Today we saw Team Ulli3, ably captained by Frodo during
Ulli3's 2-week absence, claim a 45-27 IMP victory over Team
CapHotel. The match was interrupted twice with connection
problems, but the hands were well worth returning each time.
The E-W players, DeniseB-JerryS1 (Bluebee substituted for
JerryS1 for the last 2 boards) and QueenHrt-Neophyte,
switched after Board #8 so that they would play on both teams
for 8 boards. Each E-W pair was on the winning side once.
The standings after this 14-6 VP win for Team Ulli3 are:
Team Name IMPs VPs
Irmgard's Guerrillas + 17 34
Pinky's Hotel - 17 26
Next week Moogal will look after things while I play in
the Canadian "Bridge Week" in Edmonton. Our celebrity guest
player couldn't make it this week but I'm sure that Moogal
and I can get one or two surprise players for you next week. :)
Captains: Don't forget to tell Jan the scores and to
send the results to me here at: kaltica@mts.net
I'll file my report when I get home. Good luck, all!
===============================================================
Here is an interesting hand that illustrates how to play
a "Moysian" (i.e. 4-3) fit:
IMPs north IMP Board 3
Dlr: South Frodo
Vul: E-W S 742 west north east south
H AT543 DeniseB Frodo jerrys1 believer
D T
C Q983 pass
west east 1C pass 1D pass
DeniseB jerrys1 1S pass 2D pass
S QT65 S AK8 3H! pass 3S pass
H K H J62 4C pass 4S (all pass)
D AK D Q87632
C AKJ752 C 4 Opening Lead: HA
south Result: -2
believer Score: 200
S J93 IMPs: 9.00
H Q987
D J954 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
C T6 W K S5-CA-CK-S6 Q-DA-DK ST-CJ 2 C5 C7
N HA-H3 3 8 2 4 T S7-HT Q-C9 H4 5
E 2 J 4 H6 A-S8 2 3 D6 D7 SK-DQ D8
S 8 Q 6 T 3 9 4 5 7 D9 DJ SJ-H9
With N-S finding the best lead, forcing us to ruff the
second Heart, we need to establish a long suit and try to
get one "tempo" ahead of them by forcing THEM to ruff. Now,
if the trumps are 3-3 or if the defender who has 4 trumps is
the one forced to ruff, we should be fine. Upon ruffing the
second heart, then, we might play D-AK. North ruffs but now
West can win, play a Spade to the Ace, ruff a Diamond high
and play a 2nd Spade. There will now be one trump out, but
we can run the diamonds until the defence ruffs, then use
our last trump to re-enter dummy.
To recap: When playing in a 4-3 fit, if we can afford
two trump losers, ATTACK YOUR LENGTH and try to draw TWO
rounds of trump, being careful to win the SECOND round of
trumps. YOU want to be on lead to run your long suit after
you've drawn two trumps.
===============================================================
On this hand we see one of the overlooked benefits to
passing Responder's weakish, non-forcing free bid over the
opponent's 1NT overcall. Why weakish and non-forcing?
With any decent 8+ point hand Responder should double the
1NT overcall for penalty.
IMPs north IMP Board 6
Dlr: East Frodo
Vul: E-W S A43 west north east south
H AK75 DeniseB Frodo jerrys1 believer
D KQJ5
C 65 pass pass
west east 1S 1NT 2D pass
DeniseB jerrys1 2S pass pass 3C
S KQJ52 S 96 (all pass)
H QT8 H J62
D 74 D A98632 Opening Lead: SK
C KT9 C A4 Result: +3
south Score: 110
believer IMPs: 9.00
S T87
H 943 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
D T W SK 9 J-SQ-D7 K-D4 T T
C QJ8732 N A-C6 3 4 5 5 J H5
E 9 A-S6 D8 9 4 A D2
S 7 2 8 T T-CQ C3-CJ-H3
At the other table N-S "overcompeted" to 4C doubled
for down 2,-300, so it was incumbent upon E-W to take a
plus somewhere. When JerryS1 bids 2D DeniseB should pass
for a number of reasons:
1. JerryS1's Spades might be worse than DeniseB's Diamonds.
2. East may lack entries UNLESS this is played in Diamonds.
But the "forgotten" reason is:
3. Passing 2D denies South another chance to compete.
This last consideration is of PARAMOUNT importance. Had
South bid 3C over 1S-1NT-2D she would be forcing the bidding
along. Lacking that strength, she passed. To avoid hearing
3C on the next round West MUST PASS now. 1NT Overcaller will
be very hard pressed to find ANOTHER bid now.
===============================================================
This hand was a giggle, but it raises an interesting
question: "When is 4H (or 4S) a cuebid?"
IMPs north IMP Board 1
Dlr: North Frodo
Vul: None S KQT764 west north east south
H AK8 DeniseB Frodo BlueBee believer
D K
C AQ7 1S pass 2C
west east pass 3S pass 4C
DeniseB BlueBee pass 4H (all pass)
S 9853 S J2
H QJ6 H 7532 Opening Lead: H2
D T9764 D AQ853 Result: +4
C 5 C 32 Score: 420
south IMPs: -2.00
believer
S A 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
H T94 W J 3 5 H6-D6 Q 5 8 4 9 D7 D9 DT
D J2 N K-S4 A-CQ K A-SK-SQ H8-ST-S7-S6 7
C KJT9864 E H2 2 2 3 A-H3 J H5-DQ D3 D5 H7 D8
S 4 A-C4 6 2 9 C8 C9 J CT CJ HT-CK
Generally, 4-of-a-major is natural if the pair CAN
have a fit in that suit and MIGHT wish to play there. So
the question becomes: "Could North have 6+ great Spades
and 4+ Hearts for her 3S rebid?"
Answer: No. Note that 1S:2C:2H and 1C:2C:2S would
both be forcing in SAYC, since Responder has not rebid
yet. Hence, if Opener does have 4+ Hearts Opener should
bid them directly over 1S:2C (if not minimal, at least).
There will be time to rebid the Spades later. For this
reason, 1S:2C:3S (which is a totally unnecessary jump,
remember) forces to game while settling Spades as trump.
Responder now stops in 4S if minimum or, with extra values,
starts to cuebid via 4C, 4D or 4H. Note: Since there can
be no 4-4 Heart fit 4H can NEVER be to play here.
So what do we do if we DO have 6-4 in the majors?
How do we bid our 6-4 two suiters when that 4-card suit
can be rebid cheaply? Well, after a 1-level response we
rebid the 6-card suit first if minimal, THEN the 4-card
suit. On this there is unanimous agreement.
But what about after a TWO-over-1 response by Partner?
Here, paths divide sharply. Many traditional players will
rebid exactly as they would opposite a ONE level reply:
rebid the 6-carder then the 4-carder if minimal, otherwise
show the 4-carder and THEN rebid the 6-carder. For them,
this latter course (e.g. 1S:2C:2H:any:3S) shows extras.
Many modern players, though, will ALWAYS introduce
their 4-card if they can do so cheaply opposite a 2-over-1
reply. For them, 1S:2C:2S would UTTERLY deny a 4+ card red
suit. Later red suit bids by Opener, then, would be
"impossible"--often just showing stuff there in support of
whatever Responder just bid. For them, 1S:2D:2S:3C:3H would
show Club support (else 3D, 3S or 3NT) and a minimum hand
(else 3C last round or 4C now), worried about missing 3NT.
===============================================================
Don't forget to try out our SAYC Test:
http://www.firesides.net/sayctest.htm
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Take our SAYC Test
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The Fireside Chat
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The Brains Behind Kaltica's Firesides
CLICK HERE to go to discover the sordid
truth behind Kaltica's Firesides. |
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OKBridge Web Site
CLICK HERE to go to the OKBridge
Web site for information on downloading and using OKBridge. |
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Pictures from the 1999 Boston Fall
Nationals Click HERE to see Moogal's pictures of some of the
Firesiders at the 1999
Fall Nationals in Boston. |
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The Fifth Chair Mentoring
Program This fine organization, run by Marcia "tarsh" West, arranges mentors for
those who can't afford professional tutoring. |
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Colin Ward's Bridge Page This
bridge web page's technical and humour articles will appeal to the
intermediate and experienced player. |
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Reports From Vancouver
Colin's reports from the 1999 Spring Nationals in
Vancouver. |
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Links to Other
Bridge PagesThe Canadian Bridge Federation has
one of the internet's most interesting and comprehensive lists of bridge
links. |
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Baron Barclay's Bridge Supplies
CLICK
HERE if you'd like to order bridge books or supplies from Baron Barclay's, the largest
source on the internet. |
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Sid and Abby's Bridge
Site Click HERE to
go to the Sid
and Abby's Site to see their "Hand of the Week" in "bridge movie"
format. |
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Space Cadets' Home
PageHere you can spend weeks reading the
hand records and instructive comments intended for the bridge neophyte.
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SAYC Simplified by Waynef and
AnaThis site by Anna "Ana" Marsh and Wayne "waynef" Flourney is a good source
for learning SAYC. |
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Colin's Personal
(Non-Bridge) Web PageIf tired of bridge
(heresy, yes, but it happens) you may wish to switch to Acquire,
poetry, gardening, music or literature. |
