THE END PLAY

Above deal was presented to me by Virenbhai Shah, a legend rubber bridge player at the Wilmington club. It was played by his friend, Bindiya.

Bindiya boldly bid 3♥ with three card support of her partners 1♥(four card bid) ♣Q led by West is surely absurd after West’s partner supports the spade suit, in spite of having four trumps! Any way South won the lead with the ♣A. cashed the ♠A and ♠K and ruffed the spade. South now played the ♥K, ducked by West but took the ♥Q and played back ♣9 which was taken with the ♣K by East. I wonder why he didn’t give his partner the ruff! Now East plays ♦4, South plays low and West the ♦K which was ducked by North, West continued the diamond which was capture by ♦A and North returned a diamond which was taken by East’s ♦Q.

At the end Bindiya was left with ♦5 and ♣J and ♣5. When South played the ♣J West was end played. If he ruffed with the ♥8 South will over ruff with ♥9 and remove the last trump with the ♥J and dummy is good. If West discards the spade South will discard the diamond from dummy and play the master diamond from the hand, the situation would be the same. Eventually East is caught in squeeze end play!

Invincibility lies in the defense; the possibility of victory in the attack.

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Twitter ID  : @HemaDeora

Avoid Any Damage

I’m deeply saddened by the demise of our dearest colleague Vinaben Khandwala. One is never prepared for a loss; it comes like a swift wind. Vinaben was the doyen and pioneer of bridge. Her presence in the bridge room was like a prominent bookmark. We will truly miss her voice and her zest for life. We will always remember her in our prayers. May she rest in peace.

West led her ♦A and continued with the ♦Q to blot South’s jack. Dummy covered and East ruffed with the ♥5. Back came the ♠J to dummy’s king.

It was time for declarer to play trumps. She led the ♥8 to her Jack and West’s king, a losing finesse that carried a high price tag. West returned the ♦2 to force East to ruff, and East’s ♥10 proved the clincher. South was forced to overuff and West’s ♥9 was promoted to the setting trick.

It was true the defense was accurate. But it was also true that South blew her chance. When she led the trump from dummy, she should have refused to finesse and played her ♥A instead. The ♥Q would then have gone to West's king, but East’s pesky ♥10 could no longer do any damage.

The song is ended but the melody lingers on...

Blog          : http://www.hemadeora.blogspot.in

Twitter ID  : @HemaDeora

Judge your priorities

The Bombay Gymkhana is, for the first time, holding a Bridge IPL Tournament over this weekend. For almost the whole of last month, the bridge room at Bombay Gymkhana has been packed with all teams practicing the game. I’m proud to say that Dr Dhananjay Subaro is behind the event. He has worked tirelessly to promote this mind sport in Bombay Gym which was, at one time known as a taboo! Kudos to Dr Subarao!

West led ♠5 to east’s jack and South won the ♠A. South cashed dummy’s two top diamonds. He could come back to his hand and set some diamond tricks, but there were only eight winners.

Clubs was a possible source of tricks. You can play ♣A, another club and get to dummy twice with diamonds to set up clubs. Unfortunately, you do not have time to set up clubs if you have to lose two tricks to do so. However, if you are lucky enough to find a singleton club honour or ♣KQ doubleton, you are home free.

South should now play the ♣A and see if something good happens. If not, he can try the diamonds. This line risks going down three instead of one, but it increases your chances of taking nine tricks.

Blog          : http://www.hemadeora.blogspot.in

Twitter ID  : @HemaDeora

THERE IS ONE TWIST

Hey! ‘Apro’ Dara is back with this deal on good play and good defense, and a nice red ball pen from Mandarin Oriental, Jakarta. When he arrives in Mumbai he always has a juicy bridge deals and a ball pen in his pocket from various destinations for me. I will share the juicy deals with you, not pens!

West led ♠6, South won and crossed to dummy’s ♣A, played ♦J. East followed low and West won with ♦Q and led ♠2. East continued spades until the suit was cleared. When he took ♦A, East defeated the contract with spade winners. At trick one it seems safe for South to duck.

When West wins he has no spades, giving South time to establish the diamonds. There is one twist. If East interprets his partner's lead as doubleton and hopes he has a quick entry. Whenever card is played from dummy at trick one, East should duck! South is forced to win and whatever he tries will fail! I wonder if any player sitting East conjured this brilliant winning play...

A duck walks into a shop, and asks for a red lipstick. The cashier says, “cash or check?” and the duck says, “Just put it on my bill.”

Blog          : http://www.hemadeora.blogspot.in

Twitter ID  : @HemaDeora

Avoidance Play

Our dear friend Deepak Parekh sent this interesting deal for us, which we think is perfect for a rainy day. The theme is an avoidance play. A play which is intended to prevent a ]Dangerous Opponent’ from gaining the lead.

South’s re-bid is not ideal, but it seems like the best option. Against 3NT, West led ♠3. Declarer made the standard play of rising with the doubleton honor in dummy, and the ♠K held the trick. At trick two, declarer led the ♦K from the table and saw ♦Q drop from West. This meant that East held ♦1098 and diamonds could not be established without East winning a trick. South switched to play club but East won the third round and the contract was defeated.

To succeed, at trick two South should return to hand with ♣K and lead ♦2. When West plays ♦Q South must duck. West will be left on lead, unable to attack spades profitably, and all East’s diamonds will now fall under ♦AKJ. The contract will be completely secure.

A smart man makes a mistake, learns from it, and never makes that mistake again. But a wise man like Deepak Parekh finds a smart man and learns from him how to avoid the mistake altogether.

Blog          : http://www.hemadeora.blogspot.in

Twitter ID  : @HemaDeora