Archive of Previous Poor Bridge

Here is an article from Charles Leong. Much as we like to think bridge has improved over the years, there are times when old-fashioned bridge would achieve much better results. Look at the hands below, and think what your grandmother would have done...

Sunday was the Swiss Pairs event at Richmond Bridge Club. Your correspondent was present, along with some friends from London. Random events of bridge were perpertrated during early rounds, leading up to the grand (or poor!) finale. Some snippets:

Slam Bidding (or, Count Your Points)

Partner in 2nd seat vulnerable opens a weak 1NT. Your thoughts might be:
a) transfer to 2 and bid 4.
b) transfer to 4.
c) bid 4 direct.
This all depends on which in your methods shows a mild slam try, a genuine slam try and a sign-off (come on, you have discussed this, haven't you?). For the record, I think a direct 4 should be to play, a transfer (4 playing South African Texas) should be a slam try, and 2 followed by 4 should be a mild slam try. If you can jump to 3 to show a genuine slam try all the better.

Oppo held the hand above and transfered to hearts and followed up with...... wait for it... 4NT (!) Yes that's right - RKCB for hearts. Finding partner with two key cards without the trump queen, she then blasts into 6. Never mind that you could be off a cashing AK, or even the AQ of trumps, but this is precisely the type of hand not to use RKCB on. You have two quick losers in TWO suits and not nearly enough points to underwrite a slam. As justice would have it, the AK of spades were cashing and the no-play slam floated one light for an absolute top to the good guys.

How to Miss a Grand Slam (or, Make Sure You Can Describe Strong Hands)

Say you have decided to play a system with no strong bid. You have to open 1. Partner then bids 1NT, which could be light in view of you not having a big bid available. Alas, you now have no forcing bid. Oops. 3NT looks like a reasonable punt, it being pairs and you having 10 stone-cold tricks in your hand (also, you hope that there are as many tricks in NT than in spades). And you put down your hand with the remark "good luck partner".

That was our opponents' auction. Therefore, justice was served as partner turned up with the K and KQ to make 13 tricks laydown. Our (Romex) auction went 2 (big) - 2 (two controls) - 7NT. Where partner thought the 13th trick would come from was clearly a mystery, but it worked this time as even he couldn't avoid making 13 tricks. Remarkably enough, nobody else was in 7NT so that was another absolute top to the good guys.

Then things started to go a little worse for us:

You open 1 (playing 5cM) in 4th seat and partner makes an inverted (pre-emptive) raise to 3. RHO then wanders in with 3. Facing a passed partner, mind you. You flick an X on the table which floats. Dummy then hits with:

Bloody hell. 3 proves to be unbeatable and a bottom comes our way. Yes, RHO overcalled 3 on Q7654. Bah.

Final round - comfortably in the top 20, nowhere in the top 10, these sterling examples of Poor Bridge surface:

Safety Plays in a Single Suit (or, Lead Through Strength)

Playing 5-card majors, North opens 1, and the rest of the auction is reasonable.

The 4 is led to the J, and a club returned to the K. The T is continued, and two more rounds compel South (me) to ruff. Now, once West shows up with three diamonds and the K, the odds are extremely high that East has both spade honours (otherwise West might have raised diamonds). So, instead of crossing to table to play a trump towards hand, I play a spade to the queen and king. A diamond is returned (which is the correct defence, by the way as i have no losers to discard). Having realised that I have carved the hand already, I ruff with the jack and am reduced to playing for trumps 2-2. Not today, as a cold contract drifts one off.

How to let through a no-play game (or, Always Lead Your Partner's Suit)

I am not proud of my game-forcing 3 bid, but nothing else of remote sensiblity came up at the time. So, we end up wrong-siding 3NT (I maintain that it is partner's fault), which is completely prayerless on the marked spade lead. Or so you would think. The 6 is led, and being woefully short of hand entries I win that with the Ace on table to duck a club (which is surprisingly good technique considering the other non-winning play I took as described above!). East wins by force, and being unable to attack spades from his side, makes an extremely sensible switch to a small heart. I win this on table and play Ace and another club. West wins, and rather belatedly plays a spade. I take the ten with the Ace, and cash winning clubs. West, rather surprisingly, lets go two diamonds to keep the heart guard. Cold for 10 tricks now, I cash out the diamonds and East, even more surprisingly, lets go of the spade king to keep the heart guard! 11 tricks, +660 and a joint top. First time I've pulled off a squeeze without a threat, mind you.

Always cover an honour with an honour (or, Aces were meant to take Kings)

South opens 1, passed out.

A club is led, which doesn't actually cost, and south wins the ace and plays a second round. West wins the ten, and returns the queen, taken by South, who now plays a spade to the queen and leads the J off table. I cover with the Queen (which, should promise the 9, otherwise I would have covered the second round), and declarer plays the King. Now, partner, who is clearly as tired as I am, decides to duck this! If he had followed up the good work to duck the second round to cut declarer off from table this might have helped, but partner ducks the first diamond and takes the second. Oops. Making an overtrick in his humble 1 contract gives South a better board than he might have gotten otherwise.

All very poor. So next time Granny shares her bridge wisdom, make sure you listen!