Bridge Blog 945: My partners are on a losing streak

When I tell Selina Volpatti today (Friday, March 10) that I'm going to write a blog with this title, she denies being complicit. Then we turn around and have a 45.86% game. A couple weeks ago a score that low actually earned us points at the Bridge Centre of Niagara in St. Catharines, Ont., but not this time. We're 11th of 15 North-Souths and we'd need at least 48.25% to finish fourth in the B strat.

Actually, I think I can let Selina off the hook. I blew this day off on the very first two hands. First there's the slam we don’t reach.

Dlr: North Vul: None	K J 6 4 3 2 A 4 2 A 4 K Q
Q 5 10 8 7 Q J 10 5 2 6 5 4	W e s t North E a s t 17 South	10 8 7 J 9 5 3 6 10 9 7 3 2
17 5 1 17	A 9 K Q 6 K 9 8 7 3 A J 8

 It’s all in the bidding. Selina’s North, opens a Spade. I bid 2 Diamonds. She rebids 2 Spades. I look at my 17 points, could have opened 1 No Trump, and ponder. What to bid? I put down the 4 Spades card. Wrong choice. I should bid 4 NT, asking for Aces. East leads a Diamond and Selina takes all 13 tricks. Turns out even 6 Spades gives us an average-minus result – 6 match points out of 14 instead of 2. The good contract is 6 NT.

Next board, I double our opponents at 3 Spades. According to the hand record, they shouldn’t make it, but these guys do. At most tables, East-West only take eight tricks. Not here. Instead of tying for top, we get a bottom board. If these two hands went our way, we’d be fourth in B.

Dlr: East Vul: N/S	A Q J 10 7 4 2 2 A J 10 9 3
10 9 7 6 Q 9 K Q 7 5 K 7 5	W e s t North E a s t 18 South	K 8 5 4 K 8 5 3 A 6 Q 4 2
12 10 12 6	J 3 2 A 6 J 10 9 8 4 3 8 6

 Elsewhere, we’d finish even better if I don’t push to not one, not two, but three disastrous doubled sacrifice bids. Here I'm in love with my void and my seven-card suit, so I go to 5 Hearts rather than let the opponents play in Spades. We’re vulnerable, they’re not. They can’t make 4 Spades.

Dlr: North Vul: N/S	Q J 8 2 6 4 A Q 10 9 5 2 6
A K 10 9 5 4 A 8 5 7 Q 8 4	W e s t North E a s t 21 South	7 6 3 Q J 8 6 3 A J 7 5 3
9 13 8 W 10	-- K J 10 9 7 3 2 K 4 K 10 9 2

That’s a bottom board instead of an average-plus of 8.5 match points. Later on, we pick up a couple minus 800s. On the first one, I thought our advantage in vulnerability and our big Spade suit would save us with a minus 500. Not!!!

Dlr: East Vul: E/W	10 9 4 3 6 2 9 8 7 2 9 4 3
J K Q 10 9 5 A Q 10 4 K 10 7	W e s t North E a s t 6 South	6 2 A J 3 K J 5 3 A Q 5 2
0 15 15 10	A K Q 8 7 5 8 7 4 6 J 8 6

East-West can make 6 Hearts, but only a couple of them bid the slam. If we let them play it at 4 Hearts, it’s an average board. This next one is an absolute bottom.

Dlr: South Vul: None	10 9 6 5 10 6 5 4 A K J 3 Q
A K 8 2 J 9 2 A K J 10 9 5	W e s t North E a s t 11 South	-- K Q 8 3 2 Q 10 8 6 5 4 8 7
10 16 7 7	Q J 7 4 3 A 7 9 7 6 4 3 2

What happens here is that Selina doubles West’s 1 Club opener, I bid my Spade suit and, between the two of us, we wind up at 4 Spades doubled. East-West can make 5 Clubs, but our opponents decide not to play it there. If we stop competing and let them go for less than game in Clubs, we’re average-plus. If we could resist our sacrificial urges, we’d finish over 50%.