Jul
04

“You can’t miss the bear.”

In the first episode of the television show Weeds, the two sons of the main character are obsessed with a fictional bear-hunting show entitled “Bear Hunt”. The catch phrase of that show which gets repeated through-out that first episode is, “You can’t miss the bear.” Take your shot, don’t take your shot, but whatever you do you can’t miss the bear.

Both sides vulnerable, the bidding had gone (P)-P-(1♣)- to me. I over-called 1♦ with:

♠ xxx
♥ AKJ
♦ ATxxx
♣ xx

I would have liked at least one four card major to double. My LHO doubled (which should be a negative double showing both majors). The long-suffering Washington redoubled and the opening bidder passed, so did I and, surprisingly, so did my LHO. So that left me in 1♦XX.

The opening lead was a small club. The dummy hit with:

♠ KTx
♥ xxxx
♦ KJ
♣ QTxx

The opponents took two club tricks and led a third one which I ruffed in my hand and was somewhat surprised that it held. I led a small diamond to my king and now my RHO dropped the queen which strongly suggested to me that my LHO actually had five diamonds, which meant he could not have both majors. This is where I went terribly terribly wrong. I led a small heart back to my hand and took the finesse.

Instead of a negative double my LHO doesn’t have anything in the majors he is instead 3=2=5=3 and no values in spades so my king of spades is dead and he got to ruff my king of hearts. On the other hand, my RHO (who opened) has both majors, he’s 4=4=1=4 so he passed assuming his partner would reopen with the better of his two majors.

You’ll note of course that if at trick four I had instead just taken my AK of hearts and my remaining good diamonds I would have had seven tricks right then (1 club ruff, AKJT of diamonds and the AK of hearts). Instead I was down 1 for -400. I’m an idiot. I missed the bear.

Mar
04

Knocked Out

It’s almost never a good thing to be the low man on the totem pole. We were at the very bottom of the bracket with a total of 1600 masterpoints playing the team at the very top of the bracket with a total of 6000. It wasn’t pretty.

Still I got to play one hand that was a lot of fun for me (link: here). This is a perfect illustration of how damaging a two-suited bid (e.g. Unusual NT) can be on defense.

Unfortunately, at the other table they made it to 3NT making 7 so we still lost 11 IMPs on the deal. The biggest mystery for me was how the declarer (North) at that other table knew to drop the stiff king of diamonds. I knew the man who played it so I asked him about it afterwards, and he told me that on the first diamond trick East had shown out, only to come up with the king the next time diamonds were led. Mystery solved, but as is so often the case the resolution was rather disappointing.

Feb
24

Stewed, Screwed and …

I may need to get this tattooed on the back of my right hand:

Red = Dead

Then maybe next time I reach for the bidding box at unfavorable vulnerability, I will pause to reconsider.

Feb
22

Going Rogue

On Sunday, during a Swiss teams event, I demonstrated once again why it is almost never a good idea for me to go “off book” with my bidding. In third seat, vulnerable against not, I picked up:

♠ (void)
♥ xxx
♦ xxx
♣ AKQTxxx

I was all ready to open a gambling 3NT when my RHO opened 1♠. Of course, I don’t like the vulnerability, but if my partner has a spade stopper and at least one club we’re very likely to only be down one in 3NT. If my partner does not have a spade stopper we’re very likely only down two in 4♣ and while at matchpoints, 4♣X down two would be a disaster, this was IMPs. Plus I had a sneaking suspicion that our opponents might have a spade slam (just call me “Sherlock”). So I bid 3♠ asking partner to bid 3NT with a spade stopper. My LHO goes into the tank for a bit, asks my partner what my bid means and gets the response that I am asking him to bid 3NT with a spade stopper. Finally my LHO bids 5♠. Partner asks the opening bidder what that bid means and is told it is asking if he is at the top or bottom of his opening bid. Unfortunately(?) my partner has a spade stopper and so feels compelled to double 5♠ because he has no idea what my hand actually looks like (how could he?). At that point I bid 6♣, LHO doubles and my partner pulls to 6♥. The whole auction:

P-(1♠)-3♠*-(5♠)-
X-(P)-6♣-(X)-
6♥-(X)-All Pass

Not surprisingly, 6♥ is down four for -1100. Our teammates bid and made a small slam in spades, but of course we still lost IMPs on the deal (I hate to admit this, but in three of the last four IMP games I’ve played in I’ve gone for -1100 — nasty habit). As it turned out, my partner has three clubs to the jack, but he thought my bids showed something like a Michael’s type hand and felt he was not pulling, but correcting to hearts. We hadn’t discussed anything like a leaping Michael’s cue-bid so that particular interpretation hadn’t entered my mind when I bid 3♠, but I did know it wasn’t likely that he’d be able to guess what my hand looked like based on the bidding which is never a good thing in a partnership game. And, yes, I am still kicking myself for not passing 5♠X.

Dec
27

The (Somewhat) Big(ger) Leagues

Today I’m off to a sectional tournament with a partner who has never played in a bridge tournament before. She asked what to expect and I said that it would essentially just be a big club game only the opponents would be somewhat crankier and the masterpoints would be somewhat shinier. I hope it turns out to be a good experience for her. I think the fact it is being held at a club will make it less intimidating, but I don’t think it is going to feel like much of an adventure either. I guess we’ll just have to look for excitement in the cards and they usually oblige.