Bridge Blog 1192: Thinking ahead

 

Partner Selina Volpatti proclaimed that it was the best hand she ever played as we shuffled our individual cards on Board 6 and put them back into the holder on Friday, April 17, at the Niagara-on-the-Lake Bridge Club.

        It was certainly our best hand of the day, a top board, one of the things that helped us do something we rarely do at NOTL, taking first place North-South away from perennial winners Claude and Muriel Tremblay, 57.44% to 56.55%.

        According to the ACBL results, Selina shouldn't have made it. Nobody else did on Friday. The analysis says that it's good for 3 Spades, but not 4. East-West has two Heart winners and a Diamond for sure. That fourth E/W trick probably comes when all the dummy's Spades are played before all of North's losing Diamonds can be trumped. Selina made sure she trumped them.

East:

Spades: 8

Hearts: K J 8

Diamonds: A Q J 9 7 6

Clubs: J 5 3

South (me):

Spades: Q J 6 2

Hearts: Q 7 5 2

Diamonds: 4

Clubs: A K 8 4

West:

Spades: 10 9 7

Hearts: A 9 4

Diamonds: K 8 2

Clubs: Q 10 9 6

North (Selina):

Spades: A K 5 4 3

Hearts: 10 6 3

Diamonds: 10 5 3

Clubs: 7 2

        How did we get to 4 Spades? East, as dealer, opened 1 Diamond. I doubled, asking for Selina to bid her best suit. She rose to the invitation with Spades. When they went to 4 Diamonds, she made the 4 Spade overcall. East led the 3 of Clubs. South's Ace won it, Selina cleared the dummy's singleton Diamond and got early ruffs on Clubs and Diamonds.

        Nobody else took more than nine tricks in Spades. At the Tremblay table, East won the auction at 4 Diamonds and made it.