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Game gone begging.

It’s lovely making a game with just 15 high card points between your two hands. It is a bit more frustrating when you could have made the game but did not.

 

1 was natural and 2, a Michael’s cue-bid, showing at least 5 cards in each major and being vulnerable, a reasonable hand. We can debate the merits of South’s bid: four trumps for sure though the quality was a touch underwhelming! On this day, it was a master-bid, or could have been. Had South passed, North might have ventured a spade bid and the heart game could also then have been reached. The heart game was always going to be bid once South made a free bid.

West led 8. Plan the play.

Our South finished up a trick short. With two very useful voids, South decided to start on a cross-ruff. So, they won the opening lead in dummy and then successfully ruffed four spades in their own hand and three clubs in dummy. On the fourth round of spades, East discarded a diamond not realising that they could have won the trick by simply playing 7.

So, with declarer now in hand after winning 8 tricks, these cards remained:

Ruffing a club would give South a 9^th trick but with K falling under A, there would be no 10^th. Similarly, South could not get two more tricks from ruffing low or by exiting a diamond. The contract was doomed to fail.

Yet, the contract was cold. South went wrong because they failed to count losers from the start. Cross-ruffing was fine in that they avoided a spade loser but by the time spades were established, there were too many trumps outstanding and no way to draw them.

There was a certain diamond loser. If there were two trump losers, then South had to avoid losing a spade trick. Yet, were there two trump losers? South should have, early in the play, played trumps, from their hand.

Although there is a danger in the second round of diamonds being ruffed, South needs to duck the opening lead and win the diamond continuation. At trick 3, they should ruff a spade. South needs to establish dummy’s spades rather than engage in a cross-ruff. So, a trump at trick 4 and they will soon see how many trump losers there are.

If West plays J, declarer wins with K and plays a second round of trumps. Trumps have been drawn with the loss of just one trick. So, South can afford to lose a trick to the A. After K draws A (South discarding from hand), the spade suit sets up for just one loser. They could even have ruffed a second spade if need be. Game made for the loss of one trick in spades, hearts and diamonds.

Had South lost 2 trump tricks (as might have happened had they won A at trick 1: West takes A at the first opportunity with the defence playing two more rounds of diamonds), they would then have needed to avoid a spade loser and then the contract should fail.

It’s interesting that the side with 25 hcps cannot make any contract higher than the 2 level while the side with a  combined 15-count can make game in hearts. It would be a shame to have failed had 4 been your contract.

At the time of writing, Bach has a significant lead in the NZ Open Trials final over Ware with under 2 of the 6 x 16 board sets remaining. There was high drama in Ware’s semi-final win over Berrington with the scores after the completion of the match being equal but only after a director’s ruling was challenged and upheld. Ware won the 8 board tie-break by 20 imps.

The final of the Women’s event between Gibbons and Terry will take place on Real Bridge on Tuesday 6^th February.

Today’s deal did not come from either trial.

Richard Solomon

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