Late evening bridge with the kid

After the end of the US seniors trials, I found Colin online so we settled in to play bridge for the rest of the evening.  As always the forcing club seemed to be a red rag to the bridge player’s bull.  Here is an early example of one of our 1C openings red on white.  How would you bid my hand.

I held S K52 H AKQ9654 D void CKQ9

Colin opened 1C and North bid 1S (could this be psychic? ha!) anyway you bid 2H and partner surprisingly raises you to 3H.  What now?  I just bid 5D exclusion Blackwood.  Now over to Colin.  He held S A1087 H 832 D AKQJ102 C void.  Now I know I just showed a void in his solid seven card suit but they are a source of tricks anyway.   I can easily have a hand that will make 7 all I need is 6 solid hearts.  The truth is I am not sure how we show a void over exclusion.  Guess we are going to have to expand on our 4 pages of notes.  Anyway, he didn’t feel he could commit to a grand slam and who can blame him.  He showed his 2 keycards and I couldn’t go missing an ace.  I think we can get there by cue bidding though.  If I bid 3S he will bid 4C, I can bid 4D and he bids 4S anyway and I think we can manage it.  Did the spade psych hurt us I don’t think so.  But we found out the North who held S Q96 H 107 D 643 C AJ1043 had never psyched in 10 years before that moment!

Which brings us to the second psyche of the evening.  This time I put you in the deviant mind of the psycher.  You have S2 H QJ92 F J1065 C K1087.  You are at your favourite colours.  After 2 passes your red RHO (me) opens a precision 1C.  Can this be your moment?  You can’t let this opportunity pass, but what to psych.  A lead directing spade, perhaps.  The auction goes 2C, by LHO (Colin) and partner who can’t take a not vulnerable joke jumps to 4S.  RHO looks just too happy (me) when she cracks this. You can’t really blame partner who puts down S Q108653 H K8 D A7 C 42.  This is not going to play well.  As it turns out you go 5 down for 1100.  And what can East-West make?   Nothing at all (well 2NT but the field is generally going down in 3NT or something like that).

So far my experience has been psychers – none, forcing club at least 3.  So there.

Here is one hand where the kid showed some confidence in his mom.  All vulnerable South opened 1NT and Colin had S AKxx H void D 108643 C Q843.  He passed, North passed and reopened 2D showing one major.  South passed and he had to decide whether to play 2D or bid 2H (my probable suit).  Deciding I wouldn’t reopen on a bad suit vulnerable he bid 2H and played it from the short side.  I held S J93 H AKQ973 D K2 C 75.  The opening lead was a spade and

the S9 from dummy held.  He played 3 rounds of trump as everyone followed leading to this cute position as he lead a club from dummy.

	North
	S Q104
	H 10
	D 97
Colin	C 1062	Dummy (me)
S AK6		S  J3
H void		H 973
D 108		D K2
C Q843	South	C 75
	S 7
	H void
	D AQJ5
	C AKJ9

South won the CK and played back a spade.  Colin cashed the top spade and ruffed a spade and played another club, South discarding a club during all this.  North won the CA and continued the CJ allowing Colin to cash the top high remaining clubs throwing diamonds from dummy and losing only the H10, making 4H!

But here is a truly nice hand Colin declared.  We both enjoyed this one.  Colin held S A96 H K94 D K94 C KQ73.  This was the auction (we were vulnerable against not).

Colin	North	Linda	South
	1C	DBL	1NT
DBL	pass	pass	2C
3NT	all pass

I rotated the hands here.

	Linda
	S K1082
	H J852
	D AQ102
North	C 8	South
S QJ53		S  7
H A6		H Q1073
D J76		D 853
C AJ54	Colin	C 10962
	S A96
	H K94
	D K94
	C KQ73

By the way did you notice that South has psyched a notrump.  Better then some since it did very little harm.  Colin got a club lead and he won the CQ.  Wanting to keep South off lead he played a diamond to the DQ and a spade the S9 North winning the SJ.  North tried a small heart which went the H10 and the HK.  Now Colin cashed the diamonds and arrived at this position as he crossed to his hand on the SA.

	Linda
	S K108
	H J85
	D void
North	C void	South
S Q3		S  7
H A		H Q73
D void		D void
C AJ5	Colin	C 96
	S A6
	H 9
	D void
	C K73

On the play of the spades North had to discard the HA but he didn’t and Colin endplayed North for 10 tricks and all the match points.  Okay I think it is clear to throw the HA but the kid played the whole hand well, didn’t he and bidding and making 3NT was worth more 5.25 imps just by itself.

One last little play point.  Here Colin made a play without any thought that I missed in the round robin in Montreal.  Paul pointed it out to me.  Your clubs are AJ1087 opposite K9.  You need to find the CQ.  Your plan is to cash the CK and then finesse the CQ.  But it costs nothing to lead the CJ.  Maybe LHO will cover.  Colin made this play in a millisecond and North who held the CQ3 obligingly covered and 3NT came home very easily.