Tauranga Bay Pairs 21 May 2023
A very good field of 16 tables turned out for this, the second round of the Bay Of Plenty Pairs for 2023. It is great to see players of all grades attending and enjoying the bridge.
The two hands I am highlighting today have the theme of Discipline and Agreement.
S2 Board 7
Dealer S Both Vul
After South's 1C opening our agreement is to play weak jump overcalls, defined in our agreement as less than 10 points and a 6 card suit. We are not constrained by having to have 2 honours in the suit. Therefore the West hand can overcall 2 spades. North does not have a bid and East has to apply the discipline. Even with a chunky 14 count, opposite a maximum of 9 or a bad 10 count they do not have enough for game and should pass. They have no ruffing power, only two spades and wasted points in hearts. Yes, the clubs are good, but if partner has diamonds, entries could be a problem to use the clubs before you lose other tricks. 2S is the final contract, making 2S if the defence is correct. Making 2 or 3 Spades is the top matchpoint, with N/S able to make 2D, or one away in 3D. Any higher and you are in the mire.
S2 Board 12
Dealer E, E/W Vul
On this hand, I personally think it is too strong for a weak two opening showing both majors. Not everyone will agree, but a 1S opening has a much better chance of getting to game in either major. Because of shape and honours and intermediate cards in the majors I do not consider this undisciplined.
At our table the bidding proceeded 1S, only promising 4, 2D by south, Double by West, (could bid 2NT with the D Ace, but having 4 Hearts and 3 Spades seems to veer to the X), 3D by North, 3H by East and West just has to pick whichever Major they prefer.
The play was not a problem with 7 out of the 16 pairs bidding and making game. The rest were in partscores, although making 10/11 tricks.
Not everyone has the same agreements and bidding systems, and there are various ways of getting to the optimum contracts, but on both these hands the opposition will be bidding and it is therefore important to know what you are showing, and to know when to go on and when to stop.
Whakatane Bay Pairs 26 March 2023
What a fantastic start to the 2023 Bay Pairs year. Whakatane did us proud with 18 tables, a lovely fine day for travelling, a very tasty morning tea, Norm directing, good organisation, and a very enthusiastic group of 72 bridge players. The field was made up of 20 Open, 35 Intermediate and 17 Junior ranked players. This is a very encouraging mix for the future and I really hope that everyone enjoyed the day.
The hands were not boring! To go 4 down twice in a session, when there was no intention of sacrificing, is a rare feat, which all bridge players would hope to avoid. But such was the case in the first session for Jenna and I and several other players.
The first example is brutal.
Board 1. Dealer N
Maybe some N players opened it a Weak Tartan in Hearts, (West will seriously doubt that they have got the bid correct), but mostly East gets to open, and a lot of players agreed it was too strong for a weak opening showing Spades and Clubs. It is a 4 loser hand.
Now, that will keep South quiet and send West into an ecstasy of great things to come. The problem is how to find out how many Aces the East hand has as Gerber will not work over a genuine 1C (4+C) opening by East, and 4NT keycard will be a problem over a 1 spade or 1 club opening, because of East now showing either the King of spades or clubs as a keycard. West is never going to get East to agree hearts as the trump suit. I still stand by my decision to bid 6 Hearts. The Hearts breaking 8-5-0-0, is a miniscule %. It was so cruel. So along with some other Wests, I was 4 down.
Board 26 Dealer E
This hand is probably only a problem for some Precision Players. Jenna and I are in that category. With 1C, 1D, and 1NT not available as openings for the East hand, we got to open it 2C. All pass. Judy Pawson and Kate Terry defended it perfectly and we ended up with 4 tricks, AS, AH, Q and JC, for 4 Down. The hand analysis agreed, with North able to make 3 clubs their way. Chalk that one up to system.
It is these type of hands that are either exciting or frustrating that keep us coming back to the bridge table. You can download some pics from the day as attached below
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QT9832
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