Christmas Conundrums

A couple of conundrums for Christmas. First a question I was asked was why snowmen always appear in Arsenal colours. Well, one obvious answer is that if they had Spurs colours, the white scarf would not contrast with the snow. On the other hand, the red of the Arsenal scarf is typical of Christmas. The holly berries and the robin are both red after all.

A colleague suggested that another reason is that Arsenal look good at Christmas but have melted away by the spring ... Whatever the reason, red and white does seem to be the snowman's traditional garb. And, while I remember, what is the word for a fear of chimneys?

Another conundrum was the following puzzle, which I gave to some on Christmas cards. You reach 6H after a poor auction. But the play's the thing. What is the only layout which allows you to make?

As some will have not seen it yet, I will wait until the 1st January to give the solution. It remains to wish all blog readers a Happy New Year.

And, as promised, the solution. The layout has to be exactly as follows:

West leads the jack of diamonds against 6H. You must cover with the king. East wins and returns a diamond (there is nothing better). South must win and draws trumps in three rounds, ending in dummy. Now he cashes the ace of clubs, then the queen and jack, and leads the remaining two hearts. West is squeezed in spades and diamonds. You need West to have exactly JT98 of diamonds so that the seven is a threat against him. You need East to have the stiff jack of spades for the squeeze to operate. If he has a singleton king you cannot make it.

Oh, and I nearly forgot, SANTACLAUSTROPHOBIA is the fear of chimneys.

Combinations by Foxymoron

One of the most valuable books in my bridge collection is one I reviewed for International Popular Bridge Monthly in 1999. It is long out of print and is on sale on Amazon at $300. It is the Dictionary of Suit Combinations and is inscribed: "To my friend Tony Sowter. Signed Jean Marc Roudinescu". When I reviewed it, Anne Catchpole correctly described my article, which listed the 30 or so mistakes I had found, as the most boring article she had ever read."

I quickly reached again for my copy when a very interesting suit combination occurred last week at the Woodberry, as I certainly did not know the right line.  Most Easts played in Three Spades as did Anne Catchpole, and her (presumed) failure to buy and read the above title did not matter as she played the right percentage line. The defence started with three rounds of diamonds and dummy ruffed. Now the two possible lines are to cross to the ace of hearts and lead a spade to the queen, or to play a spade to the ace and then a second spade. The Dictionary showed me that, for four trump tricks, the former line is 71.22% and the latter, which Anne chose, is 71.78%. On this occasion virtue had to be its own reward as she had to lose two trump tricks and scored an average, whereas the first line would have succeeded.

If you do play a spade towards the queen, when South plays the ten and North the king, you should finesse the nine on the second round, because with JT doubleton South might have played the other honour. And there is another issue that cashing the ace might lose three trump tricks, so the 100% safety play of low to the nine of spades can be considered. The Dictionary gives the best play for maximum tricks as low to the queen, as you can avoid three losers when South shows out, but you are in trouble if spades are 4-0 so I think the line chosen is right.

I was also surprised when I checked the origin of the phrase "Virtue is its own reward" which stems from Cicero. Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.C.), orator and lawyer, believed government corruption would lead to the downfall of the Roman Republic

Tenace by Foxymoron

 The term tenace is much older than Bridge and is at least as old as Whist. It refers to a sequence with one gap, such as AQ (a major tenace), KJ (a minor tenace) and less often QT. But not TA as the name might suggest. It actually comes from the Latin tenax or the old French tenais, and the word tenacious has the same root. 

It appears in A short treatise on the game of whist. By a gentleman, by Edmond Hoyle. (1743):

Even though in whist you cannot see partner's hand, the need to avoid leading into a tenace was apparent even in the 18th Century,

Guessing who has which card when you have a minor tenace is one of the most difficult tasks in bridge, and there were two such guesses on a hand last night:

North opened 2S at some tables, as the need to make life difficult for the opponents takes priority over suit quality these days. Some Easts overcalled in hearts and this allowed them to find a cheap save, but 4S was no sinecure.

At my table East led his singleton club and I won in North and guessed to play a spade to the king. This did not lose a trick, as East was getting a club ruff anyway, and West won and gave his partner a club ruff, fortunately with the queen. West had returned the ten of clubs, suit preference for hearts, and East duly switched to a heart, leaving me to guess the diamond "tenace".

I reasoned that East would never underlead the ace of diamonds, as North might have one diamond and two hearts, whereas he might underlead the queen of diamonds, so I decided to play a diamond to the king and this worked. Not much to go on but right on this occasion and a gain for NS.

Madeira International Bridge Open

Four Woodberry members attended the Madeira Congress from 7th to 14th November. It was a really enjoyable event. I thoroughly recommend it. A good standard of bridge played in a friendly atmosphere, in a 5 star hotel in a beautiful location. The weather was fine. Two excellent dinners were included. 

The open pairs was played over 3 days, Tuesday to Thursday. Bridge from 4pm to 8pm left plenty of time for sightseeing, swimming and other activities.

The open teams event was played from Friday to Sunday. It was a Swiss event consisting of twelve 8 board matches.

There were several additional events for those who wished to extend their visit.

Players from many countries joined in, including large contingents from the Netherlands, Iceland and the Scandanavian countries. About a dozen British players were there, and we all agreed how enjoyable it was.

My partner was Andy Clery. Anne Catchpole and Shelley Shieff were the other pair.

We formed a team together, which Shelley chose to name "The Beach Boys".

Woodberry did not distinguish themselves in either event, but we had Fun, Fun, Fun.

This board gave us some Good Vibrations:

God Only Knows how we managed to bid to 3NT by North on this hand.

But when dummy appeared, I thought I Know There's an Answer.

Unfortunately, I was not allowed to ask others how to play the hand. I would like to have consulted some California Girls - perhaps Lady Lynda would have said Don't Worry Baby; but Caroline, No.

I could have asked Wendy, what went wrong?

Or begged, Help Me Rhonda.

Tried Peggy Sue, tried Betty Lou, tried Mary Lou, but I knew they wouldn't do.

But Barbara Ann would have got me rocking and a-rolling.

Anyway, East led a spade, which I ducked to the queen.

West returned the club 10, which I won in dummy with the jack.

I played the diamond 8 to the ace. Cashed the king and then led a low diamond which East took with the queen. 

I won the heart return with the ace, cashed the remaining diamonds and finessed the spade jack to take 9 tricks.

Wouldn't It Be Nice if every board went like this?

On another matter, consider leading the 2 from a 5 card suit against 3NT. It may fool declarer into believing the suit is breaking. This manoeuvre is called the Little Deuce Coup (you don't know what I've got).

I thoroughly recommend the Madeira Congress. 

You will enjoy The Warmth of the Sun.

You might even see Bluebirds Over the Mountain.

But the waves are not big enough for a Surfing Safari.

I will certainly Do It Again.

Jack Robinson by Foxymoron

 

"Did you bid the grand?" asked my friend Ken in the pub. "Yes, when my partner, David Schiff, opened 2C, we bid it before you could say Jack Robinson", I replied. Our auction was 2C-(2S)-Pass-(Pass)-3H-(Pass)-4NT-(Pass)-5D-(Pass)-7H-(All Pass). I like the 2C opener, a hand of great power, and the only possible slip was not knowing whether we played 3041 or 4130 in response to RKCB. The play was quick as well with a diamond ruff on the go the only threat. Note that you can pick up Jxxx of diamonds in either hand, even in 7NT, but you have to say that you know that!

I mused on the way home who Jack Robinson was. Well, a mythical character who appeared first in print in Evelina, or the history of a young lady's entrance into the world in 1778:

"Howsomever, I'd lay ten pounds to a shilling, I could whisk him so dexterously over into the pool, that he should light plump upon his foretop and turn round like a tetotum."

"Done!" cried Lord Merton; "I take your odds."

"Will you?" returned he; "why, then, 'fore George, I'd do it as soon as say Jack Robinson."

Interestingly, 21st century Scrabble, which has a number of archaic words, does not permit "howsomever".

Restoration by Foxymoron

The Stuart Restoration of 1660 saw King Charles II returning from exile in Europe after the Interregnum. Similarly bridge events are being restored face-to-face after a break due to Covid; the Woodberry Weekend at Eastbourne was a great success with a somewhat sleepy seaside town ideal for a weekend away from the pace of London.

The Newhaven Lighthouse, c. 1930

A 1660 in bridge is sometimes called a "restoration", and your scribe and his partner conceded this score at the Weekend:

This was a wild board, handled better by Ruth Stanley and Stephanie Raven than by my partner and I. Ruth opened 1H as South and West overcalled 2D. North now bid 3C, forcing and East raised the ante to 5D with such great trump support. South went on 5H and this went round to Muggins, East, who thought that 6D would be cheap at the colours. It was indeed but had the effect of South adding one for the road with 6H. East-West had the choice between passing this for no match points or bidding Seven Diamonds which would have earned one match point. Stefanie Rohan decided to double but played by South there was no defence and +1660, a "Restoration", was the result.

The event was brilliantly organised by Shelley Shieff and expertly directed by Nigel Freake. The main event of the weekend, the Allworth Salver, was won for the first time by David Burn and Frances Loughridge. David now has a trophy with his wife to add to his record eleven Tollemache triumphs.

The team event was won by Harvey Fox, Doug Dunn, Maria and Derek Essen. An excellent quiz, conducted by Andy Conway, was won by Harvey Fox, David Burn, Frances Loughridge, Ruth Stanley and Stephanie Raven.

Find the Lady by Foxymoron

The street scam known as Find the Lady or Three-Card Monte is very old, and comfortably pre-dates bridge.

The Game of Monte in the Streets of Mexico by Claudio Linati (1828)

The scam persuades punters to bet on the location of a queen with sleight of hand being used to move it from its original location before it is revealed.

There are three possible locations for the queen in the scam, but in bridge it can only be in one of two positions. Was there anything to guide Ken Barnett this week?

Graham Horscroft opened 1C. Ken Barnett, East overcalled 2S (weak) and South, your scribe, stretched slightly to bid 3C. Liz Clery's 3S ended the auction and the top spot was reached.

South led the four of clubs and North won with the king and switched accurately to the jack of diamonds. After three rounds of diamonds had been cashed, East had to "find the lady".

There is a saying in bridge "eight ever, nine never" which means that with eight trumps you should finesse for the queen, with nine, you should play for the drop. Ken played for the drop and had a very bad score as most made this contract.

The opening lead marks South with a club honour and the play showed that he started with the ace of diamonds. Would he have bid three clubs on xx xxxx Axx Qxxx? Maybe, but on his actual hand he was more likely to do so, and I think the odds favour playing South for the queen of spades. But then I would have slipped that card across the table using sleight of hand, wouldn't I?

North might have made it harder for declarer by winning the first club with the ace and later returning a low club after cashing three diamonds. If South has the king of clubs, he is much less likely to have the "lady".

Rara Avis by Foxymoron

 The heading to this blog was defined by Willie Rushton on Just a Minute as "A sports-car-hire firm", but those with some basic Latin know that it means an event that will almost never occur, such as a Spurs trophy win.

I remember posing at a Camrose evening "Which contract is most rarely doubled?" A bit of thought will give the clear answer "2NT". There is not much point in doubling it - usually game has been declined and the opponents have the majority of points. Also, they may run to three of their best suit, and finally beating it one is usually a fine result. But if it makes ....

Stefanie Rohan and Chantal Girardin scored a top here when West injudiciously doubled the final contract of 2NT and failed to find the winning defence. After 1H-Pass-Pass-Double-Pass-1S-2H-South bid a natural 2NT. West, Phil Mattacks, thought this would not make, expecting more values opposite, and indeed Ken Rolfe's competing with 2H on an 11-loser 0-count left something to be desired. The auction concluded 2NT-Double-All Pass.

West led a top spade, and declarer won the second round and won a diamond trick at some point. However, West then fatally switched to a heart after cashing the third and fourth spade. The defence has to be careful, as ducking even one round of diamonds would have allowed declarer to succeed as West would have been strip-squeezed.

The real culprit was not the mis-defence, however, but the double. Beating 2NT by one would have been 11 matchpoints out of 12, so double stood to gain little. The only other plus score was the pair who defeated NS in 2S by one after a struggle.

The moral is "2NT is not for doubling". Terence Reese would have said, "If you are going to double, partner, you should at least pay attention in defence."

Grand Illusion by Foxymoron

Renoir's 1937 film Grand Illusion contained the notion that somehow middle classes stand above the war. At the recent West of England congress there was a Grand Illusion of a different type. All the good players reached grand and went off. But they had done nothing wrong.

We had a good auction to the top spot. It started 2C-2D-2NT, which we play as showing 25-26 Balanced. We split the range so that with 20-22 we rebid 2H, Kokish, and then bid 2NT over the relay of 2S. And we open 2NT with 23-24 which seems to work well. An extra advantage of this method is that we can bid 2C-2H/2S as non-forcing, to play there opposite 20-22.

Now North transferred to hearts with 3D and South bid 4C, a cue-bid, promising four-card heart support. Then North jumped to 5D, and as this is above game, it is exclusion key-card Blackwood for hearts. North's next bid of 7H was the final contract, but the 3-0 trump break meant that this could not be made. 

One generally needs the grand to be about 67% and this one was around 78%, so it would seem that one wants to be there, but I am not so sure after looking at the traveller. Only six pairs bid grand - flat in 7H-1 in our match - and 6 pairs missed slam with the other 23 only in small slam. If that is representative one would need about an 80% chance to bid grand.

It was good to see so many Woodberry members at the West of England event, very well organised by Tony Russ, Colin Simcox and Frank Coltman. A highly recommended event with Weston-Super-Mare in a time-warp with its shabby-chic hotels, with Grand being a bit of a misnomer.

The winning team: 

Paul Lamford, Stefanie Rohan, Tim Rees, John Salisbury

31 by Foxymoron

 There are so many card games called 31 that they are too numerous to mention. One of the first appeared in a sermon by St Bernardino in 1440 and other more recent games have acquired the simple name 31.

St Bernardino

The goal of assembling a hand totalling 31 is a common feature of games such as Cribbage, Commerce and Trentuno, but getting a hand at bridge with 31 points is a much rarer occurrence, but it occurred on Tuesday.

Several Souths blasted 6NT here, and it is a reasonable contract, requiring clubs 3-3 or the spade finesse. A top was earned by Nigel Freake, who played the heart-spade squeeze on West and made all thirteen tricks. At my table I had a 2S overcall after my "strong" 2C and contented myself with 3NT, being unsure what 4NT would mean. My West stated that he was "squeezed" in the two-card ending, so I did not have to read it. Mike Bull was in 7D by North which is too pushy, but he should have reached the same two-card ending. He had the seven of hearts lead and should get down to the ending with the nine of hearts in North and AQ of spades in South. West cannot see the nine of hearts, and he might well play partner for it and discard his high hearts. If he does bare the king of spades smoothly then you pay off to that and take the spade finesse.

There has been some discussion at the club of the requirements for an opening strong 2C. If you agree to play this as strong, then your agreement must be:

5 D Rules for “Strong” opening bid 

5 D 1 To be considered a “Strong” opening bid, the minimum allowed by agreement is: 

(a) Opening bid of 1C or 1D: at least 13 HCP 

(b) Above 1D: at least 16 HCP, or 13 HCP concentrated in two suits containing 10+ cards.

This is much better than the previous rule which permitted you to open 2C with two aces and a king, by agreement. Note that the key phrase here is "by agreement". You are ALWAYS allowed to vary from your agreed system.

Law 40A3 A player may make any call or play without prior announcement provided that such call or play is not based on an undisclosed partnership understanding. An old gambit used to be opening 2C on xx xx QJTxxxx xx and passing the 2D response. 

Nearly Six by Foxymoron

 When I see the card combination AJT in bridge, I count it as six points, and I am always reminded of the David Walliams sketch "Computer says No". If you haven't seen it, you can view it here.

.: - Little Britain - Computer says no - :. - YouTube

The combination counts as 5.9 on the K-R evaluator, nearly six as Danielle Lloyd says, and I had no problem in opening 1NT on the North hand below, a good 12 count.

EW had no good way into the auction, unless they are playing "Tyriog", the Welsh translation of Landy. This is something of a misnomer, in that landy is also an old French word for a person of great power. The way this works is that 2C shows 4 or 6 hearts and 2D shows 4 or 6 spades. If you only have four of the anchor suit then you have a longer suit elsewhere. This will allow East-West to compete to 3D, the top spot.

What about the opening lead against 1NT on the East hand? A simulation shows that a diamond is much better than a heart and indeed holds declarer to seven tricks, for close to an average, as 2S can be made, but only by North. Should South transfer to spades? I think so, but it is very close with a poor suit and no aces. Much depends on partner's red-suit holdings, and you won't want to play 2S opposite a low doubleton, as you are very likely to lose four trump tricks. 

The strange score was Passed Out, presumably East miscounting his or her points, and the best score for NS was 3S making by South with the defence not switching to hearts at any time.

Restricted Reasoning

The principle of restricted choice states that when a defender plays one of two touching honours, the chance of him having the other honour is half that of his partner having it. For example. If you have a nine-card fit with AKTxx opposite xxxx and you cash the ace dropping the queen (or jack) on your left, then you should finesse on the second round.

This concept is confusing to the average person, but not half as confusing as the following restriction would have seemed to Welsh speakers.

The restricted choice element of the English version is clear, but the Welsh equivalent was "lost in translation" as they say, and as Google translate will clarify.

Let us see an application of this principle in a more complex setting, in a hand from last night's EBU SIMs.

At our table, West led the ace of diamonds, and declarer ruffed, drew trumps in two rounds and finessed the spade. Now there was an inescapable spade loser. If declarer cashed the ace of spades first, before drawing trumps and leading a second spade, she should find the winning line. West played the ten of spades on the first round, so that East is two to one on to have the jack of spades. 

Suit play gives the best line as running the nine, but that is in a vacuum, without an opening 1NT for West. 

The right line is therefore to duck the second round, and here that brings home the bacon, an old phrase, which originates from the 11th century.

Geoffrey Chaucer mentions the phrase in The Wife of Bath's Tale and Prologue, circa 1395:

But never for us the flitch of bacon though,

That some may win in Essex at Dunmow.

Vacant Thoughts by Foxymoron

I was reminded of the first line of the lyrics of a song by the up and coming Durham group The Thieves by a hand last night:

Vacant thoughts flow through my mind

Empty words are all I can find

No doubt the reader is thinking of the present writer from the second line above, but it is the first line that I want to focus on. In bridge there is a theory that the chance of a player having a particular card is proportional to the number of vacant spaces he has in his hand. "Que?" I hear you say, Manuel-style. Well let us look at the following hand.

We had a less ambitious auction than Paul Saunders and Keith Bush, who were the fine winners of the overall competition this week. The club managed the difficult technical task of merging the online and live boards, roughly equivalent it would seem to the recent separation of two Siamese twins who shared a brain. 

Paul Saunders is a bit of a gambler and South's injudicious double told him how to play the spades and 12 tricks were the result for a top.

At our table, we bid 1S-(3D)-Double-(Pass)-4C-(Pass)-4S-All Pass and I was in the top spot as West. North led the three of diamonds and I knew that the diamonds had to be 8-3, as South would have raised with four-card support. I won the diamond with the ace, and started to work out the odds before playing trumps. The chance of South having the king of spades is 10/15, as South has ten non-diamonds to North's five. Similarly for South having the jack of spades. The chance of South having both the king and jack of spades is not quite that squared, but is 10/15*9/14. Or 43%. Against the odds, but it is still right to take a "deep finesse" on the first round, as I did, as the only other line for 12 tricks, playing for singleton king or jack with North is quite a bit worse. You have to pick one of them to play for as well, and that comes out at only 7%. Of course, taking two finesses may lose to KJ doubleton with North, but that would be unlucky. The fine software program, Suit Play, confirms that the best play in the suit at matchpoints is running the ten, which generates 3.98 tricks against silent opponents.

Interestingly, with no opposition bidding, one should play the same line, but it is worth mentioning that with nine spades, the percentage line is to finesse the queen on the first round. So I guess that my mind was full of vacant thoughts and all I could find was some empty words to explain what I was thinking!

400 by Foxymoron

The trick-taking game 400 is popular in Lebanon and parts of the Middle East including Syria and Jordan. I played it when I was in Beirut once. It is not as good a game as bridge, but well worth looking up on the internet. If you plan a holiday in Damascus or Aleppo then knowledge of the game will stand you in good stead.

We had the misfortune in Tuesday's duplicate to concede 400 on consecutive boards against Richard Creamer and Graham Horscroft, helping them to a fine win in the pairs. Neither result "troubled the scorers", an expression from cricket which first appeared in The Cambridge Review in 1890. We could have done better on both boards, but whatever we did was going to be a poor score.

We had a normal enough auction Pass-Pass-1H-Pass-1NT-All Pass. A diamond lead would help declarer, but Richard Creamer did well to lead the eight of hearts. I could rise in dummy and play a second heart, but North's diamond switch would beat me. Instead, I ran it round to the ten and led a club up. The passive heart lead had suggested to me that South would have longer clubs, so this seemed a good bet, but the queen lost to the singleton king and I went four off, rather ignominiously, for -400, as the diamond switch from North took out dummy's entry.

The next board was no better as the opponents scored +400 the normal way:

South opened a 12-14 no-trump, a much better bid than 1H as it gets the balanced nature of his hand across. My partner overcalled 2D, a convention called Multi Landy and now quite popular. He shows a six-card major and less than a penalty double. Graham Horscroft had his punting pole with him (at least that is what he claimed it was) and bid 3NT. It was very hard for West to find the Four Spade sacrifice over this, and that became the final contract. Sadly there was no defence, as declarer was forced to play for two heart honours onside for his ninth trick. 

Fortunately my partner got some of the points back by making 430 on the next board. Unnecessary effort, as it transpired, as 400, as ever, would have been a top.

Clearly Sam Northeast, the Glamorgan batsman and no relation to Marcus North or Ray East, must have read the above blog as he made an astonishing 400 in the cricket match against Leicestershire this week. Other records were set, including the highest first class score, 584, made by a side losing by an innings!

Go for Broke by Foxymoron

 The expression Go for Broke is quite interesting, and comes from Hawaiian Pidgin slang, used in craps, when you stake all your money on one roll of the dice. It first appeared in the 1951 film of the same name and was adopted as a motto by the US 442nd Infantry Regiment.

If you lead from a broken sequence against 3NT, you are gambling on partner having an honour or two in the suit. Particularly dangerous is QTxx as that can cost the entire suit on a bad day. It proved disastrous at our table when my partner went for broke on a couple of hands:

Here my partner led the ten of diamonds, disastrously giving declarer his eleventh trick as he went up with dummy's jack. The auction had been, with NS silent,  P-1C-1H-2NT-3C*-3NT-P.  3C was asking, and West would have normally shown three hearts or four spades over this. I would lead a heart on the North hand, as partner is quite likely to have four, while the second choice a spade. But hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Undeterred by the failure of that lead, my partner tried the same gambit on a later hand:

This time the auction was a bit less informative but the clues were all there. After three passes, South opened 2NT, 20-21 and North bid 3C, 5-card Stayman. South's response of 3NT, denying a four-card major, ended the auction. I think I would lead a heart on the West hand, and that is not hindsight, and declarer can be held to six tricks as South is squeezed on the fourth heart. The selected club lead, from an even more broken holding, allowed declarer to get out for one off, and was not a good score for East-West.

A wing and a prayer

 I think Pianola was right in selecting board 6 as the most interesting from the 5th July 2022 duplicate

After East passes there were a number of different opinions on what number of clubs to open the South hand with.  For me it is 1 or 5 although 3 and 4 were also chosen by others.  I decided on 5C as it should show a fairly solid pre-empt in 2nd position and may put pressure on West.  West doubled this which looks totally reasonable and then North has to decide whether to redouble or not.

It's close but I think XX is superior to pass.  It can of course go wrong (5C may be going down or you may scare them into a 5D save that is cheaper than 5CX making).  However on the upside 5CXX making is +800 which may be needed to match some EW pairs going three off doubled.  Also if it turns out 12 tricks are there then you will outscore anyone who bids 6C (1000 vs 920).  And finally you may convince the oppo to run which may well go for 800/1100 anyway.

Naturally East is going to pass whatever North does and hope West can come up with three tricks.  My partner decided to pass so we scored +650 for 55% as the traveller was all over the place

Well done to Keith Bush and Paul Sanders for winning the hybrid duplicate and with it the Wing Cup.  This cup was donated to the club by David Wing and all money raised from the evening will go to The Alzheimer's Society.

Success on a Plate

Woodberry Bridge Club B team were knocked out in the first round of the NICKO tournament, but are having a good run in the plate competition. The plate is a "consolation" knock out tournament for teams eliminated from the main competition in the first round. Last night we reached the quarter finals after beating Cambridge Bridge Club D team by 8 IMPs.

I have often criticised Sam for his aggressive bidding style. I would certainly not have raised 1NT to 3 on this board. I would have just made an invitational raise to 2NT, which would have probably been refused. However, on this occasion, his enterprise paid off. Matthew played the contract well to achieve a vulnerable game swing.

It is difficult for East to find the killing defence of ace of clubs lead followed by the queen. The alternative defence of leading a low heart also looked unattractive after North had bid the suit.

East led the diamond 9, taken by the ace. Matthew immediately set about establishing spades. East won with the king, and missed his last chance to defeat the contract by leading another diamond. When West won the lead with the spade ace, it was too late for a club switch. He played a heart. After cashing diamond winners, this position was achieved.

Matthew cashed the spade 9, and East had a difficult discard. He chose the club queen. Matthew then threw him in by playing a club to the jack and ace. East played the heart queen which was ducked, and  was forced to lead into dummy's K9.

At the other table, our opponents played in 1NT. The play proceeded on similar lines, but this time Ivan discarded the heart 2 on the final spade winner. Declarer cashed the heart king, then led the club jack. Ivan took the club ace and heart queen, but had to lead the club queen to the king for declarer to win the last trick in dummy.

We would not have won the match without this 10 IMP swing!

Woodberry Bridge Club 40th anniversary

Woodberry bridge club first opened in 1981.  However due to Covid we had to wait until 2022 to celebrate the 40th anniversary.  This was an event held at the Claremont Centre where the club currently holds its face to face Tuesday duplicates.  The festivities consisted of an extended duplicate with a break for cake at half time, a fish and chip supper and then a quiz hosted by Steve Bush.  Many thanks to Anne Catchpole for organising and the various club members who contributed to ensuring the day was a roaring success

In the bridge 24 pairs were playing for the Probst cup.  A cup donated by legendary bridge player and director John Probst originally used for the seeded club teams championship.  With that teams event discontinued it has now been rebranded as the trophy to be awarded for the clubs annual championship pairs.  It was lovely to see John himself make it to the club as a founder member despite recent health issues.  I celebrated this fact by handing him and Andrew Clery a top on the second board.  However near the end Andy and John met long standing members Ken Barnett and Chantal Girardin and two of the boards were exciting slams.

Board 28

The auction was 1H-2S-4H-4S-5C-P-6H-All Pass

Ken made a try with 5C and Chantal rightly judged to bid six.  The spade void looked useful but in fact it was the clubs that were the key here.  Six hearts was cold of course but you have a choice of plays in clubs as you can pick up stiff K in South or the singleton club 10 (or potentially smaller club) in North by starting with the right club from dummy (small and jack respectively).  I think North may well have led a stiff club if he had one so I think a low club is the right play and 1010 was recorded.  The only other pair to bid the slam was Chris Watkinson and Elsa Nelson.  Also of note was Richard Creamer and John Pemberton’s result of 5S*-2 as N/S for -500 which looked poor but because most of the field got the clubs right this was a rare successful adverse vulnerability save against 510!

Board 30

The auction was 1S-2D-3D-4D-4S-5D-5H-P-5S-P-6S-All Pass

Once East opens (which I think is fairly mainstream these days) and N/S bid up in diamonds it should simply be a question of six or seven for West but apart from Ken and Chantal only myself and Paul Huggins bid this slam.  Against us Peter Rogers judged well to save in 7D for -800 (his partner Vijay Tymms had overcalled a weak 3D originally) but luckily for us that only got them 2 extra matchpoints.

After this round Ken and Chantal went on a rampage but it wasn’t quite enough.  They finished 3rd with 60.81%.  Nigel Freake and Rachel Bingham were 2nd with 61.44% but with a combination of luck and good play myself and Paul managed to win with 63.47%

Aces are King

Mr. Clarke played the King all evening as though under constant fear that someone else was about to play the Ace - Eugene Field, US poet and children's writer.

We are always told in bridge that aces are for capturing kings, but a hand from last week's matchpoint pairs at the Woodberry was a beautiful exception.

West was just about worth a vulnerable overcall of 1S, and North decided to bid 3NT, with his solid spade stop, on the second round. East dutifully led the ten of spades, and South won and took a diamond finesse, losing the ten to the jack. Another spade came back and a second diamond finesse lost to the king. East switched to a heart, and Iain Macleay played the king from dummy, in the manner of Mr Clarke, no doubt. Alistair Hogg won and now had to find the beautiful defence of cashing the ace of clubs and then playing a second heart. Declarer is caught in Morton's Fork. If he wins with the ten, he has to lose a spade at the end. If he wins in dummy, he has to lose a club. Cashing the ace of clubs, a Dentist Coup, is necessary or West can be thrown in with a club after the diamonds are cashed. Very difficult to find.

A certain symmetry

While I didn't play last Tuesday an acquaintance pointed out this neat hand from the Woodberry duplicate.

Both sides have a double fit in a major and a minor and a major is usually the place to be at pairs but on best defense you do better in the minor on this hand.  Par result is -130 for N/S which I see occurred at one table

If N/S are defending hearts I cannot see anyone finding the DD defense to hold it to 8 tricks (diamond lead, ruff the return, underlead all the club honours to the jack for another ruff with a spade to come).  However declarer will likely lose two diamonds and a ruff anyway in the natural order of play.

If E/W are defending spades it should be possible to match the DD result although I see no one did.  After a top heart lead East plays the queen showing the jack.  Now West can switch to his club.  East hops with the ace on the first round of trumps, gives a club ruff and West underleads his hearts to get a second ruff.  Is there any alternative defense with those clubs threatening on the table?

The bidding is interesting too.  Most North's didn't open which I can understand but now is it practically impossible to get the spades into the auction and being outranked in clubs you will usually defend a heart contract.  

If North does open then the spade fit is found after 1C-P-1S-2H-2S.  East will bid 3H now and the question is can North/South justify bidding again at this vulnerability?  If you play support doubles and a weak NT (not recommended!) then perhaps South can risk it knowing of a likely double fit.  Otherwise maybe North can place their partner with only two hearts and not more than 4 diamonds (although playing Walsh style some South's may have longer diamonds than spades) and again bid a third spade based on the double fit.  

Might East make a matchpoint double of this thinking 3H is making?  As you can see from the traveller this gives you good odds.  If it makes you were getting a very poor board anyway and a double and successful defense takes you from an average to an outright top  

One final thought.  A precision club auction might start 2C-P-3C and now E/W might well get too high.  And a canape auction could start 1S-P-2S and have the same effect.

Simple by Foxymoron

The origin of the nursery rhyme Simple Simon is quite interesting, and goes back a long way, Simple Simon's Misfortunes and his Wife Margery's Cruelty is a ballad from about 1685

Apparently it all started a day after they got married, and poor Simon seemed to put up with the mistreatment. The Simple Squeeze in bridge is something of a misnomer. It just means that one opponent is guarding two suits and, in the ending, he cannot keep both guards at the same time. The ingredients are that there is a threat in both hands and an entry to the opposite hand.

None of the online players found the squeeze on the following hand, whether they were in 3NT, 6C or the best contract of 6NT. There were crucial differences.

Tony Ratcliff, your scribe's sometime partner in Welsh events, reached the almost 100% slam here with a good auction. It was pretty difficult to reach the best spot of 6NT, which also has 12 top tricks.  In 6C, on the KH lead, Tony drew trumps, discarded his heart on the fourth diamond, and took the spade finesse. If one is playing in 6NT, this is too dangerous and we should play the simple squeeze, cashing the six clubs and four diamonds to reach an ending with the nine of hearts in dummy and the ace and jack of spades in the South hand,. West has to hold the top heart and needs to bare the king of spades to have a chance, but South will not jeopardise his excellent contract, and the overtrick will be close to a national top. Making 6C was well above average.

 

Of course, the self-kibitzers will reach 7NT and make it, and they will wonder why the 1 in 32 chance they took by playing the squeeze raised suspicion. That line requires West to have all four heart honours and the king of spades, whereas the simple line of finessing the king of spades ... really is simple.

Simple has more than one meaning of course. I recall having a scalp infection many years ago and the doctor advised me to switch to a simple shampoo instead of a herbal one. "I thought simple was a herb?" I replied, annoyingly.

Nature's Law by Foxymoron

The great bard began, in Nature's Law 

            Let other heroes boast their scars,

            The marks of sturt and strife;
            And other poets sing of wars,
            The plagues of human life;

The Robot could have been forgiven for not being aware of Burns but it could have been programmed with Burn's Law which is to lead trumps against doubled contracts. It would have done better on the following hand:

North had a normal 1H overcall, and the Robot correctly decided to play for penalties when Mary Rutter, West, reopened with a double which the Robot passed. It was difficult to lead a small trump against that, as that could cost a trick, so Burn's Law was ignored, not fatally. A low trump might have beaten the contract two, but instead East led the jack of spades. Declarer covered, and West won to return a club, ducked by North. East won and needed to play a diamond, or a low trump, at this point, but persisted with a second spade, fatally. Now West was stuck when she won that trick. She continued with a second club, but North won ruffed a club and played the ten of spades discarding a diamond. East could ruff, but that was with a trump trick, and now he was unable to stop declarer making a club ruff, two minor suit aces and four trumps. 

There are some darts terms which have crept into bridge for the different duplicate scores. 120 is Shanghai, from the finish T20, 20, D20. ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY, preferably typed in caps when playing online, is a Maximum in darts, and is best used when the opponents have just let you make 1NTx but also quite useful when they have let through the third overtrick in 1NT. Bull and Double Bull for 50 and 100 are common in many games. The Big Fish is slang for 170 from the maximum finish. And finally the late and great Sid Waddell coined the phrase Lipstick and Eyeshadow for a 160 finish, T20, T20, D20. I was pleased to score it in one of the two ways it can be scored, the other of course being 1SX=.

Owain and Henry by Foxymoron

 

"Not many people know that" is wrongly attributed to Michael Caine, whereas it was a practical joke played by Peter Sellers, and Michael never said it. Not many people know that a penalty of 1400 in bridge is known as an Owain, after the rebellion by Owain Glyndwr in 1400. This lasted 15 years and was the last Welsh War of Independence. On the following hand, EW could have notched up an Owain, and could have gone for a Henry  Instead West eventually reached a cold 6NT. But only after an indiscretion by South!

North opened 4H which was a bit frisky, but can only be taken for 1400, as the declarer must make 5 tricks, and West had an awkward bid when it came round to him. He doubled and when East bid 4S he tried 5D and bid 6C when East bid 5S. East passed that, but South doubled, hoping to get a heart lead. Probably the double asks for an unusual lead, but West was taking no chances and corrected to 6NT which could not be beaten. The swing on this decision was from -1100  to +1440 so the double was particularly injudicious, especially as North would have led a heart anyway and the defence would have taken the first five tricks. 1100 for 4 off doubled would have been a Henry, of course, as Henry I seized the throne in 1100 after the death of William II. 

 

Quite rare that an opening 4H, which can be taken for an Owain, would score average as several pairs reached 6NT!

A good turnout at the AGM and nice to see 9½ tables remaining for the bridge. Also excellent to see Roly Harris, a loyal member of the club for many years, winning with Ian Macleay with a fine score of 66%.

Major Tom by Foxymoron

The heading here had an excellent crossword clue  "Bowie character, a doubter briefly following suit? (5,3)" The persona from Space Oddity and Black Star needs no introduction, but a word of explanation is in order. The suit is clearly a major and the doubter (briefly) is Tom, a reference to the biblical character Doubting Thomas as in this painting by Serodine.

What has all this to do with bridge, you may ask? Well, everyone uses Stayman, looking for a major, when they are in doubt as to whether a 4-4 fit will play better, but I don't think that this is a good strategy for several reasons. 

a) In match-points the two contracts often play for the same number of tricks

b) Even if you do find a 4-4 fit, the suit might break 4-1.

c) When you bid Stayman you risk it being doubled for the lead

d) Careless talk costs lives. The auction 1NT-3NT is much less informative.

So, if you are in doubt whether to use Stayman to look for a major, then don't be in doubt - just bid 3NT and follow the Hamman rule. "If 3NT is a possible contract then bid it". About the only exception should be when you have aces and kings, and a low doubleton somewhere. This hand from last night's SIMs showed the principle well.

In theory it is right to play 4H here, as the defence can take five rounds of spades against 3NT, but on the uninformative auction, East is not leading the king of spades. If you do bid Stayman, you will get to 4H, but East might well lead the king of spades against that, and you will only make 10 tricks. Indeed on four rounds of spades, you must ruff in the North hand, but then can pick up the trumps for no loser.

This is a good hand for Lucas twos, which my partner and I have switched to recently. If West opens 2S, then East will have no difficulty in finding the king of spades lead against 4H, for a near top. One player opened 1S, which I think is wrong, but it does remind me of the poser. "Why did the Sky football commentator open on an 8-count?" with the obvious answer, "Because he was Ferdinand".