Stories From The Championship

There are no Uninteresting Hands - by Herman De Waell

One of the bonuses of having these championships in Verona is that there are so many terraced restaurants. This means that after you've had your own dinner, you can join some other table for digestifs. That's what I did yesterday evening, and inevitably there are hand records on the table. 'Look at hand 26', the player facing me said. We did, and this is what we saw:

Board 26. Dealer East. All Vul.
	♠ J 7 2 ♥ 10 9 5 ♦ J 9 6 ♣ A Q 7 6
♠ Q 10 ♥ 7 4 3 ♦ A 10 8 4 ♣ J 8 4 2		♠ 5 4 3 ♥ Q J 8 6 2 ♦ 7 5 3 ♣ 9 3
	♠ A K 9 8 6 ♥ A K ♦ K Q 2 ♣ K 10 5

Immediately my left hand neighbour started telling what had happened at her table. South had cashed the ace and king of spades. 'Probably she hadn't even noticed that the ten had appeared’. Most people felt that after seeing the ten one should finesse. There is no question of restricted choice, of course, but I believe that if the ten is judged to be an honest card, there are 12 places to put the queen to the left, and only 10 to the right. So the chances are 12 against 10 for the drop.

Now I remarked that it was very seldom seen that someone pointed out a deal on which the hands are no less wild than 5–3–3–2. 'But you're looking at the wrong session', she said, 'I was talking of the first session.' So this was the board she really wanted to talk about:

Board 26. Dealer East. All Vul.
	♠ 7 4 2 ♥ 9 8 ♦ 8 6 3 ♣ J 9 7 5 4
♠ K 8 6 5 3 ♥ J 7 5 ♦ Q 9 7 ♣ A 6		♠ J 9 ♥ Q 10 6 2 ♦ A K 4 2 ♣ Q 10 2
	♠ A Q 10 ♥ A K 4 3 ♦ J 10 5 ♣ K 8 3

She had been South, and East had opened 1♦. What would you do? I said I would overcall 1NT, and that had been exactly what she had done too. Three down was not a success though.

Notice that both deals have two 4–4–3–2's and two 5–3–3–2's. Who ever said that only freak hands are worth talking about? We can assure Hans that there is no bug in the dealing program. Deal 26 of the third session duly contained a seven card suit and two singletons.

The Law of Total Injustice - by Peter Rogers (Australia)

In round eight of the Rosenblum, all vulnerable, you hold

and take part in the following auction (you are East):

West	North	East	South
1♣	1♠	2♥	Pass
3♥	Pass	4NT	Pass
5♥	Pass	?

West's 5♥ shows two key cards without the trump queen and very probably only three-card support. What to do?

Most players will shrug and pass – a key card and the trump queen missing makes slam roughly 50-50. However, the Law of Total Injustice states that bad bridge begets bad luck, so the real decision is which pair has played worse and hence deserves the bad luck, too. Using the Law is tricky, because accurate analysis of the previous 12 boards is needed. Replaying those 12 boards over in your mind reveals one obvious clanger by your partnership but three or four by the opponents. The Law indicates your opponents are very strong favorites to suffer bad luck, so you call a confident 6♥. The full deal:

Board 20. Dealer West. All Vul.
	♠ A K Q 9 2 ♥ 9 5 3 ♦ J 6 ♣ Q 7 2
♠ 8 6 5 3 ♥ K 10 4 ♦ 2 ♣ A K J 10 6		♠ J ♥ A J 8 7 6 2 ♦ A K Q 10 7 ♣ 9
	♠ 10 7 4 ♥ Q ♦ 9 8 5 4 3 ♣ 8 5 4 3

The Law holds.

Be Stingy on Lead - by Pamela Granovetter

I learned to be stingy on opening lead during my days of rubber bridge at the Mayfair and Cavendish Club in New York City. This deal from the Mixed Pairs in Verona was a perfect example.

Board 26. Dealer East. All Vul.
	♠ 10 5 ♥ 6 ♦ Q J 10 8 5 4 3 ♣ A Q 4
♠ A K 9 6 3 ♥ 8 2 ♦ 7 6 ♣ 9 8 6 2		♠ 4 2 ♥ J 9 7 5 3 ♦ A 2 ♣ K J 7 5
	♠ Q J 8 7 ♥ A K Q 10 4 ♦ K 9 ♣ 10 3

West	North	East	South
		Pass	1♥
1♠	2♦	Pass	3NT
All Pass

Most West players led a low spade, hoping to retain a spade in partner's hand. This would have worked if spades were 5-3-3-2 around the table. Not this time, however. Declarer won and played the ♦K, claiming 10 tricks.

My partner, Bob Hamman, led the ♣9 on the go. It was a great lead. Declarer finessed, losing to my king. I returned a spade to Bob's king, and he led a second round of clubs, killing the ace in dummy Now declarer tried a diamond to the king, but it held and he went two off. In retrospect, I might have returned the ♣J at trick two, just in case my partner did not hold the ace of spades. Notice that a top spade lead works just as well. West can now shift to clubs and declarer is finished.

Bridge Today Digest Daily is edited by Pamela and Matthew Granovetter. Subscriptions or comments by return email to info@bridgetoday.com.