“I really would like to know what you are saying in spec that someone just sent me more insults just now telling me I have no business playing with or against experts, teaching…..and saying that you are all making fun of me up there!!!!!!”
E/W Vul
IMPs
Dealer: North
Lead: 
A
lfisher J 10 5 10 9 4 K Q 6 K J 8 2 |
||
| fiko Q 9 7 A Q J 6 2 A 10 8 Q 4 |
![[W - E]](http://gee.aaronhaspel.com/files/2012/10/t.gif) |
seawind 8 4 2 K 7 J 7 5 2 A 9 7 6 |
| Maestro A K 6 3 8 5 3 9 4 3 10 5 3 |
| West
1 |
North Pass Pass Pass Pass |
East Pass 1NT 3NT |
South Pass Pass Pass |
West’s opening 1H is the root of all evil in today’s auction. A more usual 1NT would provoke either a pass or, conceivably, an invitational raise by East (I would pass the East hand over 1NT); and with best play by both sides declarer most likely makes eight tricks.
On the actual auction, however, East replies a forcing 1NT. West raises to 2NT, for his second bad bid of the auction (2D is better), East aggressively accepts the invitation, and here we are, in another apparently hopeless 3NT.
A low spade lead forces declarer to fly the SQ from dummy for eight tricks, let alone nine, but Gee, South, opens the SA, on which North plays the jack, indicating possession of the 10. (Of course the J could be stiff, but in this case East suppressed a five-card spade suit over 1H.)
A low spade continuation beats the contract straightaway, and so does a switch to either minor, although the play is a little cloudier. Gee thinks matters over and switches to a heart. Declarer wins in hand and leads a low club toward the queen, pretty much his only quasi-legitimate chance for nine tricks. North wins with the CK, and now makes his crucial contribution to the defense by returning the DK, the only way to let the game make.
Declarer wins, plays back the D10, which North ducks to no avail, and continues a third round of diamonds. +600. This provokes a lively post mortem:
G: aren’t we playing udca?
lfisher: yes, i am
Spec #1: what did udca have to do with anything?
G: play 10, then small and finally J
Spec #2: G thinks JS is udca :)
Spec #3: oh my god
G: ok?
Spec #1: that is sick
Spec #3: and the heart switch and the non spade return and the diamond switch and…
Spec #4: I thought the spade J showed the spade T even with UDCA
Spec #2: absolutely
Spec #1: well that is in normal udca
Spec #1: but in GUDCA everything is upside down to begin with
Spec #1: and backwards also
“They [the specs] don’t care if I do something right. They want to see the wrong things. That’s why they come, to justify why I am the laughing stock of okbridge, as one of them so gently qualified me…why did Marilyn Monroe commit suicide? …her and so many others?”
E/W Vul
IMPs
Dealer: South
Lead: 5
| maureen 6 4 A K Q A J 7 4 2 A K 10 |
||
| Icecarr A 3 10 7 6 Q 6 3 8 7 6 5 2 |
|
Maestro Q J 9 8 7 2 J 9 3 2 10 Q 9 |
| martial K 10 5 8 5 4 K 9 8 5 J 4 3 |
| West
Pass |
North
2NT |
East
3 |
South Pass Dbl |
The Bones Principle, as enumerated by its inventor, runs as follows: “When defending versus Gee, if he is to play the hand, wait until he stops bidding; then, no matter your hand or the auction, double for penalties. It will be the winning action in about 90% of the cases.” However, he also carefully notes that the Principle “is more aptly applied to those hands where, if you were to look at your hand and the auction, you would never double against an advanced declarer.”
With these discriminations in mind, let us consider South’s double of Gee’s 3S bid in today’s auction. (I know it’s my duty to consider the 3S bid itself — red vs. white, six-bagger to the QJ9, South passed making slam unlikely, and hey wait! isn’t that a four-card outside suit? — but I just don’t have the heart today. Sorry.) Is the double an application of the Bones Principle? Yes and no. On the one hand, South waited until Gee was finished bidding, assured himself that Gee would declare, and doubled. On the other hand, with South’s holding, opposite a 2NT opener, he is assured of a good-sized penalty even with Soloway declaring.
To be scrupulous, then, what we have is an application of what I would call Bones’ Lemma: If Gee has finished bidding and is to declare, and you expect to defeat the hand regardless, then double emphatically.
A casual inspection indicates three hearts, a diamond, two clubs and a trump for the defense, for 800. One line, and one line alone, yields Sticks and Wheels. Gee wins a second diamond after the defenders have cashed four red tricks, leads a low trump to the ace, and finesses the 9 on the way back, playing South, the doubler, for a stiff. 1100. It’s on purpose, I just know it is.
N/S Vul
IMPs
Dealer: West
Lead: 4
| justinl 8 7 3 Q 10 6 4 A K Q 8 7 K |
||
| curtisxx Q J 6 4 2 9 6 5 3 J 8 5 4 |
|
nui 10 9 5 A 7 3 2 4 2 A 9 6 2 |
| Maestro A K K J 8 5 J 10 9 Q 10 7 3 |
| West Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass |
North 1 3 5 6 7 |
East Pass Pass Pass Dbl Pass |
South 1 4NT 5NT 6 Pass |
The genuine expert knows the importance of table demeanor. Winning the hand must often take a back seat to winning the post mortem.
The diamond opener and 1H response are unexceptionable. Justin’s 3H rebid is arguable, but his other choice is an underbid of 2H and, being aggressive, he chooses the overbid.
Gee wants to go slamming opposite the jump raise. He could cue the spades, giving Justin a chance to show a club holding; or support diamonds belatedly; or just bid Key Card Blackwood, keeping his partner completely in the dark. He bids Key Card Blackwood.
Justin shows his ace, and Gee follows with 5NT, asking for specific kings and guaranteeing the rest of the key cards. Trouble is, he doesn’t have the rest of the keycards; N/S are a couple short. Justin shows his CK, as instructed, with East doubling for a club lead, and Gee signs off in 6H. Justin promptly bids the grand, which makes sense. His diamond suit is likely worth five tricks. And even if it’s only good for four, his stiff CK is now worth a trick. Add in a club ruff and you’re already at 12; the CQ, a fifth heart, the SK or a second club ruff will produce a 13th.
Whether East’s failure to double is from pity, shock, or inattention is not for me to say. As the dummy comes down the specs begin to stir:
Spec #1: what’s going on here!!!!!
Spec #2: we are trying for stix and wheels in a voluntarily bid grand!!! [Ed. — That’s old news.]
Spec #3 [wondering about Gee’s table note, “Online lessons available”]: on line lessons????
Gerard: chicken?
Spec #4: Can’t blame Justin when partner confirms all the Aces
Spec #5: 5nt says we have all the aces pd so kq of diamond + k of club a lot of tricks
Spec #6: 5nt was the bid that made it possible
justinl [to specs]: silly me… thought 5nt showed all the keycards
Spec #7: i understand justin
Spec #8: afraid gee will be very tired after this hand
justinl [to specs]: then i thought 5 d 4 h 2 cl 1 sp 1 cl ruff or a 5th heart or king of spades
Spec #3 [still wondering]: so online lessons would be all about correct bidding???
OK. You’ve miscounted key cards and put the partnership in a hopeless slam (whether small or large is of little consequence when you’re off two aces). An ordinary player might apologize or keep his counsel. Only the expert understands that this is the time for a blistering offensive in the post mortem:
Gerard: 3H?
justinl: G please do not criticize 3h after you bid 5nt
Spec #2: LOL
justinl: i showed 1 or 4 and you had 2
Spec #2: justin is getting testy
Gerard: how do I have 2?
justinl [to specs]: sorry specs… can’t do it if he’s going to criticize me
Gerard: I have 1 ace
Gerard: you showed 4
justinl: bye all thanks for game
Spec #7: lol
justinl has left the table.
nui: wow
Gerard: oh well
Spec #7: geez, first time i have seen justin get upset
Gee closes the table, remarking, “I am sick and tired of it all.” Maybe so. But I never get tired of this stuff.
None Vul
IMPs
Dealer: East
Lead: 8
| dlaul A K Q J 5 Q 9 6 4 8 7 2 2 |
||
| Dav 7 4 2 10 8 3 J 10 9 K 8 4 3 |
|
Hy 9 8 K J 5 2 5 3 Q 9 7 6 5 |
| Maestro 10 6 3 A 7 A K Q 6 4 A J 10 |
| West
Pass |
North
1 |
East Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass |
South 1 2NT 3NT 5 7 |
That is the happiest conversation where there is no competition, no vanity, but a calm quiet interchange of sentiments.
–Samuel Johnson
Ever been in one of those conversations where the other guy just won’t shut up?
Gee is South today. The auction gets off to a fine start, as Gee, with too good a hand for 1NT, opens 1D and rebids 2NT over North’s 1S reply. North replies 3H, showing either a highly distributional or very good hand with at least 5-4 in the majors. (If North were 4-4 he would bid the hearts first.)
Gee has several possible rebids. 3S would show 3-card spade support. 4D would show his powerful five-bagger. And then there is 3NT, his actual choice, which shows what 2NT showed, plus an ardent desire to play the hand.
4D, by North, completes the description of his hand: he is either 5-4-3-1 or 5-5-3-0 (conceivably 6-4-3-0), with power and slam interest. Gee cues the CA, and North signs off in 6S.
Gee, as he did over 3H, has two choices. He has promised North no more than two spades, perhaps even one, yet North is willing to play in 6S. If North has solid spades then there are 13 tricks in diamonds, provided they break 3-2 or North holds the DJ. 7D is the bold bid. On the other hand North may hold something like AKJ9xx Kxxx xxx void. In this case 6S is pretty cold but 7D depends on picking up the queen. Passing 6S is the conservative bid. Gee chooses the third alternative: 7S. Down 1.
The hand is followed by a calm quiet interchange of sentiments:
Spec #1: ambitious
Spec #2: insane bidding
G: that auction was geared towards grand slam for me
dlaul: pourquoi 6 Gerard :))
Spec #3: lol really
Spec #4: lol
Spec #3: well 1st time
Spec #2: yeah, right
Spec #4: spec are coming alive!
G: because you did not direct towards ace asking, but towards distribution
dlaul: last hand thx all merci
None Vul
IMPs
Dealer: East
Lead: A
| Maestro 10 8 5 2 10 8 4 3 2 J 4 5 2 |
||
| fifee Q 6 A 9 7 5 K 9 6 5 3 2 6 |
|
swizzle A K J 9 Q J A 10 K J 7 4 3 |
| curtisxx 7 4 3 K 6 Q 8 7 A Q 10 9 8 |
| West
1 |
North
3 |
East 1 Dbl |
South Pass Pass |
In a recent column Gee’s partner made a second-seat vulnerable overcall of 1H with 3S, holding KQxxxxx Qxxx x x. In the post mortem Gee remarked that it was “unexpected that my partner made a pre-emptive overcall with 7 and a 4-card suit.”
OK then. Today we take a closer look at 3-level overcalls. East opens 1C, South passes, West replies 1D. The ordinary player might pass, would pass, with the North hand. Gee calls 3H.
Now I know what you’re thinking. If the 3S overcall was wrong how can this one be right? Look more closely. The 3S overcall was made with seven to the KQ; Gee’s is with five to the 10. All the difference in the world. And sure, Gee has an outside four-bagger, but it’s only headed by the 10, and it’s in a suit the opponents haven’t bid. No comparison there.
Gee is also not vulnerable, giving him an extra margin of safety. And finally his 3H was in fourth, not second seat. His partner having passed makes it almost certain that the opponents have at least a game. And they do; 3NT makes 4 or 5.
The opponents, however, double instead of bidding their NT game. The play is lengthy and sanguinary. The defense leads the DA, cashes the SK and leads a second diamond, won by West with the K. West cashes the SQ and gives East a third-round diamond ruff. East cashes a third round of spades, West sluffing her stiff club, and gives West a club ruff, Gee playing CQ from dummy. Gee ruffs the fourth-round of diamonds in hand with the deuce (discarding his last club doesn’t help), and the HQ from East forces the HK from dummy. West still has two trump tricks coming, for down 5.
These expert bids work out every once in a while, I know they do. Don’t they?
Experts of the game know how to manage gracefully such the situation they create, most other players don’t.
–G. Cohen, Bridge Is A Conversation
Quiz time. With both sides vulnerable you hold QJ5 AQ762 853 K3 and hear a first-seat spade opener to your left, a pass from your partner, and a forcing 1NT on your right. Your bid?
Well, let’s think about this for a second. Lefty is more or less unlimited. Righty could have quite a good hand, including a heart stack, for his 1NT. Your hand could take as few as two tricks on offense. And yet you have enough defense so that, if your partner has anything at all, you have a respectable chance of defeating a game.
So you take all of this into account and pass, right? Wrong. Our hero steps in with a full-blooded 2H overcall. This is the full deal:
Both Vul
IMPs
Dealer: West
Lead: A
| xarman 6 4 2 4 9 7 6 4 A 10 9 6 2 |
||
| icerock K 10 8 7 3 K 9 8 3 A K 10 J |
|
pq2 A 9 J 10 5 Q J 2 Q 8 7 5 4 |
| Maestro Q J 5 A Q 7 6 2 8 5 3 K 3 |
| West 1 Dbl |
North Pass Pass |
East 1NT Pass |
South 2 Pass |
Even expert bids don’t always work. The defense cashes three rounds of diamonds and continues with three rounds of spades, East ruffing the third. Gee wins the club shift in dummy and loses the trump finesse to West’s HK. East ruffs the fourth round of spades with the HJ, which Gee overruffs with the HA. That’s two tricks for declarer if you’re following at home. But West is now endplayed: declarer’s H7 forces him to win the H9 and, holding 83 in trump, concede a third trick to Gee’s remaining 62 for down 5.
So sure, it’s 1400. But it’s a graceful 1400.
“Forget it…I ceased to be a bridge player.”
“Beat up a horse…he eventually stops to run.”