Thanks BBO!

Just held this in a pickup game:

♠ J72 ♥ AKQ ♦ AK ♣ AKJT7

You're third seat and partner, in first, opens 1♠. Do the math.

Even I can't botch the auction on this one. Ending in 7NTXX, you are delighted to see this:

♠ AKQ865 ♥ J ♦ Q743 ♣ 52

♠ J72 ♥ AKQ ♦ AK ♣ AKJT7

Wow.

We sank our Battleship!

Just posted this hand in the BBO Forums... I was East:

♠ AQT93 ♥ ♦ A7 ♣ KT8763

♠ J8754 ♥ AQ87 ♦ 98 ♣ AJ

West	North	East	South
1♠	p	2NT*	p
3♠	p	4♣	p
4♦	p	4♥	p
4NT	p	5♥	p
5♠	p	p	p

Over there, I'm asking three main questions:

• Should I have pushed to 6♠ over pard's signoff?
• Was cuebidding ♥s a good call? I could've taken the RKC call instead.
• Should I have just blasted to slam at some point, knowing that we had a big fit and a couple strong hands.

What I didn't do, but will do here, is point out that partner was an idiot anyway. We play 2NT as 'Jacoby-esque' - essentially a GF major raise that promises only 3 card trump support. The clearly defining characteristic of his hand is the ♥ void, so a 3♥ bid would've been helpful. Oh well.

Anyway, back to my issue. How would you bid the East hand?

The Flu is bad for bridge....

Sorry for the lack of content here or at the other blog this past week. Shortly after my last post, I came down with the pan-asian chicken flu. I've been mostly out of commission since last Thursday, and only returned to the land of the living today.

In addition to robbing me of all health and vitality, "the Froo" appears to also have taken away any declarer play skills that I had. I've played a couple hands online and versus BridgeBaron and I'm playing like absolute TRASH.

With any luck, I'm on the mend in both departments. Anyway, more content later.

Bridge-news.blogspot.com

Well, I finally pulled the trigger on something I've been thinking of for a while.

Read all about it here. Hope it flies (rather than dies).

Cuebiditis

Another thing to add to the list of things to address... I've developed a predilection for various cuebids. The trick is that I occasionally space, I think, on what those bids actually mean. Take the following debacle I caused, for example:

♠ KJT8 ♥ AKQ75 ♦ J ♣ 76

West	North	East	South
	1♥	2♦	2♠
p	?

What do you bid back over partner's 2♠? You know you probably want to be in 4♠ at least. I thought "Ah! I'll be artistic and cuebid!". So, I bid an "elegant" 3♦. My plan was one of two things. Either:

1. Pard will see this as agreeing spades and cuebid with a great hand. Or...
2. Pard will see this as a generic GF cuebid, limit their hand, and then I can bid game.

So, imagine my joy when partner answered back with a jump to 4♣! I was thrilled thinking we'd agreed spades and were now cuebidding controls. This was reinforced in my head since we had bypassed the 3-level altogether and a possible, logical stopping spot of 3NT.

So, I decided to cuebid back my heart control. The auction so far:

West	North	East	South
	1♥	2♦	2♠
p	3♦	p	4♣
p	4♥

And that's where it stayed... Passed out at 4♥. So, I waited (very) anxiously for dummy to come down. Sitting north, I saw:

♠ KJT43 ♥ AKQ75 ♦ J ♣ 76

♠ Q952 ♥ 94 ♦ K9 ♣ QJ853

4♠ and 4♥ both rate to go down (lose 2 ♣s, 1 ♦, and 1 ♠), though I'd still rather be in 4♠ than 4♥.

As it is the defense led/won the ♣AK, but erred by leading a 3rd round. West ruffed with the ♥2, which I overruffed. West had 4 ♥s to start with, so I was now able to pull trumps, lose the ♠A, and the rest came home.

So, the next chapter to finish in the bidding guide is on competitive cuebids.

Bridge Birthday

A riotously personal note here for family and close friends who peep this blog.

Yes, my birthday is coming up. Yes, bridge is my obsession. And, yes, I have gift ideas for the uninitiated:

1. I'd really like a subscription to The Bridge World magazine.
2. I'd also like to get some back issues of BW starting with 2007. Binders and issues can be found here.
   
3. There are tons of books on my Amazon wishlist.

So, if you are inclined to spend money (which you know I wish you weren't) there are some ways to spend it.

Monday, Monday

No blog post of any substance today. Wound up being up most of last night sick, so I'm hardly in the mood.

Before being sick, however, I played a solid set of hands on BBO and might post one or two later this week. I feel weird doing that, knowing that what I found puzzling at the table usually is born out of ignorance rather than a real judgment call.

Anyway, talk to you all more later.

Brain = extra crispy

So, as I've noted before, I'm spending some of my free time trying to pull together a bidding 'study guide' for myself (and any future pard) based on BWS with added gadgets. I've jokingly called it 'KFC Standard', which sounds more pleasingly more like fast-food chicken heaven than anything related to bridge.

Thankfully, I'm getting close to being done. I've put a fair amount of work in and I'm starting to burn out. A couple things have crossed my mind during this exercise:

1. I still have a massive weakness in competitive/defensive auctions. On the plus side, I know this and can at least work to address it.
2. Beyond the written law of BWS, it's just amazing the variations in bidding style that are out there. 4-card majors versus 5, natural versus completely artificial, etc.
   
3. With all that variation, it becomes clear that a well-constructed, standard system will serve you awful well... Assuming you know it inside and out.

I'm just still amazed, I guess, by the emphasis that's placed on bidding. While it's obviously important to reach the right contracts, you aren't going to get very far bidding thin games and slams without the cardplay skills to pull them off.

I'm not saying I have the cardplay skills either... I just think I'd take that over ultra-scientific bidding prowess anyday.

Well, I thought I said...

Playing on BBO the other night under one of my alter egos. I pick up the following sitting south:

♠ AJT3 ♥ ♦ KQ8432 ♣ KJ9

West	North	East	South
	1♣	p	1♦
1♥	2♣	p	?

What do you bid? You've played 10-12 boards with this pick-up, 'expert' pard and thus far they've really seemed to know their stuff.

Well, I decided to try what I thought was a splinter in ♥s since I figured we had at least game in ♣s, if not more.

West	North	East	South
	1♣	p	1♦
1♥	2♣	p	3♥*
p	4♥	p	5♣
p	p	p

Partner stewed and stewed over their bid, finally calling 4♥. So what is P's 4♥ bid? If it's a cue, then what to bid next? I chickened out, scared that I hadn't splintered as intended, so I bid 5♣ to end the discussion.

♠ K ♥ JT72 ♦ AJ ♣ AQ7652

♠ AJT3 ♥ ♦ KQ8432 ♣ KJ9

As it is, we missed a cold slam. Pard was irate, stating that my 3♥ bid should either be a limit raise in ♣s or a natural bid. I'm not sure I see it that way. I figure 2♥ would be some sort of limit-y raise, but 3♥ would seem to show fit and some degree of shortness.

On the low heart lead from E, 5♣+2 was good for a whopping -2IMPS since the majority of the field was in 6♣. Truth is that I could care less about the botch and overtricks. I just want to know that I bid right.

So, how would you bid the S hand?

Benito's rules

1. You must have a good reason not to lead trumps
2. If you don't lead a stiff, you don't have one.
3. Every card on defense should mean something.
4. These rules have exceptions, learn them.

Robert J. Fischer (1943-2008)

Work, work, work...

Well, work and real life have been pressing in on bridge. This is a good thing, since I need to keep my priorities in line. However, I still want to be able to improve and time is the needed commodity.

I am continuing to see improvements in my ability to plan a hand. I study dummy much more thoughtfully (as declarer and on defense) than I have. I'm still not thinking as intentionally as I should, but I'll take the baby steps for what they are.

I've been enjoying getting to kibitz people still, since I can log hands while I'm working on other things and study them later.

What benefit from reading?

The reader (as in singular), Warren, asked if I was finding all the reading I was doing helpful?

I have to admit that the reading has been exceptionally helpful to me. I am seeing consistent improvements in my game each time I play. Note that I said consistent, rather than drastic or massive. So, why has reading been helpful to me?

• I've always been a good 'book study'. I read well, and retain facts/concepts that I read pretty readily. I know this is not true of everyone.
• Book selection has helped a lot. I've been fortunate to get books (thanks to BBO forum threads like this and especially this) that are appropriate for my level and solid on content.
• I read fast, but I read very carefully and re-read tough sections as many times as it takes.
  

To be completely honest, reading has been good to me but I am confident it is not optimal. A better approach would be consistent work 'over the table' with a mentor. I tend to like answers to 'why' questions, and unless the book furnishes that for me I'm out of luck. In addition, I think the immediacy of having someone watch/correct your play would be critical.

Unfortunately, that's just not an option for me right now. I wish I had more time available to be online playing, but that just ain't it.

What approaches have you found helpful as you learn the game?

It's a New Year, baby

Well, we're back from the holiday break. And when I say 'we', I really mean 'me' since I think there are very few others here.

Anyway, I plan to return to a regular posting schedule including trying to incorporate a bit more news from around the bridge world. Don't know if it will amount to anything, but....

As far as my personal game goes, there are more books on the way. I'm ordering the following titles off my amazon wishlist:

• Two Kelsey books, Killing Defense and More Killing Defense
• Meck's Win the Bermuda Bowl with Me

More on those when they get here. Happy New Year, and good bridge.

Sat with a World Champ...

Had the freaky opportunity to sit with a Senior Bowl winner and his mentee. The SB winner was in disguise, but I know his student and that scored me the seat.

I got my clock cleaned. Big time.

Without quibbling re: the auction that got us there, he's a hand my pick-up pard and I managed to massacre while at the table.

How would you play 3NT?

♠ 98752 ♥ Q52 ♦ Q86 ♣ 42

♠ KT3 ♥ A6 ♦ KJT ♣ AKT97

Blog lag, or "Blag"

Sorry for the lack of content here... The build up to the holiday season has been busy.

Add to that, I've been pretty bummed re: my game lately. I'm making a lot of 'brain dead' mistakes.

Back...

Back from a good, long vacation. Got plenty of time to sit and vegetate, which is exactly what I needed.

As far as bridge goes, I think my game is still improving. Don't get me wrong - no one called me to sub in at the Reisinger or anything... But I continue to see good, incremental gains in the things I'm working on. I need to start concentrating on memory so I can get better at spot recognition and counting down the hand.

Jan Martel started a forum on youth bridge over on the BBO Forums. Should be very interesting. For a while I've been considering poking into the JuniorBBO sessions, since I just barely qualify still. Seems like a good way to get some more experience.

Finally, someone else posted a rumor that Zia Mahmood is likely to replace Paul Soloway on the Nickell team. Hamman/Mahmood, Meckstroth/Rodwell, Nickell/Freeman sounds like a pretty good lineup to me...

Now, Soloway/Hamman used to be nicked 'Hamway'. Will the new partnership be 'MahMan' or 'HamMood'?

In the black...

Nothing particular to report, though I think I'm definitely seeing improvement. My scores are improving, and I think that I'm starting to be able to analyze play/defense deeper. It's nice to see progress. Makes you feel like there is actually hope.

Judgement in competitive auctions is still an issue.... and I'm not quite sure what to do to address that. Anyone got a good recommendation for a competitive auction 'primer'?

We're taking off for vacation early next week. While we're away, I'll be continuing the interface with Kantar, Lawrence, and Watson.

The wheels of progress...

Thankfully, I think some elements of my bridge game are starting to improve. I'm slowing down and making fewer thoughtless errors. I'm not sure I'm making that many fewer errors overall, but at least everything has a rationale behind it. If I know why I did something, at least I have a shot at fixing it.

I'm definitely seeing an improvement in my dummy play and defense. I attribute both of these to the (still limited) reading I've managed to get in with Watson and Kantar. I still need to develop muscles for counting down shape and specific spots left out.

Here's a hand from BBO that I think I did ok on. I'm fairly confident that I didn't have to overcome best defense, but I'll take what I get. I'd be interested in the opinions of anyone out there re: my play and things I might've missed...

♠ T985 ♥ AT9 ♦ Q6 ♣ QT86

♠ K73 ♥ J853 ♦ AJ95 ♣ AK

You're south and delcarer in 3NT. West leads the ♠2.

I played small from dummy and East inserted the ♠J, which I took with the ♠K. If ♣s split favorably, I figured that I had 7 additional trick (1♥, 4♣s, and 2♦s). Hearts could be a problem, but I had good spots and wasn't too concerned.

If the opps lead ♦s, I can probably gain a trick there. But, given that I started with 7 'well spotted' ♠s, I figured my best chance for the sure was to establish that suit.

So, I led low from hand towards the ♠T89 in dummy, which west took with the ♠Q. Helpful chap that he was, west switched to a ♦ which I won in hand by covering east's T with the J. I pushed another ♠ toward dummy, again won by West with the ♠A. West returned a ♣ this time, which I won in hand.

Playing W for the missing ♥ honors, I led a low ♥ toward dummy and finessed the 9. Cross with a club, repeat the ♥ finesse (5, Q, A, 2). Now dummy yields 2 clubs and a spade, on which I can pitch ♥ and a diamond, and the ♦ A was the last trick.

Dealer S Vul All Scoring - Lead ♠2	♠ T985 ♥ AT9 ♦ Q6 ♣ QT86
♠ AQ42 ♥ KQ7 ♦ K72 ♣ J75		♠ J6 ♥ 642 ♦ T843 ♣ 9432
	♠ K73 ♥ J853 ♦ AJ95 ♣ AK

No longer "Yuck"

Bridge is a funny game.

It was only two days ago that I was lamenting the worst set of my life... Now, I'm basking in the morning after glow of the best set of my life. What makes it extra funny is that this set included my all-time worst score for a single board. Wasn't much I could do about it, though:

♠ 5 ♥ Q87654 ♦ 96532 ♣ 8

Pard opens, sitting East:

West	North	East	South
		1♠	1NT
p	3NT	4♠	p
p	X	p	p
p

I love to bid as much as the next guy, but even I pass two point hands vulnerable. I was mortified when pard rebid spades at the 4-level, and completely unsurprised when the red card came out of north.

	♠ A9 ♥ K92 ♦ AQ84 ♣ T763
♠ 5 ♥ Q87654 ♦ 96532 ♣ 8		♠ KJT7432 ♥ 3 ♦ KJ ♣ Q54
	♠ Q86 ♥ AJT ♦ T7 ♣ AKJ92

When the dust cleared, we were down 5 for -1400 (about 18IMPS on the board). However, even with that we were +20 for the session, so no complaints.