 DAILY BULLETIN 7 - (2) | |
| Sunday, February 13, 2000 | Editors: Eric Kokish, Richard Colker |
| DAILY BULLETIN 7 - (2) | |
| Sunday, February 13, 2000 | Editors: Eric Kokish, Richard Colker |
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Armstrong's gentle 3  is certainly the correct
technical action over 2 but it's amazing how
often players compete to 3 with moderate
values and a fourth trump and then feel obliged
to do more when they have a real hand like this
one. West might be broke, after all. Perhaps
that is why Chen felt obliged to double a
second time with the East cards, but even so,
Hirata was not expected to pass it with the
hand he held. Chen led two rounds of clubs
against 2 doubled. Justin ruffed and cashed
ace-king of trumps, then led a low diamond.
When the ten came up he lost only two
diamonds and the  A to land a doubled
overtrick; plus 570. 12 imps more to GB, 97-
104.Old man Mo, he just keeps rolling... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Jason's 1NT ostensibly showed 14-16 points. That didn't get him to 4 but it did get him a
plus score of 90 points on a spade lead; he
guessed hearts but took no finesses.Teramoto's 1 attracted a limit raise and he
had roughly enough to accept the invitation. A
club lead would have beaten the contract on
the go, but Papa led the  8 to the king and
ace. Placing Papa with short diamonds,
Teramoto played him for longer hearts than his
partner and finessed through West. Armstrong
won the Q and played ace and another club.
Two down; minus 100. 5 imps to GB, 102-105.
..he just keeps rolling along... |
 "The subway must be around here somewhere." | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 "Now the British fleet, under Admiral Hackett, will be anchored in the bay just off the ferris wheel..." |
Against Hirata's 2NT, Justin led the 6 to the...
ace. Jason cashed the A (attitude), got a
discouraging signal, and reverted to hearts.
The defenders cashed out the majors for one
down; minus 50.Meanwhile, Armstrong's decision to get out of notrump worked beautifully. Papa was plus 130 in 2 . 5 imps more to GB, who finally took over
the lead, 107-105. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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With an awkward bid to make over 1 Justin
chose an honest 3, saving his spades for
another day. With hearts not raised, Jason
took a sensible shot at 3NT and Justin judged
it wise not to retreat to 4. Alas, hearts were
led and 3NT was soon two down; minus 200.Teramoto judged to stay out of the bidding and Armstrong dredged up a raise to 3 . With a
maximum for his weak jump response, Papa
went on to game. It's easy to see how game
might fail and much more difficult to see how to
make it, but Papa was equal to the task. He
ruffed the opening diamond lead and started
clubs, which would have been the wrong line
had clubs been four-two and trumps two-two.
Teramoto won the first club and played another
diamond, ruffed. A second club went to the ace
and a spade switch followed. Teramoto took
the A and reverted to diamonds. Papa ruffed,
crossed to the K, got the revealing news, and
played K, Q, J. It didn't matter whether
Teramoto ruffed or threw his remaining spade;
Papa would either discard a spade and ruff one
with the Q or overruff, ruff a spade with the
3, and crossruff. A delightful plus 620. 9 imps
to GB, 116-105. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hirata led the J and Chen picked a bad time
to follow low. The 8 won and Jason knocked
out the A. Chen switched to a diamond to the
jack and queen, and a second diamond was
ducked to the nine. Jason cashed out for a
remarkable plus 150.Papa found the excellent shot of the 5 and the
defenders cleared the suit. When Teramoto
drove out the A, the defense took two more
diamonds and four spades for three down;
minus 300. A mere five-trick difference!10 imps more to GB, who won the third quarter 66-17 and turned the match around. With sixteen deals remaining, Great Britain led by 21 imps, 126-105. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Fourth Quarter(Boards 49-64): GB led by 21 imps to start the final quarter. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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You be the judge. Should West let East out below game after a two-level overcall? We would say no, but then half of us might not have overcalled with the Eat hand. The fact remains that 4 is not a good contract on the
E/W cards after an opening bid by North, but it
happens to make, so Imakura's accurate
judgment cost his side 6 imps. GB, 132-105.
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 The Sounds of Silence | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Against Ino's 3 the defenders led three
rounds of spades, the best defense. Ino ruffed
in dummy, played A, Q, ruffing in hand
when it was not covered. Then four rounds of
diamonds, ruffing the last low as Armstrong
discarded his remaining club. Dummy's last
club was ruffed in the closed hand with the
eight, but Armstrong overruffed with the ten
and led the master spade. Ino could ruff high or
low in dummy but it would not help; the
defenders had two more trump tricks.Against Justin's 4 the defense started with
K, A, and a diamond switch. Not so good.
A, trump to the king, A, Q, covered and
ruffed, K, Q, trump. Plus 620; 12 imps to GB,
144-105.On three rounds of spades, it is always open to East to rise on the first trump and play a fourth spade to promote a second trump trick. Indeed, this might be deemed the most natural line of defense with the North hand revealed in dummy on a different auction (although East has to worry about the singleton Q in West).
Perhaps it's more difficult to see when the
South hand is the one exposed. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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6 is excellent for E/W and Papa-Armstrong
had no trouble bidding it (any slam auction that
uses Blackwood does meet the Daily Bulletin's
standards for designation as "difficult to bid").
Even if Teramoto's 3 was "stronger than 4,"
his follow-up 4 looks very conservative.
Meanwhile, if 3 was indeed slam-suitable,
Imakura, with great trumps and a potentially
golden king not yet shown, owed his partner
another move. Perhaps, however, he thought
that Teramoto's 4 denied the missing spade
control, a reasonable agreement to have in this
type of auction. 13 imps to GB, 147-105.Do yourself a favor and discuss this hand with your favorite partner; it's an important one for slam-bidding principles. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Papa's 1 response to John's 1 overcall
worked beautifully when it wasn't raised. Not
only did it shut Ino out of the auction but it also
made it possible to locate the club fit. The play
in 2 was really interesting. Chen led the five
of trumps and John called for dummy's ace to
lead a heart to the king and ace. The 10 was
covered by the jack and ducked by Ino, and a
second heart was led from dummy. On this Ino
discarded a diamond, which was to prove
critical. The Q won and Armstrong turned to
diamonds, the king losing to the ace. A third
trump tucked him back in hand. He cashed the
Q, ruffed a heart, and led the 9, discarding a
heart as Ino won the ten. When Ino continued
with the J, Armstrong discarded another heart
from hand and a spade from dummy, and Ino,
out of diamonds, had to give dummy the K.
Very pretty, Mr John. Plus 90.Imakura's pass of 1 , perhaps the mainstream
action, left Justin with a normal reopening
double, and Jason's sensible 2 ended the
auction. K to the ace, club to the queen and
ace, K to the ace, club to the ten and jack,
diamond returnctrumps blocked. The spade
switch solved that problem for Justin, who
ruffed his club and led the J to pick up the
rest of the suit; plus 130. 6 imps to GB, who
truly earned them, 163-105. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Ino went two down, Justin only one. 2 imps more to GB, 165-105. We believe that it was bad bridge for Chen to double a second time in the scenario he faced, and we're not too keen on Jason's second double either, particularly with an aggressive partner who would strain to compete over 1 with four spades or five
diamonds. Doubling 1NT with a pile of high
cards and beating it, with no good lead to
make, are two different things. GB, 165-105.
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