It actually started over a month ago, but whatever. I foresee a very different time ahead for me in the bridge world... working shifts makes it difficult to plan ahead, and I have to prioritise certain events in order to get to play them. I shall play at Phoenix and Ellon as-and-when, as unfortunately I cannot justify asking for club nights off any more. Consequently, I have played in Round 1 of the Phoenix Cup but not Round 2, with serious doubt over whether I shall be able to play in enough rounds with lessurl to mount a challenge. I have played 2 out of 4 nights at Ellon with my regular partner there, plus one with McLeod Senior. Perhaps it is slightly more annoying to actually do well on the nights I play.
One of the prioritised events that I hope to be available for every round of is the District Teams of Four. Same format as last year: two twelve board matches per night, but only five nights this time round with a total of eleven teams competing. After a good campaign last season, where we beat all the title contenders but lost two other matches along the way, we found ourselves second seed this time around. I expect this makes life harder for us as it means we play Seeds 1 and 4 on the final night. It also meant we started with seeds 3 and 6. And what does seeding mean anyway? Right now Seed 4 (ROSS) is top, and since they beat Seed 1 (HAY) along the way, it suggests a few teams may be after the win.
Lessurl and I began our campaign by sitting East-West against the North-South pair of team MOWAT. The Seeding put us as slight favourites for this one, but really it was anyone's guess who was to come out on top. Out of twelve boards, we made five games, two of which were converted into game swings with the help of our team mates. Our opposition had 3 plus Board 21. I overcalled RHO's 1 Heart opening bid with 2 Diamonds (holding just less than opening points and Jack-high in diamonds). After LHO bids onwards, it is judgement time for Lessurl. We were at favourable vulnerability and he had 4 Diamonds, so I played in 5 Diamonds Doubled. This was an excellent call by Lessurl despite the fact we picked up -800. Were it not for a 4-0 trump break, I might have got out for as little as -300 - we hit the only distribution of the cards that could make the sacrifice not worth it, and our team mates accepted -5 IMPs on that board with good grace. It is always good to be part of a team that endorses doing the right thing on a board rather than doing what scores right on a board. The game swings took it, as we only scored on 4 boards (compared to 6 that we lost IMPs on), but we edged the match 26-20 on IMPs; 13-7. The scores also reflected Teams strategy: on three of the six boards we lost out on, it was a "1" in the minus IMPs column. Shrug and move on - none of those were stupid errors.
Next up for us was against Gibby REID and his team. With a -1 on the first board, our opponents did well to play in 3NT+1 when our team mates played in 5 Clubs. We won a part score battle on the next board, but then a mental lapse from me resulted in going -4 vulnerable in 2NT - effectively a Vulnerable Game swing. After those four boards, we were trailing 5-24. The next six boards consisted of five part score battles and one flat Game. The last of the part score battles was flat, but we picked up a 5, two 6es and a 4 in the others to get our noses in front for the last two boards (not that we knew that was how it stood at the time of playing).
On the penultimate Board, 23, the opposition bid to a tight 4 Hearts. I wish I had written down the board, as Lessurl found a killer lead: small from Kxxx of Trumps, which was a major factor in our eventually taking the contract 3 off for 300. On 24, I made a 3NT which could have been beaten, so the two effective Game Swings at the end helped us emerge winners by 17-3 VPs.
It promises to be a very close-run thing this year. Any team is capable of beating any other, and I reckon half the teams are capable of mounting a genuine challenge for the Sybil Hay trophy. Right now ROSS sits top with 31, with CAMPBELL as well as ourselves on 30. N. MCLEOD is fourth place after Round 1, which from a personal point of view is good to see (as long as he doesn't get in our way). Two VPs separate 5th and 8th, while MOWAT is still very much in the hunt - the current second-bottom placing not fooling anyone.
From my team's POV, we just hope that we are still in the hunt at the end of play on Friday. It includes a match against CAMPBELL (a team that deservedly beat us last season) and WATSON (currently bottom but we know what they're capable of - just ask Mr. Hay), so I think it is a big ask to emerge from that with a title challenge intact.
Of course, working on a rota does mean I can sometimes play in one-off events like the SBU simultaneous pairs. Things did not start well when I doubled a cold Game (although I was within my rights to do so), but on the next board my partner, McLeod Senior, made a Game that Deep Finesse doesn't when playing against itself. Two boards later I had this board:
K75
985
K2
K10974
A109
AK642
A84
86
I had the bottom hand. RHO is Dealer and passes; I open 1 Heart. LHO overcalls 2 Diamonds, but I get to 4 Hearts. The Queen of Diamonds is led.
In his notes for this board, Ian Crorie notes that you can pick up QJ103 of hearts onside for one loser by playing the 9 from dummy and intending to run it. It is the only 4-1 trump break you can make a plan for. This is an important play in 3NT for sure. However, my plan to get to 10 tricks was different (but not better, just for avoidance of doubt). I won in dummy, played a small diamond to the Ace (just in case RHO started singleton, the Ace won't be wasted), followed by the King of Hearts and a diamond ruff. RHO over-ruffs, which I am not bothered about if he started with 3. When he has 4, I need the defence to not play Hearts. A spade was ideal from my POV, but he played a club to my LHO's Ace. Instead of continuing clubs, which on the layout would finish me (I can cope with LHO having started qith AQ or AJ doubleton, or a 3-3 break, but not the actual layout), she falls for my trap and plays a diamond. I pitch a spade from dummy and over-ruff RHO's queen of hearts. Now all that I need to do is cash two spades ending in hand and ruff a spade, conceding 1 more trump trick.
The next board was a lead problem:
A92
A984
AQ1083
5
As Dealer, I open 1 Diamond (promising 5). LHO doubles. Partner bids 2 Diamonds, and after a Double from my RHO, my LHO bids 2 Spades. RHO punts 3NT and I've seen his 3NT bids before - his "stop" in diamonds may not be rock solid. I resist the temptation to double as partner's 2 Diamonds bid means I can't expect much (or any) help from him, apart from 3 diamonds approx. What should I lead?
It looked to me like RHO has hearts, so I don't want to lead that. Why not lead spades? I'll get to that in a minute. So, diamonds or my singleton club? I think there is a chance RHO has Kxx in diamonds, and if partner has any entries at all, it is probably just the one. So, I lead a small diamond to clear the suit.
Dummy is:
Q1085
QJ5
J7
AQ76
After much thought, Declarer plays small from dummy and wins with the King, and I can breathe. Unless Declarer has all 8 of the unseen clubs, I am beating this in my hand. In fact he has KJ10843, so he can cash out a total of 7 tricks before allowing me in two take the remainder for two off.
However, we could have beaten this by 5 had I found a lead of a small spade (or cashed one or both major aces and followed with a small spade). Partner had 4 diamonds, and KJ74 of spades. A lead-directing double of 3NT would have told me what to do, but I guess it was hard to imagine I was so control-heavy.
On Board 15 we missed a thin slam:
Q85
K1074
K
A10974
A976
AQJ63
QJ85
---
4 Hearts by the bottom hand.
It has to be my hand that plays 6 Hearts. It will not make from the other side of the table. In 4 Hearts, I got the lead of the 3 of clubs, which simplified matters. I won with the Ace, pitching a diamond, and played the King of diamonds. The Ace was with LHO, who continued with another club for me to ruff. I can now play Queen and Jack of diamonds pitching two spades (opps follow), followed by the Ace of Spades and a small ruff, followed by a small club ruff, and ruffing a spade high, ruffing a club with the Jack, ruffing a spade high and being left with the AQ of trumps in hand. The most difficult lead is a heart, which requires the same tactics, and as LHO has a singleton trump, the line will work. Rather risky however.
Finally, I had best post the answers to the Declarer play problems I posted at the end of my last post.
762
876
J98
AQ42
AJ53
AJ9
AK54
KJ
3NT by South, 3 of diamonds led. You play the 8 from dummy and RHO the 6.
... And automatically my hand pulled out a low diamond. I already knew I didn't want to do that. I only have 8 tricks now. I have to win with the King, cash King and Jack of clubs and play a low diamond, playing LHO for the queen. If LHO cashes the queen, I have an entry to dummy in diamonds to take the AQ of clubs.
J7
54
QJ10
KQJ954
K965
AKJ
A65
1032
3NT by South, 3 of Diamonds led. Playing the 10 from Dummy, RHO plays the 8.
This one was obvious already, but after the last one, it's in neon flashing lights. Overtake the ten with the ace and play the ten of clubs. Guess what, the Ace doesn't appear, so continue clubs until RHO is forced to win on Trick 4. RHO's best shot now is a spade, which you can duck to (at worst) the queen. Then back to RHO's Ace and a spade through your K9 - up with the King. Knock out the King of Diamonds and if lady luck smiles (which on these hands you know it will), they can't cash a spade. The last diamond is an entry to the clubs in dummy.
A3
105
K8542
AK83
KJ9
K976
AQ6
654
3NT by South, 5 of spades led.
The best line here is to win the opening trick in hand as cheaply as possible and then play a low diamond from both hands. As long as neither defender has shown out, the contract is secure. Depending on which defender won the diamond trick and what the heart situation is, they can cash a maximum of two heart tricks before letting you back in - say with a club. Cash the Ace of Spades, then the Ace and Queen of Diamonds, then the King of Spades and get back to dummy with the other club winner to take 9 tricks minimum.
The last one is a suit combination puzzle; let's isolate that heart suit:
K 7 6 opposite A J 5 3
The central point of this hand is playing this suit combination for one loser, as you must assume that when you let the opponents in they get exactly 3 club tricks (maximum). Every other suit is double-stopped.
The way to play this suit for one loser is play small from hand (the 6) to the ACE. Then the 3 back to the King, followed by the last heart towards the J5 in dummy. This way, you only lose more than 1 trick in hearts if RHO has Queen and at least three other hearts, in which case there was never anything you could do. Also, if RHO had Qxxxx, you would discover this on playing the King of Hearts and look for an endplay.
Monday 29 October 2012
Tuesday 16 October 2012
7th Greek Islands Bridge Festival
Early on the morning of the 25th August, I woke to the sound of my alarm to be on time for a long journey - starting with a lift to Union Square Bus Station, followed by a bus journey to Buchanan Bus Station Glasgow and further bus journey to Glasgow Airport. And then the small matter of a flight to Rhodes. It was the middle of the night local time by the time we arrived, and a good thing too - I didn't want to step out into the Greek sun immediately. There were 10 of us in all, the Scottish contingent - heading to Rhodes to play in the 7th Greek Islands Bridge Festival.
The first thing I shall say about this particular event was the quality of the hospitality from our hosts. They did everything they could to make our stay as enjoyable as possible - and I mean everything. From airport transfers to accommodation to taxis from our residence to the venue, they were on top of everything. There was even a half-day cruise thrown in as part of the event. Wow. Not least in the things I am thankful is the reason we were able to go in the first place - entry and accommodation costs covered by the Greeks. The SBU would have been mad to pass it up.
The first day was taken up mainly with acclimatisation and (if you're not me) swimming. I do not intend to complain about the Scottish weather again after the heat of Rhodes. Seriously. What does it need to be 39 Degrees Celsius for? That's way too hot to actually do anything, so I was glad that most of the bridge was played in the late afternoon and evening. Did I meantion Rhodes is a very beautiful island? No? Well, it is. Not that I was up for too much exploring by day. We found it much more sensible to socialise at night - after the bridge - when we could walk around in the heat without being burned and sleep through the morning.
Still, we'd come to Rhodes for bridge, and we had to take good news back to the SBU in the hope that they might fund more events. This meant playing really well. There were three events - Open Pairs, Mixed Pairs and Teams. We had 5 partnerships for the Open Pairs, 3 for the mixed, and two teams for the Teams. "Scot A" was our Under 20 team, and "Scot B" was the other three juniors plus Mr. Duguid.
The Open Pairs were played over three sessions. Falco and I were teaming up again after our (sort-of) success in Amsterdam, for both the Pairs and the Teams. Both of us have a disliking for pairs, so our attitude was "do-what-we-can". We did just that, but it wasn't helped by boards like these:
K 8
A 6 3 2
Q 4 2
Q 6 3 2
7
Q J 9 8 7 4
K 9 6
K J 9
I had the bottom hand. After a competitive auction which I would do best to forget (since clearly Falco and I did not set a good example of how to bid), I ended up in 5 Hearts Doubled when we should have Doubled 4 Spades for +500.
I get a small diamond led to the Ace, and then RHO cashes Ace of Clubs. A diamond is returned, and this doomed contract has some hope when my King wins the trick. What I have to do is play hearts for no losers, unblock clubs and get back to dummy to pitch the last spade. Everything is set up, but I must not lose a heart. How do you play hearts?
Running the Queen is less than 50%, because it will not pick up K105 onside, although no play can pick that holding up. Playing for the drop is 26% a priori, but the odds change as the cards are played. Of course, I didn't know these percentages at the time, and my decision was to play the queen and rise with the Ace when LHO follows smoothly. This works, as RHO has singleton King. The only problem is that LHO goes into the tank for long enough to create a clear break in tempo, so I finesse. A diamond is returned for a ruff, and -800 later I am cursing myself for being too polite. I should of course have asked RHO if she agreed there had been a hesitation, and risen with the Ace if she disagreed. As many good things as I have to say about the Greeks, the behaviour of a minority of players visiting from other countries was less than admirable. But at the end of the day this was a Congress event, not a full International, so we decided to roll with the punches. We could land a few ourselves, after all.
A 10 7 3
A 10 9 7
7 4
J 7 3
Falco had this hand. As Dealer at Game All, he passes. His LHO passes and I open 1 Club (Better Minor). His RHO says 1 Heart; Falco now bids 1 Spade. Bidding continues with a Pass and 2 Diamonds from me. With what looks like a double stop in hearts, Falco bids 3NT. 8 of hearts is led, imagine his disappointment with this dummy:
Q 5
3
A K 6 2
K 10 9 8 6 2
The Jack is played from his RHO, so now Falco wins and plays the Jack of Clubs, covered by the Queen, King and Ace. Nine tricks are rolling in now. Of course, Falco expected a much stronger dummy, (I confirmed that this particular +600 (our best % score of the round) was my fault, as 2 Diamonds is an overbid), but a well-judged overbid, if I do say so myself.
Most of the other boards involved better bridge but worse luck, and we finished Round 1 somewhere below 50%. (Quite a bit below, I reckon). The second session focused a lot on bidding: When to bid Slam and when not to bid Game being two common themes. We came off worst in the first of those axioms, as our opponents invariably found their slams and our opportunity was this:
Q 6 4 3
A K Q J 9
A K J 8
---
I opted for 1 Heart and hope that partner finds a reply. This was a good decision. When partner responds to a 2 Clubs bid with anything other than 2 Diamonds we lose bidding space too fast. His reply was 1 Spade, and somehow I miss the Splinter bid of 4 Clubs and bid 3 Spades (probably because it is a cheaper bid, but that's no excuse). Partner looked at his hand unimaginitively and bid 4 Spades, which at least takes some of the blame away from me as he should find a cue bid holding a singleton heart and A K J 5 of spades. The auction should go: 1H-1S-4C-4H-4NT-5H-6S, assuming no diamond losers (throw dummy's diamonds on hearts to set up a ruff) and hope for no more than one spade loser. It still requires a punt as you could be playing in 6 Spades with Q 6 4 3 opposite K 7 5 2 in the trump suit.
The rest of the time we judged well, as we found our Games and allowed our opponents once or twice to go to Games that came more than 1 trick down, vulnerable. There was a nice bonus when our opponents decided to Double a cold 5 Diamonds contract of mine. A good session saw us riding just below 50% overall and no more.
Falco and I had agreed anything over 50% was fine, but we soon put our ambitions higher after the way we started Round 3 (the final round). On the very first board my RHO had this Declarer problem:
A K Q
4 2
10 9 7 3
K 8 5 2
9 8
A K 10 8 7 6
A K 6
7 4
6 Hearts, Jack of Spades led.
Obviously, this is a bad contract. Even if the Ace of Clubs is onside, hearts still have to be played for no losers. There are two ways to do this: play for RHO to have QJx, or play for either defender to have QJ doubleton. Those of you who know your bridge odds will know that the former line is almost 2% more likely to work a priori, and the former line gains further once you've actually played a small heart from dummy at trick 2 and RHO follows small. When the 10 holds, Declarer has to draw trumps, piching a small club on the third round, and then hope the club finesse works.
It so happens that Declarer rose with the King on the first round, dropping my Jack. Having started this line he should stick to it, dropping my queen as well and taking the club finesse. There is no point in playing me for a singleton as he can't pick up an original holding of Q 9 5 3 with my partner anyway. As it happens, this would not have saved him, as his LHO (me) held Q J 3 of Clubs. But he would come only one off, instead of the -2 that actually resulted.
Boards 21 and 22 presented some nice Declarer hands:
10 9 3
J 4
A Q 10 5 4
Q J 2
A Q 6 4
A Q 6
9 6 2
K 8 4
3NT, 8 of Hearts led.
I have two heart tricks and can establish two clubs. There is an obvious plan here: Establish 4 diamond tricks and take your tricks before the defence can hurt you with a long suit. That saves having to play spades for more than 1 trick.
I play small from dummy, and the queen wins the trick. I run the 9 of diamonds which loses to the Jack. If the King of Hearts is returned, I have to duck a round to block the suit. Instead, a club is returned to my King, which wins. I now play a small diamond to the ten, which loses to the King, and another club comes back. Dummy wins this one, and now I cannot afford to lose a trick. With only three diamonds in total, I need the second spade trick so I finesse the queen, which holds, and claim 9.
To defeat the contract, LHO needs to lead a club from his original doubleton holding. RHO can then establish three club tricks before I can establish 9 anywhere.
J 6 2
9
A 10 8 2
A Q J 10 6
Q 7
A Q 10 8
Q 7 6 5 4 3
4
4 Diamonds Doubled, LHO cashes AK of spades then plays a small one.
The Jack of Spades wins the trick, so I play a small heart. This contract is not without danger. I play a small heart to the ace and a small diamond. The 9 appears. By finessing the ten, I guarantee no more than 1 diamond loser as losing to either honour means the trumps are divided 2-1 or 1-2 and the Ace will beat the next one. The only possible way I'd lose another is if RHO held singleton Jack and LHO has a void in clubs. That is rather less likely than the chances of LHO having started with KJ9. Hence, I finesse, and although RHO does have singleton Jack, he doesn't have a return that can hurt me and I can draw the least diamond, 1 club trick, and cross-ruff the remainder. +510 was better than 5 Diamonds making, which is important, as it can make. Declarer has to play the Queen from hand, and whether LHO covers or not, the Jack has been pinned.
Here is an actual 5 Diamond Contract I played:
A Q J 10 9 6 2
J
7
K Q 7 2
---
9 5
A Q J 10 9 8 3 2
A 10 6
Lead: Ace of Hearts.
This was played against the rudest pair in the competition. We were already behind time as one of our opponents had taken long enough to play an absoloutely frigid 5 Diamonds. I'm not sure what they were unhappy about (the fact that 3NT was a superior contract maybe?), but I don't think it warranted speaking French throughout the bidding of this board. I tried to make up the time on this one, but I was hindered in a most unusual way. LHO switched to a club, which I won with the ten, ruffed a heart and played the 2 of spades, ruffing with the 8. Of course I have the worry that LHO holds the King of diamonds plus an original 5 clubs, but I avoided the worry that RHO was void in clubs or LHO was void in spades that I'd have had by playing the Queen of Clubs and pitching a heart on the Ace of Spades, all for sake of being able to take a diamond finesse that is odds-against finding King doubleton onside. Anyway, I needn't have worried; LHO followed suit and showed out when I played the Ace of Diamonds on the next trick. It was about this time that, instead of playing a card, RHO decided to go into the tank. After a while, she decided the best thing to do was grab one of my quitted tricks and look at it. She eventually followed suit, and I played the Queen of Diamonds, and RHO goes into the tank again. Therefore, I begin to claim: "It doesn't matter when you take it; I'll get back in -" I am cut short by RHO preventing me from claiming (literally pushing back up my hand that I've tried to face) and saying "Wait!" After yet another long think, she takes the King, and thinks about what card to play back for another minute or so. I win, and put my Jack of diamonds on the table, followed immediately by the ten, nine and the rest of my hand - I wasn't going to be prevented from claiming a second time.
Incidentally, this pair came up against one of our supervisors in the next event; the Mixed(!) Pairs. I was glad that our supervisor did not show the same restraint as I did and promptly put the lady who was my RHO in her place when she did her "let's just grab one of my opponent's quitted tricks and look at it" thing again.
All in all, we did very well in this session, and I still maintain that had a difference of opinion not resulted in us being in 6 Spades Doubled -2 towards the end, we would have got 60% or more in the session. Our score was still good enough to propel us so far up the rankings that we actually earned some Greek Master Points.
I can't really say much about the Mixed Pairs. I wasn't playing in it; Falco and I decided to watch a Scottish brother-and-sister partnership in Session 1. They did very well, coming 6th overall, which netted a tidy sum of Euros. Yet more success for Scotland following on from two pairs doing well in the Open Pairs.
That just left the teams.
Unusually for this type of event, the boards for the teams were hand-dealt, which meant no hand records. If I had been playing with R, I might have had a chance of going through some of the hands, as he notes down each and every bid in the auction and that might jog my memory. As it is, I'll just give a brief report on how we did.
Scotland B did okay I felt. There were 7 rounds of eight board matches. We won four, drew two and lost only one. We were never really in the running for anything, but had never expected to be. We kept clear of the wooden spoon though.
Our Under 20 team were the top junior team in the competition - quite remarkable, since all the other junior teams were Under 25.
Oh, and I can't help but mention the fact that Versace (you know, one of the best players in the world - THAT Versace) turned up to play in the Teams. That's not the interesting thing. What was most interesting was the fact that our friends in this Irish junior squad took on Team Versace and beat them. The match basically swung on a Grand Slam board which, if told right, will work it's way into the stuff of legend. I'll leave that to Wayne.
So we had quite a few players going up to collect prizes at the Gala dinner. The gala dinner was actually held outside at night; unthinkable in Scotland - but Greece is a country where you can tell whether or not there is any chance of rain based on what month it is, leaving a relaxed and pleasant al fresco atmosphere.
I haven't yet mentioned yet another aspect of this week that made the experience so positive - lessons from Krystof Martens. The SBU had said that this was one of the reasons we were going: attendance was compulsory. The compulsion was un-necessary; none of us were going to miss this. There were two lessons; the first being a session of play 8 boards normally and then analyse them. Much of it was about bidding to the right contract and this was one that we got wrong:
---
K 7 3
Q J 9 5 4
A 10 9 8 3
9 7 5 3
A Q 4
A K 10 2
K 6
I had the top hand; Falco the bottom hand. Falco is Dealer.
This was a pity as we had the methods to cope with this. Falco opens 1NT; pretty straight forward. The auction continues (with the opps passing) 2C-2S-3C. I have now shown a GF hand with at least 5-5 in the minors (Non-Prom Stayman followed by 3 Clubs). Unfortunately, Falco does not remember this, so the auction does not continue 3D-3H-4C-4D-4H-4NT-5D-7D as it would if the convention was remembered.
The second lesson was all about Declarer contracts at Teams. I'll end this post with four of them: one I got wrong (I noticed immediately after it was too late), one I got right, and two that were given as problems to take away and study (although the answers are not hard to work out).
7 6 2
8 7 6
J 9 8
A Q 4 2
A J 5 3
A J 9
A K 5 4
K J
3NT by South, 3 of Diamonds led. You play the 8 and RHO plays the 6.
J 7
5 4
Q J 10
K Q J 9 5 4
K 9 6 5
A K J
A 6 5
10 3 2
3NT by South, 3 of Diamonds led. Whatever you play from dummy, RHO plays the 8.
A 3
10 5
K 8 5 4 2
A K 8 3
K J 9
K 9 7 6
A Q 6
6 5 4
3NT by South, 5 of Spades led.
A Q 3
A J 5 3
K 4 2
A 8 3
K J 9
K 7 6
A 7 6
6 5 4 2
3NT by South, King of Clubs led.
Scottish and Irish Juniors @ Napoli Pizza, Rhodes after a hard night's work
The first thing I shall say about this particular event was the quality of the hospitality from our hosts. They did everything they could to make our stay as enjoyable as possible - and I mean everything. From airport transfers to accommodation to taxis from our residence to the venue, they were on top of everything. There was even a half-day cruise thrown in as part of the event. Wow. Not least in the things I am thankful is the reason we were able to go in the first place - entry and accommodation costs covered by the Greeks. The SBU would have been mad to pass it up.
The first day was taken up mainly with acclimatisation and (if you're not me) swimming. I do not intend to complain about the Scottish weather again after the heat of Rhodes. Seriously. What does it need to be 39 Degrees Celsius for? That's way too hot to actually do anything, so I was glad that most of the bridge was played in the late afternoon and evening. Did I meantion Rhodes is a very beautiful island? No? Well, it is. Not that I was up for too much exploring by day. We found it much more sensible to socialise at night - after the bridge - when we could walk around in the heat without being burned and sleep through the morning.
Still, we'd come to Rhodes for bridge, and we had to take good news back to the SBU in the hope that they might fund more events. This meant playing really well. There were three events - Open Pairs, Mixed Pairs and Teams. We had 5 partnerships for the Open Pairs, 3 for the mixed, and two teams for the Teams. "Scot A" was our Under 20 team, and "Scot B" was the other three juniors plus Mr. Duguid.
The Open Pairs were played over three sessions. Falco and I were teaming up again after our (sort-of) success in Amsterdam, for both the Pairs and the Teams. Both of us have a disliking for pairs, so our attitude was "do-what-we-can". We did just that, but it wasn't helped by boards like these:
K 8
A 6 3 2
Q 4 2
Q 6 3 2
7
Q J 9 8 7 4
K 9 6
K J 9
I had the bottom hand. After a competitive auction which I would do best to forget (since clearly Falco and I did not set a good example of how to bid), I ended up in 5 Hearts Doubled when we should have Doubled 4 Spades for +500.
I get a small diamond led to the Ace, and then RHO cashes Ace of Clubs. A diamond is returned, and this doomed contract has some hope when my King wins the trick. What I have to do is play hearts for no losers, unblock clubs and get back to dummy to pitch the last spade. Everything is set up, but I must not lose a heart. How do you play hearts?
Running the Queen is less than 50%, because it will not pick up K105 onside, although no play can pick that holding up. Playing for the drop is 26% a priori, but the odds change as the cards are played. Of course, I didn't know these percentages at the time, and my decision was to play the queen and rise with the Ace when LHO follows smoothly. This works, as RHO has singleton King. The only problem is that LHO goes into the tank for long enough to create a clear break in tempo, so I finesse. A diamond is returned for a ruff, and -800 later I am cursing myself for being too polite. I should of course have asked RHO if she agreed there had been a hesitation, and risen with the Ace if she disagreed. As many good things as I have to say about the Greeks, the behaviour of a minority of players visiting from other countries was less than admirable. But at the end of the day this was a Congress event, not a full International, so we decided to roll with the punches. We could land a few ourselves, after all.
A 10 7 3
A 10 9 7
7 4
J 7 3
Falco had this hand. As Dealer at Game All, he passes. His LHO passes and I open 1 Club (Better Minor). His RHO says 1 Heart; Falco now bids 1 Spade. Bidding continues with a Pass and 2 Diamonds from me. With what looks like a double stop in hearts, Falco bids 3NT. 8 of hearts is led, imagine his disappointment with this dummy:
Q 5
3
A K 6 2
K 10 9 8 6 2
The Jack is played from his RHO, so now Falco wins and plays the Jack of Clubs, covered by the Queen, King and Ace. Nine tricks are rolling in now. Of course, Falco expected a much stronger dummy, (I confirmed that this particular +600 (our best % score of the round) was my fault, as 2 Diamonds is an overbid), but a well-judged overbid, if I do say so myself.
Most of the other boards involved better bridge but worse luck, and we finished Round 1 somewhere below 50%. (Quite a bit below, I reckon). The second session focused a lot on bidding: When to bid Slam and when not to bid Game being two common themes. We came off worst in the first of those axioms, as our opponents invariably found their slams and our opportunity was this:
Q 6 4 3
A K Q J 9
A K J 8
---
I opted for 1 Heart and hope that partner finds a reply. This was a good decision. When partner responds to a 2 Clubs bid with anything other than 2 Diamonds we lose bidding space too fast. His reply was 1 Spade, and somehow I miss the Splinter bid of 4 Clubs and bid 3 Spades (probably because it is a cheaper bid, but that's no excuse). Partner looked at his hand unimaginitively and bid 4 Spades, which at least takes some of the blame away from me as he should find a cue bid holding a singleton heart and A K J 5 of spades. The auction should go: 1H-1S-4C-4H-4NT-5H-6S, assuming no diamond losers (throw dummy's diamonds on hearts to set up a ruff) and hope for no more than one spade loser. It still requires a punt as you could be playing in 6 Spades with Q 6 4 3 opposite K 7 5 2 in the trump suit.
The rest of the time we judged well, as we found our Games and allowed our opponents once or twice to go to Games that came more than 1 trick down, vulnerable. There was a nice bonus when our opponents decided to Double a cold 5 Diamonds contract of mine. A good session saw us riding just below 50% overall and no more.
Falco and I had agreed anything over 50% was fine, but we soon put our ambitions higher after the way we started Round 3 (the final round). On the very first board my RHO had this Declarer problem:
A K Q
4 2
10 9 7 3
K 8 5 2
9 8
A K 10 8 7 6
A K 6
7 4
6 Hearts, Jack of Spades led.
Obviously, this is a bad contract. Even if the Ace of Clubs is onside, hearts still have to be played for no losers. There are two ways to do this: play for RHO to have QJx, or play for either defender to have QJ doubleton. Those of you who know your bridge odds will know that the former line is almost 2% more likely to work a priori, and the former line gains further once you've actually played a small heart from dummy at trick 2 and RHO follows small. When the 10 holds, Declarer has to draw trumps, piching a small club on the third round, and then hope the club finesse works.
It so happens that Declarer rose with the King on the first round, dropping my Jack. Having started this line he should stick to it, dropping my queen as well and taking the club finesse. There is no point in playing me for a singleton as he can't pick up an original holding of Q 9 5 3 with my partner anyway. As it happens, this would not have saved him, as his LHO (me) held Q J 3 of Clubs. But he would come only one off, instead of the -2 that actually resulted.
Boards 21 and 22 presented some nice Declarer hands:
10 9 3
J 4
A Q 10 5 4
Q J 2
A Q 6 4
A Q 6
9 6 2
K 8 4
3NT, 8 of Hearts led.
I have two heart tricks and can establish two clubs. There is an obvious plan here: Establish 4 diamond tricks and take your tricks before the defence can hurt you with a long suit. That saves having to play spades for more than 1 trick.
I play small from dummy, and the queen wins the trick. I run the 9 of diamonds which loses to the Jack. If the King of Hearts is returned, I have to duck a round to block the suit. Instead, a club is returned to my King, which wins. I now play a small diamond to the ten, which loses to the King, and another club comes back. Dummy wins this one, and now I cannot afford to lose a trick. With only three diamonds in total, I need the second spade trick so I finesse the queen, which holds, and claim 9.
To defeat the contract, LHO needs to lead a club from his original doubleton holding. RHO can then establish three club tricks before I can establish 9 anywhere.
J 6 2
9
A 10 8 2
A Q J 10 6
Q 7
A Q 10 8
Q 7 6 5 4 3
4
4 Diamonds Doubled, LHO cashes AK of spades then plays a small one.
The Jack of Spades wins the trick, so I play a small heart. This contract is not without danger. I play a small heart to the ace and a small diamond. The 9 appears. By finessing the ten, I guarantee no more than 1 diamond loser as losing to either honour means the trumps are divided 2-1 or 1-2 and the Ace will beat the next one. The only possible way I'd lose another is if RHO held singleton Jack and LHO has a void in clubs. That is rather less likely than the chances of LHO having started with KJ9. Hence, I finesse, and although RHO does have singleton Jack, he doesn't have a return that can hurt me and I can draw the least diamond, 1 club trick, and cross-ruff the remainder. +510 was better than 5 Diamonds making, which is important, as it can make. Declarer has to play the Queen from hand, and whether LHO covers or not, the Jack has been pinned.
Here is an actual 5 Diamond Contract I played:
A Q J 10 9 6 2
J
7
K Q 7 2
---
9 5
A Q J 10 9 8 3 2
A 10 6
Lead: Ace of Hearts.
This was played against the rudest pair in the competition. We were already behind time as one of our opponents had taken long enough to play an absoloutely frigid 5 Diamonds. I'm not sure what they were unhappy about (the fact that 3NT was a superior contract maybe?), but I don't think it warranted speaking French throughout the bidding of this board. I tried to make up the time on this one, but I was hindered in a most unusual way. LHO switched to a club, which I won with the ten, ruffed a heart and played the 2 of spades, ruffing with the 8. Of course I have the worry that LHO holds the King of diamonds plus an original 5 clubs, but I avoided the worry that RHO was void in clubs or LHO was void in spades that I'd have had by playing the Queen of Clubs and pitching a heart on the Ace of Spades, all for sake of being able to take a diamond finesse that is odds-against finding King doubleton onside. Anyway, I needn't have worried; LHO followed suit and showed out when I played the Ace of Diamonds on the next trick. It was about this time that, instead of playing a card, RHO decided to go into the tank. After a while, she decided the best thing to do was grab one of my quitted tricks and look at it. She eventually followed suit, and I played the Queen of Diamonds, and RHO goes into the tank again. Therefore, I begin to claim: "It doesn't matter when you take it; I'll get back in -" I am cut short by RHO preventing me from claiming (literally pushing back up my hand that I've tried to face) and saying "Wait!" After yet another long think, she takes the King, and thinks about what card to play back for another minute or so. I win, and put my Jack of diamonds on the table, followed immediately by the ten, nine and the rest of my hand - I wasn't going to be prevented from claiming a second time.
Incidentally, this pair came up against one of our supervisors in the next event; the Mixed(!) Pairs. I was glad that our supervisor did not show the same restraint as I did and promptly put the lady who was my RHO in her place when she did her "let's just grab one of my opponent's quitted tricks and look at it" thing again.
All in all, we did very well in this session, and I still maintain that had a difference of opinion not resulted in us being in 6 Spades Doubled -2 towards the end, we would have got 60% or more in the session. Our score was still good enough to propel us so far up the rankings that we actually earned some Greek Master Points.
I can't really say much about the Mixed Pairs. I wasn't playing in it; Falco and I decided to watch a Scottish brother-and-sister partnership in Session 1. They did very well, coming 6th overall, which netted a tidy sum of Euros. Yet more success for Scotland following on from two pairs doing well in the Open Pairs.
That just left the teams.
Unusually for this type of event, the boards for the teams were hand-dealt, which meant no hand records. If I had been playing with R, I might have had a chance of going through some of the hands, as he notes down each and every bid in the auction and that might jog my memory. As it is, I'll just give a brief report on how we did.
Scotland B did okay I felt. There were 7 rounds of eight board matches. We won four, drew two and lost only one. We were never really in the running for anything, but had never expected to be. We kept clear of the wooden spoon though.
Our Under 20 team were the top junior team in the competition - quite remarkable, since all the other junior teams were Under 25.
Oh, and I can't help but mention the fact that Versace (you know, one of the best players in the world - THAT Versace) turned up to play in the Teams. That's not the interesting thing. What was most interesting was the fact that our friends in this Irish junior squad took on Team Versace and beat them. The match basically swung on a Grand Slam board which, if told right, will work it's way into the stuff of legend. I'll leave that to Wayne.
So we had quite a few players going up to collect prizes at the Gala dinner. The gala dinner was actually held outside at night; unthinkable in Scotland - but Greece is a country where you can tell whether or not there is any chance of rain based on what month it is, leaving a relaxed and pleasant al fresco atmosphere.
I haven't yet mentioned yet another aspect of this week that made the experience so positive - lessons from Krystof Martens. The SBU had said that this was one of the reasons we were going: attendance was compulsory. The compulsion was un-necessary; none of us were going to miss this. There were two lessons; the first being a session of play 8 boards normally and then analyse them. Much of it was about bidding to the right contract and this was one that we got wrong:
---
K 7 3
Q J 9 5 4
A 10 9 8 3
9 7 5 3
A Q 4
A K 10 2
K 6
I had the top hand; Falco the bottom hand. Falco is Dealer.
This was a pity as we had the methods to cope with this. Falco opens 1NT; pretty straight forward. The auction continues (with the opps passing) 2C-2S-3C. I have now shown a GF hand with at least 5-5 in the minors (Non-Prom Stayman followed by 3 Clubs). Unfortunately, Falco does not remember this, so the auction does not continue 3D-3H-4C-4D-4H-4NT-5D-7D as it would if the convention was remembered.
The second lesson was all about Declarer contracts at Teams. I'll end this post with four of them: one I got wrong (I noticed immediately after it was too late), one I got right, and two that were given as problems to take away and study (although the answers are not hard to work out).
7 6 2
8 7 6
J 9 8
A Q 4 2
A J 5 3
A J 9
A K 5 4
K J
3NT by South, 3 of Diamonds led. You play the 8 and RHO plays the 6.
J 7
5 4
Q J 10
K Q J 9 5 4
K 9 6 5
A K J
A 6 5
10 3 2
3NT by South, 3 of Diamonds led. Whatever you play from dummy, RHO plays the 8.
A 3
10 5
K 8 5 4 2
A K 8 3
K J 9
K 9 7 6
A Q 6
6 5 4
3NT by South, 5 of Spades led.
A Q 3
A J 5 3
K 4 2
A 8 3
K J 9
K 7 6
A 7 6
6 5 4 2
3NT by South, King of Clubs led.
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