No Help From Opponents

South opened 2NT and his partner transferred to show five spades. Having only a doubleton spade, South chose to play in 3NT. 

The opening lead was ♥7. South’s first thought was to set up dummy’s spades, but he shouldn’t have expected too much help from his opponents. South won dummy’s ♥J at trick one and played a spade from dummy to ♠Q. Opponent ducked the first round. 

South continued spade and East won and played another heart. South had no more spades in his hand so he couldn’t win the heart in hand to play another spade. If he had won the heart in dummy that was, the last entry to spade would have vanished. Down one. 

South should have played a low heart from dummy and won the first trick in hand with ♥A. Now he should have played on spades and even with the defensive hold up play South would have had the ♥J and the ♥K as entries to set up and run spade suit. 

“Bridge partners are like parking spots, the good ones are taken and the available ones are handicapped!” 

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Twitter ID  : @HemaDeora

The Temptation

Last week the Mohanlal Bharatia Memorial Grand Prix Bridge Championship was held in Delhi. His son, Umashankar Bharatia had sponsored the event in fond memory of his father, who was an ardent bridge player and a very generous host.  To match his father’s generosity, Umashankar Bharatia was equally extravagant with his hospitality.  Crown Plaza Hotel, couldn’t have  been a better venue and, the same can be said about the a handsome prize money.  Deepak Podar, a friend of all, made sure it was well organized.  The winner of this championship was Sree Cement.

In the above deal, the lead was from short King-Queen suit.  The lead appear to have given South a useful extra tempo.  You can count three club tricks found diamonds, and at last one trick in each of the majors.

You may have to lose the lead twice to establish your tricks, and a heart switch by West, when he gains the lead, could put the contract at risk.

The temptation to continue clubs at trick two must be resisted.  You should play a diamond to the ten and return a spade, putting up the King if East plays low.  If this wins, you can switch to clubs and make sure of nine tricks.  If East takes the Ace spades and switches to a heart, he can do no harm, while if West has the Ace of Spades and East the Ace of hearts you may have to bank on second-round finesse of spade ten.

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Twitter ID  : @HemaDeora

Family Bridge Tournament

Today the 13th Family Bridge Tournament is being held at Bombay Gymkhana. The originator of this popular tournament was Dr Minoo Daver. Now his gentle and noble wife Dina continues the legacy. Hosie Hoosein, of course, is ever ready to offer a helping hand. We always feel the absence of Dr Minoo Daver. 

“This one is really a juicy deal!” said ‘Apro’ Dara, taking out an envelope from his pocket. I profusely thanked him for this, rather often, kind jester. 

South is in 6♥ and West leads the ♠J. South’s 2♣ bid was forcing and it guaranteed at least game invitational. North indicated three card heart support and South jumped to 6♥. Declarer seems to have 12 tricks, two spades, five hearts, four diamonds and one club. It looks obvious to win with dummy’s ♠A and to draw two rounds of trumps. If both opponents follow suit, South unblocks his ♦A, draw the last trump with the ♥Q and claim. 

Here, though, the trumps break 4-1. Now declarer needs a dummy entry to reach the three diamond winners. The entry has to be in spades, and that requires South to throw his ♠Q under dummy’s ♠A at trick one. 

A happy partnership is a matter of give and take. You give in and your partner takes credit.

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The Same Effect

Over this weekend, Otters Club is having their Annual State level Bridge Tournament. Mr Chandu Bijlani, the gentleman and the officer, is the pioneer of this event who has encouraged and restarted this mind sport. 

West was playing the intermediate jump overcall showing minimum six card suit. 

West led ♥8, South has to lose to the ♦A and the contract hinges on the spade layout. Given West will have about 11 + points, The ♠A figures to be with West. Declarer’s task is to find some way to restrict the spade loser to one. 

The declarer made short work of it. He won with the ♥K, played ♣A, ruffed a club, cashed the ♥A and played his remaining heart. His plan was to ruff this in dummy, ruff a club and then lead a diamond. With clubs and hearts eliminated, West would be end played if holding the ♦A. 

South’s plan was successful. In practice West ruffed the heart but South simply discarded dummy’s last club for the same effect! 

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

Twitter ID  : @HemaDeora