Linda Lee — My personal bridge blog

Lots of bridge

It seems like this is my time to play lots of bridge and with lots of partners.  Yesterday I played with Colin and Julie and tomorrow I play with Sylvia.  Julie and I were actually just bidding so there is less to report on that front unless you want to chat about whether opener should rebid one of a major with a balanced minimum or 1NT, there, I thought you wouldn’t. 

But Colin and I had a lot of action.  This time we spent most of the evening playing with Isabelle and Sondra as team-mates.  Still a lot happened.   We won some imps partly because Colin and I didn’t bid when the opponents did.  And if you get overboard against Isabelle and Sondra you are going to play the hand doubled.  Here is an example.

I held

s_thumb AQ984

h_thumb 873 

Copyofd_thumb J6

c_thumb 1076Nobody vulnerable I passed in first chair as did my compatriot in the other room.  And at both tables the auction continued 1Copyofd_thumb pass (by partner) 1h_thumb.  So do you think I should bid one lead directing spade?  I thought about it but wondered if partner would take the joke.  At our table the opponents wended their way to 3h_thumb and we let them have an uptrick when we erred a bit on defense.  At the other table my hand overcalled.  Partner who held

s_thumb J75

h_thumb KJ65 

Copyofd_thumb A85

c_thumb Q85was pushed to 3s_thumb over 3Copyofd_thumb.  As it turned out the hand was not favorable to our side and this went for 500.  I am not saying I did a brilliant thing or even the right thing.  I was just noting that on occasion keeping quiet is a good thing.

Sylvia and I played on a team game.  Pamela and Francine were sitting in the same seats as we were and we had some opponents who had a star or two but I didn’t know.  It is interesting to compare some of our results although a lot of the differences were caused by our opponents.  At our table we had an aggressive pair who were playing a forcing club system.   

Now I have reported about how everybody bids a lot against an opening strong club bid.  Well it turns out I am no exception.  With nobody vulnerable North opened 1c_thumb and I held

s_thumb 8

h_thumb Q87632 

Copyofd_thumb K43

c_thumb K86

I had a rush of blood to my head and overcalled 2h_thumb.  South doubled showing any 6-8 and this was passed to his partner who held

s_thumb AQ1096

h_thumb A1094 

Copyofd_thumb Q8

c_thumb KJ

I can see the thought process.  Game seems unlikely opposite 5-8.  I will take a chance that partner doesn’t have spades and pass.  But partner held the right hand to make the spade game likely.

s_thumb K7543 

h_thumb K5 

Copyofd_thumb J7

c_thumb 9732

The worse part was that they didn’t find the defense against 2h_thumb doubled although it isn’t an easy defense to find.  Here is the whole deal.

   

At the other table where North opened 1s_thumb it was easy to find the spade game which would probably have made on the auction.  Pamela and Francine did well to find the diamond save but it still cost them but they still lost 11 imps.

This little number at our table was a well deserved lose for North who decided who held

s_thumb

h_thumb K2 

Copyofd_thumb A864

c_thumb J98764

After I opened 1s_thumb in fourth and Sylvia bid 1NT he ventured out vulnerable with 2c_thumb.  I doubled and that was 800 for the good guys.  Without the intervention we would doubtlessly have been in the same 4s_thumb contract as Pamela and Francine which was destined to go down because of bad breaks.

Anyway I am done with my bridge marathon.  After this I have lots of lunches and dinners.  Eric our intern, is leaving for around the world tour, yes he is, and Jessica has taken the reins.  Eric just finished our facebook page for ABTA teacher of the month, have a look at it, become a fan!  So before he leaves its a lunch on the company.  Lots more meals beside that one.


1 Comment

Paul GipsonFebruary 23rd, 2010 at 11:49 am

I love to chat about whether opener should rebid one of a major with a balanced minimum or 1NT!

I’m a firm believer in rebidding 1NT, but the local (Canadian) alien believes that bypassing spades (in particular) is just one step away from signing into the local sanatorium. However after the loss to USA in the ice hockey he does not seem to care much about life any more.

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