Unit 149 (WUMBA) - District 13
 
Review Please 2000

Review Please
January 2000

Mad City Sectional

The tournament was held at the Eagle school, a very nice facility. Madison area winners were:
Bracket A KO. 1. Stan Fuhrmann.
Bracket B KO. 2. Michael Roeder, Ted Kahnt, Lyle Nestingen, Josephine Pederson.

Friday Stratified Swiss Teams. A. 1. Stan Fuhrmann, Diane Vaughan, UNOHOO, 2. Ward Johnson, Alan Wagner, 3. Sandi Park, Bob Esser, Mike van Vleck, Brian Carlson, 4. Mike and Caryl Selchert, Richard and Barbara Nordeng, 5. (also 1B) Margaret Salazar, D. Radosevich, Helen Nelson, Carl Frank Farley, B. 2. Betts Wolfe, Carol Zandi, Paul Kroening, Patricia Kossoris, 3. Mary Murphy, Marilyn Kelley, Donna Suby, Nancy Hegna.

Friday Afternoon Stratified Open Pairs. A. 3. (also 2B) Nancy Grimes, Ronald Grosh, 5. (also 3B) Colleen McCabe, William Higbee.

Newcomer Pairs. 1. Kari Cole, Nancy Yentz, 2. Sally Gleason, Mary Kay Moser, 3/4. Barbara Mattes, Maxine Priebe and Jean Jolin, Robert Lewis.

Friday Evening Stratified Open Pairs. A. 2. Diane Vaughan, William Segar, 3. John Textor, Stan Fuhrmann (also 1B), 5. Jacob Morgan, Chuck Ellison (also 2B), 6/7. (also 3/4B and 1C) Robert Quackenbush, Shirley McCoy, B. 5. Brian Carlson, Jim Klein, 6. Ted Kahnt, Josephine Pederson, C. 2. Maria Burger, Marcella Finegan, 3. Margaret Salazar, D. Radosevich.

Saturday Morning Stratified Pairs. A. 1. (also 1B and 1C) Michael McQuistan, Owen Li, 2. Libushe Zaporozec, Frank Schatzley, 3. (Also 2B) Sandy Smith, Sandi Park, 4. Mike and Caryl Selchert, 5. (also 3B) William Murphy, Sharel Surles, 6. (also 4B and 2C) S. Bolotin, Viola Rengstorff, B. 5. Robert and Joan Kee Sparks, 6. Carl Frank Farley, Chris Murphy.

Saturday Afternoon Stratified Teams. A. 1. Diane Vaughan, UNOHOO, 2. (also 1B) Robert Hodes, Thomas Christopher, Robert Smith, Maxine Priebe, 3. Betty Schultz, Kathleen Wagner

Saturday Afternoon Stratified Pairs. A. 1. (also 1B) Nancy Grimes, Marjorie Morgan, 2. (also 2B) Brian and Barbara Carlson, 3. Fern Thompson, Amy Shumway, 4. Mary and Mark Olsky, 5. (also 3B) J. O'Donnell, Jeanne Poskie, 6 (also 4B) Stephanie Schwingel, Nancy Ogreenc, B. 5. Sandy Smith, Sandi Park, 6. (also 1C) Donald Peterson, Bruce Gillman.

Saturday Evening Stratified Swiss Teams. A. 1 (also 1B) Timothy Luker, William Zimmerman, Sandra and Jim O'Brien, 3. William Higbee, Colleen McCabe, Mark and Mary Olsky.

Sunday Stratified Swiss Teams. A. 2. (also 1B) Jacob Morgan, Marjorie Morgan, Chuck Ellison, Nancy Grimes, 3. Phil and Mary Warden, 4. Ward Johnson, Al Wagner, Diane Vaughan, UNOHOO, 5/6. Mike and Caryl Selchert, Richard and Barb Nordeng, B. 4. Eric Woch, Jim Klein, Brian Carlson, Stan Fuhrmann.

Your choice

When the opponents give you a choice of plays where there was only one, you shouldn't go for the alternative. On the other hand, maybe you just fell into the position after a reasonable defense. Your choice:

West opened 1C, partner passed, east bid 1S and I came in with 2H. West made a support double (showing three spades) and north bid 3H ending the auction. West led the club king and ace and a third round to east's queen (ruffed). I played the heart king followed by the nine to the queen and led a low spade to the queen holding the trick. If east took the spade ace on this trick you would be forced to lead towards the diamond king for your contract since the spade ten does not drop. I crossed to the dummy in hearts to see if I could steal the spade jack, but east jumped in with the ace and was endplayed. East then led a small diamond and it's your choice (I chose to play low and made the contract when east held the diamond queen and west the ace).

Pick a strain

Here is a disappointing result from a team game.

North opened a slightly off shape 2NT, I bid 3H and north raised to four holding only two trumps. This appears to be the right decision as spades were 5–3 and you can easily misguess the heart queen (west had Qx). I got the lead of the diamond nine to the king and ace. East led a low diamond back and the eight won. I duly led a heart to the ace and finessed on the way back and scored +650. At the other table the contract was 3NT. Holding only three spades, east led something else, declarer played the two top hearts, and soon had +660 for a push.

Pick a level

Here is a disappointing result from a team game.

North opened 1D, I bid 1H, north bid 1S, I bid 3S. Would you go to game? North passed 3S. Spades were 3–2, the club ace was onside, but the heart jack did not drop so we were +140 for a loss of 10 IMPS when game was bid and made at the other table.

Here is a disappointing result from a team game.

North opened 1D, east doubled, I redoubled, north bid 2D, I bid 2NT. Would you go to game? North passed (reasonably enough) but the heart nine was led, east had the spade king (why not?), west had Qxxx in diamonds (why not?), and I soon had nine tricks. We actually won 1 IMP on the board when the other team played the hand in diamonds for +130.

Here is a disappointing result from a team game.

What do you do with a balanced 29 count? In Precision, you open 1C and over the expected 1D response (0–7 HCP) bid what? Answer: bid 3NT and hope that you don't miss slam (you do). Standard bidders may not have an easy time either, depending on methods. If you open 2C and partner bids 2D (waiting? negative?) you bid what? Answer: bid 3NT and hope that you don't miss slam (you do).

A Precision "solution" is to use the 3NT opening bid as 27–29 HCP. This is a soft method as one should not open strong hands at high levels. Standard bidders would do well to employ control (or point count) showing responses to handle this type of hand, whose frequency is very low.

This is matchpoints, west opens 1C, partner doubles, east passes and you bid 1H. LHO passes, partner bids 1NT,RHO passes – do you pass or bid 2H? I bid 2H and made it when partner held SAxxx, HAQ, DKQxx, CAJx. You would not be happy at 1NT as my hand contributes nothing to the offense (that's why you should bid 2H).

Slam–o–rama

Here is a sickening slam from a pair game

North opened 1NT (13–15 HCP) and I bid 3C (transfer to diamonds). Over 3D I bid 3H (second suit) and partner duly raised to four. What now? This is matchpoints (yuk!) so I bid 6H and eight of partner's thirteen points were opposite my void. West led a spade so I won the queen and lost the diamond finesse. West returned a diamond so I tried the heart finesse. That won, but the heart eight dropped on my left and when I tried to drop the king I was down two with both six diamonds and six notrump on. If this were IMPS, I would have bid 5D over 4H to try to find the best spot

Review Please
February-April 2000

Safety play

Here is a tough hand from a team game

South opened 1H (probable start of a Canape), I skipped Michaels and bid 1S and the opponents were soon in 4H (same contract at the other table). I led a club, east won and returned a club and (on this hand!) it's time to take a safety play by crossing in spades and playing a heart to the seven. However, both declarers correctly tried one top heart and that was one too many (if the hearts are 2–2 this hand is gin). Our declarer played a low heart at trick three, but east returned a club forcing declarer to ruff in dummy and when declarer played a diamond to the ten, I ducked and the hand was down. The play was the same at the other table, but the defence failed to get the diamond ruff and the contract made.

Lightner double

Here is a hand from a team game. Several pairs got it wrong. Would you?

With EW Vul, north opened 1S as dealer, east passed and I splintered to 4C. This did not deter west who bid 5C. North and east passed and I made the delicate bid of 6S. Maybe this is wrong, but turn the minor suit aces around and we are cold (almost) for 7S. What should west do now? Answer: double so that partner won't lead a club. West didn't double at our table. east led a club and we scored +1010. At the other table (in our match, this hand was played by all the teams), west doubled, east led a low diamond and our teammates scored +100. What card should east lead? If you are going to lead a diamond (that looks like the suit in which west is void), you might as well lead the queen. This will hold the trick! and you will figure out to lead a heart now and collect +300.

Play or defend?

We got to 3NT and the opponents cashed four rounds of diamonds ending in the east hand. East led a heart and I played out the ace and king, squeezing east in the black suits for +400 and an unexpected top at matchpoints. Is the hand always cold? (answer yes). If the opponents cash only three rounds of diamonds and then switch, I can again play out the ace and king of hearts and now east is squeezed out of the last diamond winner and can be endplayed in clubs (one winning line). Suppose the opponents just lead black suits. Then declarer must play diamonds at every opportunity and ultimately play the second top heart, squeezing east as before.

Third hand high

The contract is 3NT and your partner leads the spade queen. Dummy hold the 4 3 of spades and you hold the A 8 2. What card do you play (hint: the opponents appear to have about 28 HCP). Answer: the ace, third hand high! If you play an "encouraging" eight, partner will switch as she holds K Q 10 9 5 and fears the Bath coup. I played the ace, catering to the actual combination, returned the eight, and we ran the suit for an average.

Help poor declarer

Here is a hand from a team game.

We got to 4S and west led a diamond (why not?). I won the diamond ace, led a club to the king, played the diamond king and queen (throwing a club from dummy), and ruffed a diamond with the spade eight which held (hmmm!). Now I cashed the club ace (throwing a diamond) and ruffed a club leaving:

It really looks like the heart ace has to be onside if you are to make the hand so I led a low heart towards the king. West didn't want to be "endplayed" so west put up the heart queen and east cannot be faulted for playing back a heart which I won with the jack. When I now led a low spade, west inserted the ten to force the queen and I then ran the spade nine, endplaying west in trumps for a overtrick!

Destroy this hand with me

Here is a hand from a team game. Several pairs got it wrong. Would you?

Playing Standard American, I opened 2C and partner responded 2S (positive, and in the absence of more detailed discussion, showing two of the top three honors). I bid 3H and partner bid 3S (what's that? It should show a sixth spade but does it show the third top honor?). Now it's a big guessing game so I bid 4NT (with a void!) planning to bid seven if partner had two aces, but partner bid 6D (one ace) and I settled for 6H and made seven by careful play.

This hand is a lead pipe cinch for Precision players. South opens 1C (16+ HCP), partner responds 1S (8+ HCP, 5+ spades, game forcing. South bids 2S (asking) and north bids 3NT (six steps showing all three top spade honors. The next call is 4NT on the way to 7NT if partner has both aces, but leading to 7H when the club ace is missing.

WUMBA board

The WUMBA board met at the Appleton sectional. The meeting lasted 12500000 microminutes with lots of outpouring of words. The most interesting topic discussed was the WUMBA web homepage and links to other homepages, such as the District homepage coordinated by Mike Selchert.

Stan Fuhrmann is building the WUMBA homepage which is located at http://userpages.chorus.net/sfuhrman. The homepage is a real asset and it can be used in many ways. Submissions for the web page can be sent to Stan at sfuhrman@chorus.net. Send stuff by email attachments, don't give Stan hardcopy.

The bottom line was that many bridge players didn't even know that the page existed. We plan to step up publicity concerning the site. The internet is here now and access to the internet is growing very rapidly. For example, all University of Wisconsin students have internet access and use the internet actively in their courses.

One use for tournament chairpersons! is to put the flyer on the web site along with instructions as to how to link to hotel/restaurant/maps in the area. It's a quick and easy way to expand publicity and furnish information.

The site will show tournament results.

Stan has done a terrific job and deserves our support.

Review Please
May-June 2000

Tough leads

With NS VUL at IMPS, south opened 1C (Precisely) in third seat. West bid 1S, north doubled (5+ HCP), south bid 1NT and north raised to 3NT. What should west lead? A spade gives away a trick, a heart is not good, the diamond is worse, and a club is not so hot! I was south and got the lead of the heart queen won by the ace and I played the club queen (ducked) followed by the jack (won perforce). West now shifted to the stiff diamond and when the smoke cleared, I had ten tricks for an 11 IMP pickup.

With NS VUL at IMPS, south opened 1S (in second seat), north bid 1NT(forcing), south bid 2C, north bid 3S (invitational three card limit raise), and south bid 4S. I was south and as you can see, there are a few handling charges. What should west lead? The spade queen is unattractive, a heart gives away a trick, the diamond ace gives away two tricks, and declarer has bid clubs (sort of, I'd lead one anyway). West led the diamond ace, I guessed trumps, ruffed out the diamond queen and when the smoke cleared, I had eleven tricks for an 11 IMP pickup.

Finish the job

In a team game, neither NS pair finished the job. I opened 1C (16+ HCP) as south, north bid 2NT (14–19 HCP balanced), I asked with 3C and north bid 3H (showing 14–16 HCP and four spades but not four hearts). I bid 3S to set trumps and north cue bid 4D. I bid 4H and north bid 4S. What now? It looked like north did not hold the heart king and I wasn't sure about the spade king, so I bid 6S and made seven by careful play for a push. North should keep the ball rolling by bidding 5H (showing the king) and I would bid 5NT (the grand slam force). North would bid 6D over this (showing the ace or king and normal length (four)) and we would get to the grand on our 30 HCP.

Don't give up

At matchpoints east opens 1S, south bids 1NT and you soon arrive at 3NT from the wrong side. West leads the diamond ten and east ducks so you win the diamond jack. A club to the king and a club back exposes the bad break; what now? South cashed the spade ace, and when the king dropped followed with the ace. The diamond queen was won perforce by east and east was endplayed for the contract. This was worth 10– matchpoints.

Tough leads

You are on lead at matchpoints and the bidding has been 1NT by east, 2C by west, 2S by east, 4S by west. Your lead? I was leaning towards a heart but before I had a chance to decide, west asked if I would turn her cards as she had to go. I said sure, and west then tabled the dummy! Now neither a heart or diamond looked promising, so I made the aggressive lead of a club and struck gold. North won the third round of clubs and then played a diamond, getting a ruff for down 200 when I got in with the trump king. That was 12 matchpoints.

Time the play

South opens 1H in second seat, EW VUL at matchpoints (we were playing matchpoints because they wouldn't let us continue in the KO teams). North bid 2C, south bid 2D, north tried 3H and south continued on to game. West made the natural lead of the club ace, ruffed of course, and it's time to time the play. Usually it is correct to establish the side suit (not on the hand!) so south led a diamond won by west. If west continues a second diamond, he will get a trump promotion it east jumps up with the ace when trumps are led from dummy. But west shifted to a spade and the timing was back in declarer's favor. +450 was worth 9- matchpoints.

Three no chance

We were trying to play in a Senior's pairs but there weren't enough tables so they encorporated the senior game (intact!) as part of a section of the open pairs. This explains some of the results. East opened 1D and we soon arrived at three no chance. West decided to lead partner's suit and it became three a little chance. It went jack, king ace, followed by the diamond queen and a diamond to the seven forcing east's nine. East returned a heart, ducked to the ten and west returned the spade queen, won by the ace. East got out with a spae and when south cashed the fifth diamond east let go a heart and suddenly we had nine tricks for 6-/8 matchpoints.

Finally you are on lead against 3NT with UNOHOO on your right. You hold S 7 3 H 8 5 4 D A Q 10 8 7 4 3 C K (yes you have bid diamonds). West tried to hit his partner by leading spades but the NS hands were S J 8 5 H K 10 9 3 2 D 9 2 C Q 7 2 and S A K 4 H A J D K 6 C A J 10 6 5 3. South won the spade ace, crossed to the heart king, and lost the club finesse but had nine tricks for 7–/8 matchpoints.

Review Please
July 2000

Crash!

Both are VUL at matchpoints. After two passes, north opened 1C (precisely) and east bid 1H, PRM showing the majors or the minors. I passed showing less than 5 HCP and west made the criminal bid of pass. North also passed, ending the auction and we collected 300 for a top. The rule for using Crash or PRM is "never bid a suit unless you prefer it to its mate". West should compare spades to hearts. Since he prefers spades to hearts, he bids one spade. If he prefers hearts to spade, he should bypass spades and bid the better of the two minors. On the actual hand EW will probably get to two clubs and should be able to scramble at least six tricks and if they get to notrump they can make a bunch. Rule: never pass the PRM bid.

Three no chance

EW VUL at matchpoints. I passed and west opened 1C, east bid 1H (curses, I was going to bid hearts!), west bid 1S;and eventually west became declarer at 3NT. North led a diamond (I think this is correct since the length may result in the entry needed to run the suit). I won the king and returned a diamond. Next west made the criminal play of the club queen, passed to my stiff king. I cleared diamonds and west had to go down one for 4/12 matchpoints (other declarers had the same blind spot).

Here is why you don't bid 3NT with 24 HCP and no five card suit (not to mention the lack of controls). West duly got to 3NT (Both VUL at matchpoints) and north led the spade deuce. There is nowhere to go and the hand soon was down 300 for a bottom.

Here is why you don't bid 3NT with 26 HCP and two long suits. I got to 3NT from the wrong side and passed the first hurdle when the spade king held on the first trick. I crossed in diamonds to take the club finesse and soon was down 300 for one-half matchpoint. Five diamonds is a better contract.

Playing precision, we were headed for three no chance. North opened 1C, I bid 2C, north bid 2NT, I bid 3H and north bid 3NT. East managed to find a spade lead and we were soon down 50 for one–half match point.

Undeterred, I opened 1D(11–15 HCP), north bid 1S, I bid 1NT (showing 11–12 HCP) and partner made the overbid of 3NT (If I had held five diamonds this would look better). West led a low heart, I ducked in dummy and took the jack with the ace. As you can see, this hand is not cold. I went for it and finessed the diamond jack at trick two. When this held, things were looking up (briefly!). Unfortunately, when I cashed the diamond ace, east discarded the spade nine. With nothing better to do I cashed the diamond king and east released a club (why?). Now I ran the clubs and east let go a second spade. That was the final nail in the coffin and the defence had to give me a second heart trick at the end for +400 and a top (surprise!).

VUL at IMPS south opened 1NT (13–15 HCP) and I bid 3D. RHO asked what this was and south explained that she had forgotten! The bid doesn't come up often, but when it does it is a winner. It's flat hand stayman and south is not supposed to show a major with 4–3–3–3 distribution. South correctly bid 3NT. West did well not to lead a club and led the heart deuce instead. This went to the queen and king. South crossed in spades to lead the diamond jack, covered by the queen and won by the king. There wasn't much left to do so south ran the spades and west carelessly discarded a diamond so when south played the ace and another club (east had let go a club on the run of the spades) west was endplayed. At the other table four spades was –200 so we won 13 IMPS on the hand. Flat hand stayman keeps you out of four spades. Four spades is an awful contract. 3NT just needs the club king onside (OK a little more).

Both VUL at IMPS, north opened 1C, east overcalled 1D and NS soon arrived at three no chance. I resisted the temptation to double and led the diamond deuce. What should east play to this trick? Answer: the queen or declarer will hold up and make the contract. My partner played the queen, the other declarer did not. We won 14 IMPS.