the same hand facing a strong 1NT,
again a sample of 2,000 deals:
Average number of tricks: In 2♠ 7.96
(2♠ making: 67.25%); in 1NT 6.66 (1NT
making: 55.45%)
Average score in spades: Not vulnerable
+64.55, vulnerable +43.75
Average score in 1NT: Not vul. +26.315,
vulnerable –7.09. This means that at imps,
playing 2♠ is 1 imp better than 1NT not
vulnerable and 2 imps better vulnerable.
For Hand #3, sample of 1,000 facing a
weak 1NT:
Average number of tricks: Making 2♠
64% of the time; making 1NT: 63%. There
were 7885 tricks available in spades and
6878 tricks in notrump.
Hand Studies
A few months ago a match took place
between Cayne and OzOne. The OzOne
team of Ishmael Del’Monte – Vince Demuy,
Sartaj Hans – Tony Nunn won the encoun-
ter by one imp, 83-82. The Cayne team
was: Jimmy Cayne and Alfredo Versace, and
a pair from Turkey, Suleyman Kolata and
Ismail Kandemir. While they were playing
their match, two other Australian teams
Bridge Today • August 2007 page 20

played the same boards. Here are four deals and the heart suit safe from attack by East,
I especially enjoyed, and which offered Del’Monte played another diamond, fol-
instructive points. lowed by ♣A and a second club. He now
had nine tricks with one spade, one heart,
There was a great rarity on this deal. The five diamonds and two clubs.
auction was identical at all four tables.
In the other match, Paul Marston, West,
West dealer North shifted to the ♥Q at trick 2, king, ace, and
All vul ♠43 Michael Prescott returned a low heart,
♥K952 South’s 10 winning. Here, too, ♣A and a
♦ A Q J 10 3 second club gave declarer nine tricks in
♣A9 comfort.
West East
♠ K Q 10 9 7 6 2 ♠5 Back to the Versace position at trick 5:
♥Q43 ♥AJ76
♦942 ♦75 North
♣— ♣ K J 10 7 4 2 ♠4
South ♥5
♠AJ8 ♦ A Q J 10 3
♥ 10 8 ♣A9
♦K86 West East
♣Q8653 ♠ Q 10 9 7 6 2 ♠—
N
♥— W E ♥6
S
West North East South ♦942 ♦75
3♠ double pass 3 NT ♣— ♣ K J 10 7 4 2
(all pass) South (Versace)
♠AJ
Opening lead: ♠K ♥—
♦K86
At every table the ♠K was led and ♣Q865
ducked by South. At three tables West
shifted to the ♥Q. Versace continued with the ♠A and five
rounds of diamonds, coming down to ♥5
For Cayne, Alfredo Versace, South, cov- and ♣A-9 in dummy, and East was left with
ered with the ♥K, and Sartaj Hans won the ♥6 and ♣K-x. The ♥5 then endplayed
with the ace. He continued with the ♥J East.
and 7, taken by the 9. How should declarer
continue? (Solution later.) At the final table Paul Gosney, West,
switched to the ♦4 at trick two. Bob Rich-
At the other table, Del’Monte, South, man, South, won in dummy and, with a
covered the ♥Q at trick two with the king, number of ways to succeed, played ♣A
taken by the ace. Del’monte dropped the and ♣9. Peter Gill, East, took the ♣K and
♥10 from hand on this trick. East shifted continued with the ♣J, ducked. Gill exited
to the ♦5, won in dummy, and the ♥2 with the ♦7, taken by the king.
was led: 6 – 8 – 4. With the heart trick in
Bridge Today • August 2007 page 21

Richman now needed to cash the dia- At the other table:

monds, followed by the ♠A. In the three-
card ending, East would have to keep ♣10-x Del’Monte Demuy
and the ♥A, and now a heart would force South West North East
East to give South the last two tricks with 2 ♥* double 3♥ (all pass)
the ♣Q-8.
*10-14
Alas, Richman cashed the ♣Q at trick 7
and now there was no salvation. Opening lead: ♥4

South dealer North (Jimmy Cayne) Del’Monte drew trumps and then led
All vul ♠KJ75 the ♦5: 7 – king – 2. Next came the ♣10:
♥72 queen – king – ace. West played the ♦A,
♦KJ6 ruffed, and Del’Monte continued clubs.
♣ 10 7 6 5 When West won the ♣J, he cashed the ♠A
West (Tony Nunn) East (Sartaj Hans) and so declarer made an overtrick for +170,
♠A643 ♠Q92 but 10 imps away.
♥J94 ♥85
♦ A 10 7 ♦Q98432 In the other match:
♣AJ4 ♣Q2
South (Alfredo Versace) South West North East
♠ 10 8 Richman Gosney Nagy Gill
♥ A K Q 10 6 3 1 ♦* double 1♠ 2♦
♦5 3♥ (all pass)
♣K983
* 4+ hearts, 9-14 points
South West North East
1♥ double 1♠ 3♦ Opening lead: ♦A
3♥ pass 4♥ (all pass)
Gosney continued with the ♦10, taken
Opening lead: ♦A by the king, South discarding a club. The
♦J was covered by the queen and ruffed.
Nunn continued with the ♦10: jack Richman drew trumps and played the ♠10:
– queen – ruffed. Versace drew trumps, 3 – king – 9. He then led the ♣6 to his
pitching a club from dummy. He then eight and West’s jack. West led a low spade
played the ♠10. West ducked and the ♠K to East’s queen and Richman ruffed the
won. He discarded his other spade on the next diamond. When he led the ♣K, felling
♦K and led the ♣10: queen – king – ace. the doubleton queen, he had nine tricks for
There was still the ♣J to lose, but Versace +140.
had 10 tricks for +620.
Bridge Today • August 2007 page 22

At the other table: ♠J

♥—
South dealer North (Dyke) ♦KJ
All vul ♠KJ75 ♣ 10 7 6
♥72 ♠6 ♠—
♦KJ6 ♥— N ♥—
W E
♣ 10 7 6 5 ♦ 10 7 S ♦Q843
West (Marston) East (Prescott) ♣AJ4 ♣Q2
♠A643 ♠Q92 ♠—
♥J94 ♥85 ♥ 10 6
♦ A 10 7 ♦Q98432 ♦—
♣AJ4 ♣Q2 ♣K983
South (Klinger)
♠ 10 8 South now leads the ♣K and the defense
♥ A K Q 10 6 3 is hamstrung.
♦5
♣K983 South dealer North
All vul ♠876
South West North East ♥AKQ94
Klinger Marston Dyke Prescott ♦K84
1♥ double 1♠ 3♦ ♣J3
3♥ (all pass) West East
♠952 ♠J
Opening lead: ♦A ♥ 10 7 6 5 3 2 ♥—
♦ 10 ♦AJ9763
Prescott, East, played the ♦9, showing ♣ K 10 6 ♣Q98752
an even number of diamonds and Marston South
switched to the ♠A, on which Prescott ♠ A K Q 10 4 3
played the 2, an odd number of spades. ♥J8
Marston continued with the ♠3, taken by ♦Q52
the king. This turned out to be the best ♣A4
defense, because I was now in dummy for
the last time! South West North East
Nunn Cayne Hans Versace
There was a chance for glory here, but 1♠ pass 2♥ 4 NT
I declined to take it. Instead a club was double 5♣ double (all pass)
discarded on the ♦K and a club went to the
king and ace. The defense were able to col- Opening lead by North: ♥K
lect three club tricks to take 3♥ one down.
Declarer ruffed in dummy and then
This is what I should have done after the played ♦A, diamond ruff and a spade to
♠K won at trick 3. Play the low spade, ruff- the jack and king. Nunn, South, cashed the
ing East’s ♠Q, and draw trumps. This will ♣A, good, but then shifted to the ♥J, not
be the ending: so good. The heart was ruffed and another
diamond ruffed with the ♣K. A spade was
ruffed in dummy and when the ♣Q drew
Bridge Today • August 2007 page 23

the missing trumps, declarer had 11 tricks. Don’t you just hate it when they stop in
game, you sacrifice and they then bid to a
After the ♥K lead, declarer can always slam that you can beat, so you double and
succeed as the cards lie: Ruff the lead, ♦A, they run to a slam you cannot beat? It’s the
diamond ruff, heart ruff, diamond ruff, bridge equivalent of a bungy jump (see next
♣K. It is often best to lead a trump against page). There was no way to stop 12 tricks.
a sacrifice. To defeat 5♣ a club lead and a Six notrump doubled was worth +1230 and
club back would have done the job. As the 18 imps to Cayne.
play went, a second club at trick six would
also have been enough. Still, even +200 With the OzOne calamities occurring
would have been little reward, given what on the same board, the loss was mitigated.
happened at the other table: Had 5♣ gone down at the other table, the
loss would still have been 14 imps. Had
South dealer North Del’Monte sold out to 4♠ and North-South
All vul ♠876 make it, then the loss, with 5♣ making,
♥AKQ94 would have been 15 imps. To do well on the
♦K84 board, 5♣ needed to be defeated and 4♠
♣J3 also defeated.
West East
♠952 ♠J There was a double-figure swing in the
♥ 10 7 6 5 3 2 ♥— other match, too:
♦ 10 ♦AJ9763
♣ K 10 6 ♣Q98752 South West North East
South 1♠ pass 2♥ 3♦
♠ A K Q 10 4 3 3♠ pass 4♠ (all pass)
♥J8
♦Q52 Opening lead: ♦10
♣A4
East took the ♦A and switched to the
South West North East ♣9. South won, drew trumps and soon had
Kolata Demuy Kandemir Del’Monte 12 tricks for +480.
1♠ pass 2♥ 2 NT
double 3♣ 3♠ pass At the other table:
4 ♣ (1) double pass pass South West North East
redble (2) pass 4♦ pass 1♠ pass 2♥ 2 NT
4♠ pass pass 5♣ 3♠ pass 4♠ (all pass)
pass pass 5♥ pass
6♠ pass pass double Opening lead: ♦10
pass pass 6 NT double
(all pass) With such strong hearts in dummy, there
is little hope of defeating 4♠ unless the
(1) Cuebid with spades trumps ♦10 is a singleton. East took the ♦A and
(2) Shows ♣A, keep cue-bidding, please returned the ♦J. West ruffed and played
a heart for East to ruff. The next diamond
Opening lead by East: ♣2 ruff took the contract one down.
Bridge Today • August 2007 page 24

After Board 24 Cayne was leading Del’Monte found the winning move. He
OzOne 80-69. Board 25 gave OzOne the started with the ♥A and continued with
lead: the ♥K. East’s discards, discouraging dia-
mond and discouraging spade, indicated the
West dealer North club switch, and the defense collected the
N-S vul ♠K952 first nine tricks for +800 and +13 imps.
♥984
♦K85 This brought the score to OzOne 83,
♣864 Cayne 80. A couple of overtricks on the last
West East three boards left the final score at 83-82.
♠ 10 7 3 ♠J84
♥ A K 10 6 5 2 ♥— There was a swing on the same deal in
♦ 10 4 3 ♦962 the other match:
♣3 ♣AKQJ972 West North East South
South Richman Gosney Nagy Gill
♠AQ6 3♥ pass pass 3 NT
♥QJ73 pass pass 4♣ pass
♦AQJ7 pass double (all pass)
♣ 10 5
Opening lead: ♣10
West North East South
Versace Nunn Cayne Hans Only a heart lead would have helped
2♥ pass 3♣ pass declarer. He drew trumps and in due course
3♥ (all pass) lost three spades and three diamonds for
–500.
Opening lead: ♠5
At the other table:
The defense took their spade tricks and West North East South
their diamond tricks, and later they col- Klinger Marston Dyke Prescott
lected two heart tricks for four down and 2♥ pass 3 ♣* pass
North-South +200. 3♥ pass 4♣ (all pass)

At the other table: *natural, not forcing

West North East South
Del’Monte Kolata Demuy Kandemir I should have passed 3♣, which would
1 ♦ (1) pass 1 ♥ (2) 1 NT (3) be two down. The 4♣ contract was the
pass pass double (all pass) regulation three down for –150, but not
doubled meant a gain of 8 imps.
(1) 4+ hearts, 9-14 points
(2) Good hand, relay
Bungy jumping in
(3) 15-18
Australia = a phantom
sacrifice, which pushes
If West leads a spade or a diamond, them to slam, where you
declarer has eight tricks. If West starts with double them, thereby
a low heart, declarer makes nine tricks. pushing them into 6NT.
Bridge Today • August 2007
Bridge History
It happened…70 years ago
by Pietro Campanile
1937... a year of turmoil and hope, of
illusions soon to be disappointed and stark
fears of a dark, bleak future, which will
be sadly realized. The disaster to make the
headlines across the world is the crash of
the German airship Hindenburg in New
Jersey, killing 34 people. Across the Atlantic
there is already a real war taking place: It
is the Spanish Civil War and later in the
year the bombers of the German Condor
Legion spell out the word “terror” in letters
of blood over the skies of Guernica, a trag-
edy that will inspire Pablo Picasso’s famous
painting.
1937 is the year that sees the start of
Franklin Roosevelt’s second term in office,
while in Great Britain a distinguished gen-
tleman by the name of Neville Chamberlain
becomes Prime Minister. On a lighter side:
Dupont announces the discovery of nylon
and nylon stockings will become overnight
the most sought after item by the every-
day woman; in cinemas all over America
children sing happily along to the tunes
page 25
of Disney’s
first feature,
“Snow White
and the Seven
Dwarves,”
while Spencer
Tracy wins
the Oscar as
best actor in
“Captains
Courageous,”
based on
Kipling’s fa-
mous novel.
Moving
across to the
world of bridge we see a sharply different
approach dividing the USA from Europe:
Ely Culbertson and his Blue Book of bid-
ding, with his honor tricks and forcing
two-bids dominated the bridge scene on this
side of the Atlantic, while in Europe many
national schools were blossoming, each
carving its own systemic path. France was
being shepherded by Albarran’s teachings
on canapé (bidding a short suit before the
longer suit), while Austria was dominating
the European scene with its talented team
headed by the genius of Dr. Paul Stern,
who had just published the first complete
system based on a strong club opening, the
“Vienna Club.”
In Britain, where the game had achieved
its initial popularity only to be followed by
decades of stagnation, four young men were
going down a very different path. They
Bridge Today • August 2007
had quickly appreciated the advantages
of the 4-3-2-1 point count, of a two-club
opening for game-forcing hands, of limit
raises and the vital concept of bidding not
just to get to the right contract but also to
stop the opponents from doing so, all ideas
that will only become common practice a
decade or two later. Since their club was on
Acol Road in West Hampstead, a suburb of
Northwest London, they called their system
Acol and started playing it in earnest. In
1937 the “Acol” team swept the field, win-
ning every single event they entered, includ-
ing the prestigious “Gold Cup,” the most
important teams’ event in British bridge. It
marked the start of a new era: The aggres-
sive, no-holds barred, ACOL system would
soon become a weapon to be feared. Its key
tenets like “Bid your own cards,” “Get the
hand off your chest,” “Bid what you think
you can make,” were way ahead of any-
thing that was published at the time, and its
popularity spread like wildfire on the wings
of the Acol team successes. It was soon to
become the standard bidding system in
Britain and in most Anglo-Saxon countries
like Canada, Australia and other parts of
the world.
The leader of the group was M. Harrison
Gray, who
was to
represent
Britain
success-
fully in
many
interna-
tional
champi-
onships
for the
next three
decades.
The other
page 26
“founders” were
S.J. Simon, Ian
Macleod and
Jack Marx, but
they were soon
joined by some
other enthusias-
tic and talented
younglings: Ter-
ence Reese, Boris
Schapiro, Adam
Meredith, Leslie Dodds and Kenneth Kons-
tam. Naturally, all the team members were
great players in their own rights and they
all made their mark in international bridge.
However, the least known personality on
the team, Jack Marx, could easily have been
a household name if a certain Mr. Hitler
had waited a few more months before un-
leashing the Nazi war machine on Poland
and the rest of Europe. In late July, 1939,
while returning home from a league match,
Jack Marx was troubled by a hand where
his partnership had not reached the opti-
mum contract and, trying to find a way to
solve the problem, he came upon the bril-
liant idea of using 2♣ in response to 1NT
to check on opener’s major-suit holdings.
Thinking that the idea had some promise,
he took some time to write up its full de-
velopments, and a couple of weeks later he
circulated it among his fellow teammates.
By now, however, the attention of bridge
players and not was on the dreadful tension
in Europe, and only a fortnight later the
war started, burying with it Jack’s notes and
his memorandum.
It was only in September, 1946, that the
first bridge magazine to appear in England
after the war, the Contract Bridge Journal,
carried an article entitled ‘’What? Another
Convention?’’ by J.C.H. Marx, when the
new Chief Editor, Harrison Gray, found
perchance Marx’s notes among his papers.
Bridge Today • August 2007 page 27

By now, however, Stayman, as the conven- to set up the right position for the squeeze
tion came to be named, had already been to work, declarer next ducked a diamond
publicized in “The Bridge World” in late round to East, who played back another
1945 and Marx’s variation seemed nothing diamond won in dummy with the ace. A
more than a belated borrowing. Bad luck, third club was ruffed high, West discarding
Jack! Still, let’s watch him in action at the a spade, and a heart to the 8 brought up
table in a hand from the 1938 Gold Cup this position:
Final.
♠K2
North dealer North ♥J
All vul ♠K2 ♦76
♥KJ8 ♣K
♦A762 ♠ J 10 9 8 ♠63
♣K863 ♥7 N ♥—
W E
West East ♦Q S ♦—
♠ J 10 9 8 5 ♠63 ♣— ♣ A Q J 10
♥742 ♥9 ♠AQ74
♦QJ93 ♦K5 ♥A
♣4 ♣ A Q J 10 9 7 5 2 ♦ 10
South (Marx) ♣—
♠AQ74
♥ A Q 10 6 5 3 Marx now ruffed the ♣K with the ♥A
♦ 10 8 4 and West was cooked. A diamond discard
♣— would allow declarer to score the diamonds
in dummy after pitching the ♦10 on the
Macleod Marx ♥J; a spade would obviously let declarer
West North East South score all four spade tricks; so all that was
— 1 NT (1) 3♣ 4♣ left for West was to underruff, which he
pass 4♦ pass 5 ♥ (2) duly did. Alas, that only delayed his de-
pass 6♥ (all pass) mise: Declarer played a spade to the king
and cashed the ♥J, discarding the ♦10 and
(1) 12-14 West had to gracefully concede defeat.
(2) Asks partner to bid slam with a top trump

Following this exuberant bidding, Marx

found himself in the contract of 6♥ on
the lead of the ♣4. After ruffing the lead, This squeeze has been
declarer led a small heart to the jack, noting named in recent times:
the fall of the 9. Another club ruffed high “a backwash” squeeze.”
saw West showing out and thus it was pos-
sible to place East with an eight-card club
suit. It seemed likely, therefore, that West
had to have length both in spades and dia-
monds and could have problems holding on
to both on the run of the hearts. In order
Bridge Today • August 2007 page 28

From the Al Roth archives: 1969

“Sputnik” (part 2)

by Alvin Roth

I have seen more auctions go astray after Opener holds:

a negative double than after any other
convention I know. The reason for this is (a) (b)
not a flaw in the theory of the convention. ♠KJ73 ♠ Q 10 5
Rather, opener cannot resist the tempta- ♥AQ5 ♥ K J 10
tion to make an exotic rebid once he hears ♦62 ♦62
responder’s “Sputnik” double. ♣QJ93 ♣AKJ72

First and foremost, opener should re- Bid 1♠ Bid 1NT or 2♣

member that responder’s negative double is
more a promise of strength than of a given With hand (a), it is more important to
distribution. Thus, it is seldom right to bid show the spade suit than the heart stoppers.
a three-card suit at the first opportunity. Note that with hand (b) we do not bid our
Your rebid of a new suit is not forcing, and three-card spade suit — we can either show
you might end up playing a 3-3 fit. our stoppers in the enemy suit or rebid our
good five-card suit.
At all times when rebidding after part-
ner’s negative double, bear in mind that (c) (d)
your bid may be dropped unless you make ♠AKJ3 ♠K3
an absolutely forcing bid. And there is only ♥5 ♥KJ5
one such bid — the cuebid of the oppo- ♦ J 10 6 ♦J76
nents’ suit. ♣ A J 10 8 2 ♣ A K Q J 10

What action should opener take over Bid 2♠ Bid 3NT (or 2NT)
responder’s negative double?
Hand (c) can make a game if partner is
If opener has a second suit, he should better than minimum with a spade fit. The
bid it. With a good hand, he can jump in jump shift response invites partner to bid
the suit or in notrump. With a very good again if he has the right hand.
hand, opener can either cue-bid or jump to
game. With hand (d), because of the solid club
suit and the potential to develop tricks in
Let us consider some examples: the other suits, my choice is three notrump.
The hand will make nine tricks opposite
Opener LHO Responder RHO many holdings where partner can take no
1♣ 1♥ double pass action over two notrump. But I will not
? quarrel with the more conservative ap-
proach.
Bridge Today • August 2007 page 29

(e) Note the difference between hand (f) and

♠A92 (h). With hand (f), you do not want to be
♥5 in game unless partner has sufficient extra
♦AQ7 values to bid it; hand (h) should make game
♣ A K 10 9 8 7 opposite any negative double that partner
holds, so you must leap to game yourself.
This hand is in the game (or perhaps
slam) zone opposite partner’s negative dou- I recommend three notrump on hand
ble — the only question is where to play the (i) even though you do not have all suits
hand. The easiest way to handle the situa- stopped. The presumption is that partner
tion is to cue-bid, intending to rebid three will have a spade stopper for his negative
clubs if partner bids two spades. double. You cannot afford to bid three
hearts, for partner might pass. Four hearts
Opener LHO Responder RHO is too much of a gamble — partner might
1♥ 3♣ double pass have no more than a doubleton heart, and
? you might have four losers in the side suits.
Three notrump should stand a fair chance.
Opener holds:
When Opponents Raise
(f) (g) Up to now, we have considered auctions
♠J983 ♠7 where RHO has passed the negative dou-
♥ A K 10 6 2 ♥ A Q 10 8 7 ble. What if RHO adds some preemption
♦A82 ♦KJ5 by raising his partner’s suit?
♣7 ♣ K 10 8 7
It is no longer necessary for opener to
Bid 3♠ Pass rebid with a minimum; he can pass and
leave subsequent action, if any, to the nega-
Responder’s negative double has asked tive doubler. Thus, a free bid shows extra
you to bid a second suit. Hand (f) includes values. Opener does not have to jump to
one, so go ahead and bid it. This is not a invite further action, for partner is allowed
reverse bid — it is a minimum hand with a to raise or bid game if he thinks he has the
second suit. right hand.

Hand (g) is one of the few times opener A responsive double by opener is largely
will convert the negative double to a pen- for penalties, though responder is free to
alty double. There are hands where opener take it out. As the opponents have bid and
might make three notrump, but in the long raised their suit, the double is unlikely to be
run it will be better to take the certain plus based on trump length or strength. Rather,
from three clubs doubled. it shows “cards” — extra values — and the
inability to show a new suit at the level
(h) (i) of the raise. The tendency is to a penalty
♠ A Q 10 8 ♠93 double on a balanced hand.
♥ K Q 10 7 2 ♥AKQ83
♦A75 ♦Q984 (To be continued.)
♣5 ♣AQ
Bridge Today • August 2007 page 30

Summer Reading With Hugh Kelsey

by Pamela Granovetter

Our local bridge club in Cincinnati trump will provide entry to the table for
recently received a library of old books and you to discard your spade loser on dummy’s
put them on sale. Some of these master- winning diamond.
pieces I read years ago when I first started
playing and some are new to me. It’s amaz- When it looks as easy as this you must
ing how apropos they still are today, and ask yourself what could possibly go wrong.
how much they can help me prepare for a Well, if the trumps break 3-0 you could lose
tournament. I especially like Hugh Kelsey’s a trump and two diamonds, and you would
books, so here’s a selection from his writ- have to lose a spade as well for there will
ing. If you can get a hold of either of these now be no entry to dummy. What can be
books for summer reading, you will be very done about it? Nothing if the trumps are
lucky! with West, but if East has all three trumps a
simple finesse will protect you. Since dum-
Advanced Play at Bridge, 1968 my has no other entry you will have to take
the finesse right away.
West dealer ♠986
E-W vul ♥653 If East follows to the lead of the three of
♦QJ87 trumps from dummy, you can make certain
♣A32 of your contract by playing the knave from
your hand. Should West win this trick it
♠AK4 means that dummy’s third trump will serve
♥ A K J 10 9 7 4 as an entry and you will lose no spade trick,
♦62 while if West shows out you have no trump
♣5 loser. This play will cost you the overtrick
when West has the bare queen of trumps or
West North East South queen and another. That is the modest pre-
1♣ pass 2♣ 4♥ mium you pay for ensuring ten tricks when
(all pass) West is void.

Opening lead: ♦A Pamela: Does anybody make safety plays

Against your four heart contract West
leads the ♦A and then hastily switches to
the ♣K in order to knock out dummy’s ace.
How do you plan the play?
The contract is a sound one. On a nor-
mal 2-1 trump break eleven tricks are there
for the taking. After drawing trumps you
can knock out the ♦K and dummy’s third
like this anymore? Wouldn’t you love to
make this play in a team game and win 10
imps?
Sharpen Your Bridge Technique, 1981
The next deal has points of interest for
both sides. Let’s show all four hands and
tackle the problem from declarer’s seat first.
Bridge Today • August 2007 page 31

South dealer ♠Q5 play is to lead the ♦5 from hand and in-
None vul ♥9763 sert dummy’s 8 if West plays low. As the
♦QJ84 cards lie, this places East in an impossible
♣865 dilemma. He can either take his ♦K on
♠ J 10 9 6 ♠87432 the first round, thereby allowing South to
♥J842 ♥ 10 5 score three diamond tricks, or he can hold
♦ 10 6 3 ♦K72 up. In the latter event South can continue
♣J4 ♣ K Q 10 with the ♦Q from dummy, finessing against
♠AK the king and making three diamond tricks
♥AKQ anyway. All very satisfying from declarer’s
♦A95 point of view.
♣A9732
It was mentioned that this line of play
South West North East would also succeed against a doubleton king
2♣ pass 2♦ pass on either side. That is because West, hold-
2 NT pass 3♣ pass ing K-x, is virtually certain to play the king
3♦ pass 3 NT (all pass) when declarer leads the 5 from hand. But
what if he doesn’t? Suppose the cards are
West leads the ♠J, hitting declarer in the divided as shown below:
weak spot and denying him the tempo to
establish the club suit. Declarer’s first move, ♠Q5
naturally, is to test the hearts by cashing ♥9763
the ace, king and queen. If the hearts split ♦QJ84
3-3 he can make the game easily enough by ♣865
establishing one extra trick in diamonds. ♠ J 10 9 6 2 ♠8743
♥J842 ♥ 10 5
East discards a spade on the third round ♦K3 ♦ 10 7 6 2
of hearts, however, and South has to think ♣J4 ♣ K Q 10
again. He now needs three tricks from ♠AK
the diamond suit to make his contract. A ♥AKQ
straightforward method of play would be ♦A95
to cash the ♦A and continue with the 9 to ♣A9732
dummy’s jack. That would bring in three
diamond tricks if either defender had the If West bravely plays low when the ♦5
king doubleton. If West had that hold- is led, he prepares the way for the defeat
ing the king would pop up on the second of the contract. East has to play his part by
round, while if East produced the king on withholding his ten when the 8 is finessed.
the second round South could take a later Declarer naturally assumes that he has
finesse against the ♦10. This play will fail struck the defensive holdings shown on the
when the diamonds are 3-3, however, since previous page and runs the ♦Q on the way
the defender with the king will hold it up back. West produces the king, and with the
until the third round. diamonds blocked declarer can make no
more than eight tricks. All very satisfactory
A more subtle line of play works not from the defenders’ point of view.
only when the king is doubleton but also in
some of the 3-3 breaks as well. The expert
Bridge Today • August 2007 page 32

It would be far from easy to achieve the no chance at all, but if East is a strong and
degree of co-operation needed to bring off imaginative defender there is a faint hope.
such a defense but it would not be impos- Try the effect of playing low from dummy
sible in an expert game. West can see that to the first trick! The complete deal:
there is no future for the defense if he wins
the first diamond with the king, and East ♠74
for his part knows that on declarer’s line ♥J964
of play his partner must have a doubleton ♦KQ65
diamond honor. One further short step may ♣943
enable East to envisage the actual position ♠ K J 10 6 2 ♠Q95
where partner holds the king. Imagination ♥A3 ♥85
is a great asset when it comes to creating ♦ J 10 ♦A9873
illusions in the minds of opponents. As a ♣ Q 10 6 2 ♣J75
corollary, it is imaginative players who are ♠A83
the most easily deceived. ♥ K Q 10 7 2
♦42
You will need to exercise some imagina- ♣AK8
tion to whistle up a chance of making game
on the next hand. Look at the matter from East’s point of
view. He is bound to regard your play of
South dealer ♠74 a low diamond from dummy with grave
N-S vul ♥J964 suspicion. It will appear to him that you
♦KQ65 can hold no more than one diamond and
♣943 that you are desperate to keep him off lead.
♦J In an effort to thwart your plan he may
♠A83 therefore overtake his partner’s ♦J with the
♥ K Q 10 7 2 ace and shoot back a spade, expecting the
♦42 complete deal to be something like this:
♣AK8
♠74
South West North East ♥J964
1♥ 1♠ 2♥ 2♠ ♦KQ65
4♥ (all pass) ♣943
♠ A J 10 6 2 ♠Q95
West leads the ♦J. How do you plan the ♥A3 ♥85
play? ♦ J 10 4 ♦A9873
♣ 10 6 2 ♣J75
Prospects are bleak, since East is marked ♠K83
with the ♦A on this lead. East is not likely ♥ K Q 10 7 2
to be 5-5 in the minors, and even if he is ♦2
the defenders will not allow you to set up a ♣AKQ8
minor-suit squeeze. It is hard to see any way
of avoiding a loser in each suit. Pamela: I would like someday to make
this play as declarer against Zia in the East
Against weak opposition you would have seat! Have a nice August!