Single Suited Squeezes by Foxymoron

Gerry Weston had the misfortune to have a faulty robot as a partner this week, and was not able to emulate Ryan Stephenson's recent successes with the automaton. I wonder how long it will be before the robots find a way to make the following hand:

The winning line in 6H by East is very pretty, but may be anti-percentage, and we enjoyed finding it in the pub afterwards. On a trump lead, you can arrange to ruff two spades in dummy, but you still have to negotiate the club suit for one loser. And with the king of clubs wrong that does not seem possible. However let us see what materialises...

We win the trump lead in East, and play the ace, king and ruff a spade. We then play the ace of diamonds and ruff a diamond. On this trick South is single-suited-squeezed. If he unblocks the top diamonds, declarer can establish a second diamond trick, so he must retain a high diamond. Now declarer ruffs his last spade and leads a diamond to the king, discarding a club and endplaying South. This relies on South having HHx in diamonds, or failing to unblock with Kxx.

The robot just played a club towards the queen, of course, and duly went one down. One needs some table presence to make this slam, and that is one thing robots don't have .. yet. The human might reason that South would have led a club if he didn't have the king, and one should play the squeeze. And there was the curious incident of the lack of a lead-directing double by North of 5C ...

At our table, we were defending the more mundane contract of 4H by East and Stefanie led a club from the South hand, shortening the play. But that was no matchpoints for us.

Garden Cities Qualifier

West London Gay Bridge Club won the London heat of the Garden cities trophy on Thursday 17th March. They will represent London in the regional final. Woodberry Bridge club finished 3rd of the 4 teams participating in this Teams of 8 event.

None of the 8 North South pairs managed to reach a slam on board 21.

I suggest the following bidding sequence:

1C-1H-2S-2NT-3S-4C*-4D**-6C.

*Minorwood    **0 or 3 key cards.

At our table, the first 5 bids were as above, but after my partner Kevin bid 3S, I made the over-cautious bid of 5C.

Lightner Doubles by Foxymoron

The Lightner double in bridge is named after Theodore "Teddy" Lightner, who partnered Ely Culbertson for much of his famous match against Lenz. He advocated a double of a slam contract be used to ask partner to make an unusual lead, usually because the partner of the leader was able to ruff. Stefanie Rohan employed this gadget successfully in the Woodberry Teams at the Folkestone Weekend.

Stefanie was East, and the auction went 1D-Pass-1H-2NT*(showing the black suits)-Dble-3S-Pass-4S-Dble-Pass-6D-P-7D-Pass-Pass-Double-All Pass. The final double was Lightner asking West, your scribe, to lead an unusual suit, and that was clearly hearts. West duly led a heart and the ruff defeated the grand slam. North or South could have corrected to Seven Hearts and this could not be defeated. Nor, for that matter could 7NT, but neither player could be sure his partner had the ace of the black suit in which he was void. 

I remember one occasion when Zia made a psychic Lightner Double when there was no heart ruff and the opponents corrected to 7H and then West doubled with a diamond void and a diamond ruff defeated the contract! Zia made the remark that Lightner does sometimes strike twice on the same hand!

It was great to get away from London for a weekend and the event was very well organised by Shelley Shieff. Folkestone is a rather sleepy place but with some nice walks. The above Anthony Gormley statue in the harbour is quite striking.

Down the tubes

The London Underground metro system (commonly known as the “tube”) has its origins in the Metropolitan Railway, the world's first underground passenger railway. Opened on 10 January 1863, it is now part of the Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines.  With the recently opened Northern line extension to Battersea Power Station the network now consists of 272 stations.

On Tuesday 1st March 2022 London’s tube drivers were holding a strike in a dispute over jobs and pensions effectively shutting the whole network down.  Therefore everyone was playing online at the Woodberry (unthinkable three years ago).   There were many interesting hands so I thought it would be of interest to some to talk through my evening in front of the screen. Names have been hidden to protect the guilty!

Board 1 starts slowly with a normal 4D that he oppo play correctly - 33%

Board 2 - Partner opens a strong NT in 3rd

We are not playing Smolen so given the weak hearts and honours in the minors I decide to transfer to spades and bid 3NT.  Wrong in theory as partner has

But luckily we get a club lead from 10 fourth instead of a diamond from AJ9x and the hearts come in

for three tricks - 77%

Board 3 - A normal 4S that the oppo play correctly - 11% 

Board 4 -

The auction goes 1S-P-1NT-P-3S-P-P-4D-X-P.  I should probably take this out but think 4 tricks in

defense are more likely than 10 in a major. Wrong!  4D Makes an overtrick and gets us 0% when

partner had

Declarer is 1-0-8-4 with solid diamonds and dummy hits with AQ9x of clubs.  I think partner should

have forced to game over 1NT but what is the best bid - 4S,3C,3H? Of course if there is a normal 5D

overcall over 1NT then we are going to defend 5D* which happened elsewhere

Board 5 - Bizarre happenings all round in the auction

And the play doesn't get any better.  King of spades lead asking for count I believe and South dutifully

plays the six (declarer dropping the queen).  Then a club switch!  Perhaps North couldn’t believe

someone would bid Exclusion with Qx in the oppo’s bid suit.  As declarer I think you should play jack

to try and discover if North has an honour (most people in the club wouldn't falsecard from KQ here as

South).  When it looks like North does have the club queen then you can place the diamond king with South. And after drawing trumps 4-2-1-6 is a strong possibility. But declarer took the finesse +450 78% anyway

A mad auction all round probably!  Minus 2 for 100% to us

Board 7 - Normal uncontested auction to 5H.  Oppo take their two aces 56%

Board 8 - Fittingly on pancake day partner upgrades a very flat third seat 3334 14 count to a strong NT

getting us to 2NT-1 for 22%

Board 9 -

You are green vs red and after partner opens 1S there is a 3C WJO - what now?  Partner chose 3D

which I agree with although pass and 3NT are in the running too.  Then 4C on your left, 5C by partner

X, P, P, XX.  Redouble should be first round control here (very likely a void) so I think this is an auto 6D

now but just 5D was bid.  Just as well as only 11 tricks were made for 33%

Partner had

On a club lead you should ruff, cross to the heart queen and play spade.  With the ace onside and

trumps not 4-0 the defense can’t do anything to stop you.  If they take the ace then you have 5 major

tricks, 6 diamonds and one ruff (if they play a heart you draw trumps ending in dummy).  If they don’t

take the ace of spades then you have the rest.

Board 10 - a normal 4D partscore.  Declarer gets the play wrong but partner hands it back with a poor

discard 33%

Board 11 - Another 5 level adventure where the oppo get their two aces 50%

Board 12 -

I thought I needed to bid more than just 3C here.  Not sure where partner found a raise from but 5C

rolls home 100%

Board 13 - A normal 5C contract. Oppo misdefend so we get 67%

Board 14 -

Uncontested auction of 2NT-3H-3S-3NT.  Club lead to the ace and a club.  My partner and one very

good player misplayed this spade suit by starting with the jack.  This time it costs as the stiff K onside

(and the diamond Q is offside doubleton) but still 61% as some declarers in 4S made the same

mistake

Board 15 - I go for a passive lead against 3NT which lets the contract make - 0% (others played it the

other way up where the winning lead was obvious)

Board 16 - Oppo have a misunderstanding for 100% and an average two board round!

Board 17 -

Partner takes the low road and settles for game.  Luckily we get a spade lead but only 39% as some

pairs bid 6m

Board 18 -

More odd stuff - I think 5S and 6D are both suspect.  Maybe I should fit jump here which would put my

partner off competing higher.  Still all's well that ends well. We only get it down 2 though as partner

cashes a club before playing trumps allowing three clubs to be ruffed.  44% as 5S is allowed to make

on several occasions when West discarded clubs!

Board 19 -

I decide to play for penalties (probably not a mainstream decision given the three tables who get a 2S

overcall (ugh!) decide to bid 2NT instead).  Partner is not up for it though (not sure why). West finds a

passive trump lead and East continues trumps so 11 tricks and 83% instead of minus 1 on ace of

diamonds, diamond lead.  Everyone made game here but not always an overtrick.  1S doubled goes

one off on a heart lead (assuming we hold up clubs) so would have beaten par but would score 0% in

the club so I was wrong on this one.

Board 20 - A 2S that I play ok and the oppo misdefend - 67%

Overall 52% with plenty of missed opportunities.  At least I didn’t need to get the tube home!

Bad Beat by Foxymoron

A bad beat in poker is when you are very unlikely to lose but the opponent gets lucky. I remember playing in a €25 Texas Hold'em tournament in Slovenia. My hole cards were ♠A ♦Q and the flop came A♣ Q♥ A♥. I had gone all-in, and my opponent was almost "drawing dead" with a pair of deuces but he caught the other two deuces on the turn and the river to make quads and eliminate me. The origin of the phrase is apparently 17th century from any game of chance.

If I had gone off in 3NT on this hand from last night I would have regarded it as a bad beat. Some declarers even made an overtrick:

The normal lead here is the king of hearts, but this costs a fatal tempo. The only defence is for East to lead the two of clubs to the ace and another club back to North's king. Declarer can finesse the spades and now has three spades, four diamonds and one club, but nowhere to go for the ninth trick. If he plays four rounds of diamonds, East can spare a spade. If they find that defence against you, it is a bit of a bad beat.

The play after the king of hearts lead is quite pretty. Now East has to find the club switch to save the overtrick. Say that he exits with a diamond. Declarer cashes three rounds of these ending in North and now finesses the ten of spades and cashes the 13th diamond. North and East pitch spades, and declarer plays a club from dummy. West does best to go in with the ace and play another one, but North wins with the king and now leads the queen of hearts. West has to duck that or he will have to lead into the T8 of hearts. But on this trick East is squeezed and has to pitch a club, or declarer makes the small spade. Now North crosses to the ace of spades and sets up his tenth trick in clubs. A pretty squeeze. Stefanie Rohan found that line for a joint top.

Jack of Hearts by Foxymoron

The jack of hearts has achieved immortal fame. He was a notorious kleptomaniac in a children's nursey rhyme with a penchant for sweet treats and suffered a beating from the king as a result. More recently he featured in Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts by Bob Dylan, a song also popularised by Joan Baez.

The following version is of good quality, but with the usual five-second ad:

Bob Dylan - Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts (Official Audio) - YouTube

The last four lines are classic:

Lily had already taken all of the dye out of her hair.

She was thinkin' 'bout her father, who she very rarely saw

Thinkin' 'bout Rosemary and thinkin' about the law.

But, most of all she was thinkin' 'bout the Jack of Hearts.

Shelley Shieff and Raoul Fishman were thinkin' 'bout the jack of hearts on the following hand, and both got it right to have a joint top.

Raoul had a diamond lead and won with the ace, ruffed a diamond and drew trumps. Then he played a heart to the king after which he could not go wrong. This was not the best line however, and Shelley did better, ruffing the diamond lead, drawing trumps, cashing the ace of diamonds, pitching a club and then the ace and king of clubs and now playing a heart to the queen. East won and exited with a heart, but she reasoned, correctly, that with the AJx of hearts and KQxxxxx of diamonds East might well open 1D, so she dropped the jack of hearts. I was East and should have given her a harder time by ducking the queen of hearts, and ducking the ten of hearts if it is led from dummy. Now Shelly would have had a losing line of playing me for Jxx of hearts. As Lasker said, once you find a good move, look for a better one.

Claremont by Foxymoron

Our club held its duplicate this week in support of the Claremont Project, a local charity that provides day facilities for the older residents of Islington. It arose from the Claremont Methodist Free Church on the same site as the current building, which has not changed hugely since 1907.

In 1902, after the London Congregational Union acquired Claremont Chapel on Pentonville Road, plans were hatched for the formation of a settlement on the lines of Toynbee Hall, to have 'a rather important Entrance Hall or Vestibule as a means of approach from White Lion Street'. This scheme soon grew to encompass a complete new building in place of Nos 24–27 White Lion Street for the LCU's Central Mission. It was realized in 1906, as the Claremont Institute. The architect was Alfred Conder, who also designed the two-bay extension on the west side, built in 1910, once the site of No. 27 had become available.

The oldest picture I can find of the building shows most of the original facade:

The prestigious surname Claremont comes from the majestic region of Dauphiné, in France. There is a Claremont House in Esher with National Trust gardens. A Claremont Methodist Free Church can be found in places as far apart as Wallasey and Newquay. There are towns, schools and churches worldwide with the Claremont name, some of which will have the same origin.

But back to the bridge. 

No pair bid the excellent Six Clubs on this hand. I wholeheartedly support the Robot's choice of a strong jump shift over 1D, of 3C, showing a good suit. Now, it is a good idea to play that 4C is Minorwood, an asking bid in clubs, a little like Roman Key Card Blackwood. The normal responses are 4D= 0/3, 4H = 1/4, 4S = 2 without the queen and 4NT = 2 with the queen. North would bid 4NT on this hand, as having seven clubs it should show the queen. Of course this would be pearls before swine playing with a robot, and it just bid game.

"Cast pearls before swine" (from the series of "Flemish Proverbs").

Drawing by Pieter Brueghel the Younger (1564–1638).

In like manner the mysteries of the truth, that is, the pearls, are not to be given but to such as desire the truth and live with human reason. If then you cast them to the swine, that is, to such as are grovelling in impurity of life, they do not understand their preciousness, but value them like to other worldly fables, and tread them under foot with their carnal life. - Matthew 7:6

If you don't use Minorwood, then you might just jump to 6C as South immediately. What you don't want to do is play 5C at matchpoints, as over half the field did.

The duplicate raised over £400 for the Claremont, for much-needed medical equipment for the centre, including a vital defibrillator. 

The centre offers a range of classes and events. Membership is free (although donations are welcome) and there is a range of special events and online classes. It is hoped to resume face-to-face classes at some point. More information at www.claremont-project.org