Fireside Tuesday Night IMPs League


Fireside Tuesday Night IMPs League
Round #3



    Wow!  Things have really tightened up!  Team Moogal has 
been nudged ever-so-gently out of a clear first by Team HelenT, 
who tied their VP score of 51 and now lead on the strength of 
HelenT's 99-85 IMP differential tiebreak.  The standings are:


          Team               IMPs       VPs

       HelenT's Horde        + 99       51
       Moogal's Marauders    + 85       51
       Toddy's Troops        + 56       31
       Elvee's Elves         -  4       27
       Fredw3's Foursome     - 52       10
       Marlyse's Minions     -184        0

===================  Elvee vs Moogal  ========================

    The part score battle illustrated the value of being 
able to show our suit(s) QUICKLY over their 1NT--especially
over their strong 1NT openings.

IMPs       north           IMP Board 1
Dlr: North elvee
Vul: None  S AK42          west     north    east     south
           H 98            ian      elvee    believer Tara
           D Q52
           C AKT8                   1NT      2C!      X
    west          east     pass     2S       pass     pass
    ian           believer 2NT      pass     3C       X
    S T65         S 93     pass     pass     3H       pass
    H K76         H AQT543 pass     3S       (all pass)
    D AJ43        D 97
    C Q95         C 764    Opening Lead: D9
            south          Result: +5
            Tara           Score: 200  
            S QJ87         IMPs:   4.00
            H J2
            D KT86    1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 13
            C J32  W  A-D4  5  6  T  5  9  3  Q HK H6  J  7
                   N  2  5  A-SK-S4  T-CA-DQ-CK-C8-S2 H8  9
                   E D9  7  3  9 H5  4  6 H3  7 H4 HT HQ  A
                   S  T  8-S7  8  J-C2  3  6  J H2  Q-DK-HJ

     Believer's 2C was CAPP, showing any 1-suiter.  This
allowed South to get in a double to show some values (and,
in theory, some Clubs).  North took this to be "Stolen Bid
Stayman", so he showed his 4-card Spade suit.  With 8 soft
HCPs South passed.  Ian's brave 2NT bid pushed N-S to 3S 
but a lucky 4S made.  With N-S missing a game, then, how
could it be N-S gaining 4 IMPs here?  Well...

            -------------------------------------------


IMPs       north           IMP Board 1
Dlr: North moogal
Vul: None  S AK42          west north  east south
           H 98            jbot moogal jkh  meerkat
           D Q52
           C AKT8               1NT    X!   XX
    west          east     2C!  X      2H  (all pass)
    jbot          jkh
    S T65         S 93     Opening Lead: HJ
    H K76         H AQT543 Result: -1
    D AJ43        D 97     Score: 50  
    C Q95         C 764    IMPs:  -4.00
           south
           meerkat
           S QJ87         1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9
           H J2        W  6  K-S5  Q  5  9  6  T  J
           D KT86      N  9  8  4  K-CA-CT-SA-SK  Q
           C J32       E  Q-H3  9  4  6  7  3 H4-D7
                       S HJ  2  J-CJ  3  2  7  8  8

     At this table we saw DONT in action, with double
promising any 1-suiter.  An improvement on CAPP, yes,
since we can stop in 2C if we must, but still too 
slow.  South redoubled and then passed JKH's runout
to 2H (since South cannot double Hearts for penalty).
Much to South's amazement, North passed too!  Ahem.
A redouble of 1NT creates a 1-round force.  North 
MUST either double 2H or begin bidding suits, starting 
with 2S here.

     Note how much safer a quick 1NT-2H is here?  South
doesn't get in any point-showing doubles or redoubles.
Thus, E-W may well be able to steal the hand LEGITIMATELY 
in 2H.  Also, we often want to get in our one suit quickly
in case Responder starts leaping off to the stratosphere.
For more on methods of overcalling their 1NT, including 
the Geneva Convention (versus a weak 1NT) and McGuinty 
(in essence, Reverse DONT), go to:

        http://www.firesides.net/mcguinty.htm

===================  Andre55 vs Toddy  ======================

IMPs      north           IMP Board 10
Dlr: East andre55
Vul: Both S AK63          west north   east    south
          H KQJ73         mbar andre55 gaus271 DeniseB
          D 9
          C T94                        pass     pass
west            east      1S   2H      2S       3H
mbar            gaus271   4S   X      (all pass)
S QJ942         S T85
H 6             H A842         Opening Lead: HK
D AQ83          D T752         Result: -1
C KQJ           C 62           Score: 200  
          south                IMPs:   9.00
          DeniseB
          S 7          1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 13
          H T95     W  6  2  Q-SQ-CK S4-CQ-CJ  3 S9-DA D8 SJ
          D KJ64    N HK  K-D9  3  4  3  9  T S6-HQ SA-H7 HJ
          C A8753   E  A-S8  T  5  2  2  6 ST-D7  4  2 8  D5
                    S  5  7  J C7  A-HT  3  5  4  9  6 C8  K

     I think that if I ever write another book on bridge I
will entitle it "The Importance of Not Being Earnest". :)

     Here, East's free 2S raise on H-Ace (4 HCPs) and a 
Club doubleton (1 Short Suit Point) is, depending upon one's
style, either 1 (the SAYC standard) or 3 (the norm) points
light.  I *much* prefer the normal standard of 8+ points
for ANY such free call--especially a free raise.  This hand
illustrates why.  Nothing is more encouraging to any partner
than having hir suit raised--freely, in this case!  MBar
had the reasonable expectation of 2 goodies (8 HCPs / 4)
from East.  If East had had, say, North's S-AK63 and little
else, 4S would have had very good chances.  Opposite East's
actual collection, down one doubled was a lucky escape!  To
make matters worse, an ambitious 4H by North was down two 
at the other table for the same 200 points.  200 + 200 
amounted to a whopping 9 IMPs for Team Toddy--only one IMP 
less than their margin of victory!

===================  HelenT vs Marlyse  ======================

IMPs      north         IMP Board 8
Dlr: West luc
Vul: None S AT92        west     north    east     south
          H T53         Patricia luc      rcoop    Mindy
          D T864
          C T6          pass     pass     pass     1D
west            east    pass     pass     X        1S
Patricia        rcoop   X        pass     2H       X
S 4             S 8653 (all pass)
H Q972          H A864
D Q52           D 7     Opening Lead: DA
C KQJ95         C A742  Result: +4
          south         Score: -670  
          Mindy         IMPs: -11.00
          S KQJ7
          H KJ        1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 13
          D AKJ93  W  2  5  2  7  5  Q-CK-CQ-CJ-C9-DQ-S4 H9
          C 83     N  4  6  3  5  T  T  6 S2 S9 D8  T  A-ST
                   E  7 H4-HA-H8  A-H6  2  4  7 S3 S5  6  8
                   S DA-DK  J  K-C3 D3  8 D9 DJ S7 SJ  Q  K

     We will file this one under "A Whole Lot of Doublin'
Goin' On". :)

     Over the double of 1D, 1S by Mindy is fine.  Patricia's
is NOT, since any double of a new suit is an "Oh, no you 
don't!" PENALTY double.  Such a Penalty double often exposes 
a psyche or, if the opponents have a misfit, begins a series
of penalty doubles as the opponents stumble around looking
for a safe landing spot.  

     RCoop made a prescient pull to 2H.  As South, at IMPs,
we might throw in the towel here.  Both opponents have 
shown strength;  the chances of N-S going for a number will
not be compensated by any chance of finding a lucky game
for N-S.  Huge risk, no gain.  Time to pass.

     As North, we should never pass such a low level 
double with an undisclosed fit for one of Partner's suits.
Here, then, North should remove to 2S--the same bid that 
North might have made if South had passed.  Having passed
twice, North's 2S bid should not excite South.

==============================================================

     Next week we will have another "director", as I will 
be playing in the "Canadian Bridge Week" championships
in Edmonton, Alberta.  Captains, please remember to send me
the results anyway, so that I can update the web page with
the latest scores and file my report upon my return.  

     Enjoy your team game next week and I'll see you in two!

Colin

P.S.  Check out our SAYC test at:

        http://www.firesides.net/sayctest.htm



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