Bidding

Well Well Well

Dec 222002

N/S Vul
IMPs
Dealer: West
Lead: J

	Maestro A 10 5 3 A K Q J 9 8 K A 9
dellache K 8 7 4 7 Q 10 7 4 3 2 8 6		as J 6 6 5 4 3 9 5 K J 5 4 3
	delmas Q 9 2 10 2 A J 8 6 Q 10 7 2

West
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass

North
2

East
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass

South
3

3NT
5

Pass

Some days we concentrate on Gee’s card play, others on his bidding, still others on his incomparable post mortems. Then there are those special days, when we hit the trifecta.

Gee opens 2C in second seat, and his partner puts the auction in high gear with a 3D bid on a balanced nine points and a four card suit. The STCP™ would consider 2NT, which is one reason he’s just watching the action.

Gee bids 3H, his partner 3NT. After the first positive response Gee isn’t taking no for an answer, and he launches into 4C. This, as all experience Gee-specs know, is Gerber: Gee plays Gerber directly over all notrump bids. (All notrump bids, you ask? All notrump bids.)

South, a novice in the Tao, takes 4C as clubs and raises to 5. Now our hero has a problem. Faced with an impossible response, he takes the logical course of bidding an impossible slam. Seven hearts.

There are two cards in East’s hand that give declarer a chance to make, and he leads one of them, the spade jack. (The other is the club king.) Gee plays the queen from dummy, and West can still beat the hand by ducking. Covering, however, is the normal and correct play with the spade ten hidden, and cover he does.

Declarer now has twelve tricks in the bag and great squeeze chances for the last one. Normally he would have to guess whether to play West, who obviously holds the long spades, for the club king or the diamond queen, but on the actual layout it’s easy. Declarer cashes the diamond king, plays two rounds of trump coming to dummy with the H10, cashes the diamond ace, sluffing the club loser, and ruffs a diamond. East shows out on the third diamond and it’s all over. Declarer draws trump, cashes the club ace and runs the rest of the trump, coming to this:

	Maestro 10 5 3 9 — —
dellache 8 7 4 — Q —		as 6 — — K J 5
	delmas 9 2 — J Q

On the last trump declarer tosses the club queen from dummy and West, needing four cards to guard against the spade and diamond threats, must throw in the towel.

Gee’s actual line is identical until trick 6. But instead of ruffing a diamond, he crosses back to his hand with the club ace, draws the rest of the trump, and plays two rounds of spades ending in dummy to kill his last entry. East of course shows out and Gee is left with a spade loser for down 1.

National politicians could learn from the way Gee handles a post mortem. He is asked why he bid 7H.

“I had a feeling that we needed a slam swing to win the match,” he replies. (This was the last hand of a team game. The score was hidden. Note his judicious choice of the word “feeling.”)

He is asked why he didn’t ruff a diamond and run his trumps. Gee disarmingly agrees that he should have ruffed a diamond, in the manner of an arsonist confessing to jaywalking. “But it doesn’t matter if I do,” he continues. “There is no squeeze.”

He is asked why he didn’t run his trumps even without ruffing a diamond, guessing whether to play West for the club king or the diamond queen. “I knew West held the diamond queen,” says Gee.

Just My Imagination

Dec 202002

Let’s play a little WWGD. You are in the maestro’s chair, holding

6 A K 9 7 A Q J 7 2 K 4 3

You open 1D, lefty passes, partner bids a weak jump shift of 2S, passed back to you. What Would Gee Do? Have at it before you continue reading below.

None Vul
IMPs
Dealer: South
Lead: A

	huon 9 7 5 4 3 2 4 K 6 4 9 8 7
ruefulr A 10 Q 8 6 3 2 9 8 3 J 6 5		emil K Q J 8 J 10 5 10 4 A Q 10 2
	Maestro 6 A K 9 7 A Q J 7 2 K 4 3

West

Pass
Pass
Pass

North

2
Pass
Pass

East

Pass
Dbl

South
1

Pass

If you passed you need to enter into the spirit of the thing. Gee did not pass.

Three hearts is certainly possible: if you’re not going to show hearts now, then when? But 3H risks catching partner with something like 10xxxxx Qxx x Q10x, on which three, or even four hearts has a real chance of success.

3NT? Likely to be a disaster, but again, not necessarily. Same hand as above but with 10x Qx in the minors, and you have a shot of getting home with highly favorable breaks and an extremely generous club lead.

An invitational raise to 3S? No, there is only one bid available to assure disaster: the jump to the spade game. The beauty of 4S is that, on the best possible hand for North, let’s say QJ109xx xx xxx xx, it almost has to go down. Even on that hand, even if we assume spades are breaking 3-3 and both minor suit finesses are on, although you might survive in 3S in 4S the entry problems are insuperable.

North, alas, neglects to hold the best possible hand. A technical note: a double of 4S, holding KQJ8 of trump and the club ace, is not Bones.

Questions for Discussion
1. What would Gerard bid on this hand if his spades and hearts were reversed?
2. Suppose you had bid 4S and your partner asked you why. What is the best reply?
3. Over 2S on this auction, is 4C natural, a splinter, Gerber, or checkback Stayman?

Expert Judgment

Dec 072002

To get the most out of today’s column, don’t look at the bidding until you’ve finished reading.

E/W Vul
IMPs
Dealer: West
Lead: 2

	jdonn Q J 10 9 2 K 6 5 2 J 8 7 6
eliran 7 4 3 A J 4 3 10 8 4 10 5 3		drorp A K 8 6 Q 9 2 A 7 3 K Q 9
	Maestro 5 10 8 7 5 K Q J 9 6 A 4 2

West
Pass
Pass
3

Pass
Pass

North
2

Pass
Pass
Pass

East
Dbl
Dbl
3NT
Dbl

South
2NT
Pass
4

Pass

What becomes an expert? Expert judgment.

North, regular Gee-partner Josh Donn, opens 2S, showing weak-two strength, five spades and a four-card minor. East doubles with his moose. Lesser players, holding Gee’s hand, might consider a pass to await developments. 2SX is unlikely to be passed out, and even if it is you may be better off there than in 3C. Neither side appears to have a fit and you probably want to defend.

Our hero, however, asks the obvious question with 2NT, and, after West passes, receives the obvious answer with 3C. East doubles again, for what looks like penalty this time. 3CX is destined for -300 at least. But West rescues North/South by pulling to 3H. East bids 3NT, on the in-for-a-penny-in-for-a-pound principle, and matters are again up to our hero.

Well, let’s see, what hope has 3NT? Five major suit tricks at an absolute maximum, one diamond, a couple of clubs at the outside, that makes eight. Gee is on lead with a diamond suit that is at least even money to set up for four tricks and a certain outside entry. 3NT, in other words, has no hope even if Josh opened with QJxxx xx xx Qxxx. On the actual layout 3NT goes for 500.

Now let’s examine the prospects for 4C. Trying to take ten tricks in a Moysian with a minority of the points is usually a losing proposition. Our hero’s hand has only a trump entry, which means the diamonds are unlikely to set up. There is no secondary fit. The chances of making 4C, or even going down only one, are approximately zero.

Guessing Gee’s actual bid will be left as an exercise for the reader.

Let Gee Be Gee

Dec 012002

N/S Vul
IMPs
Dealer: South
Lead: K

	fer-lema K Q 7 6 5 A K Q 9 8 3 — A 8
macondo J 9 4 6 4 A K Q 10 5 7 5 4		wildcats 8 J 10 7 5 2 9 8 4 3 2 10 9
	Maestro A 10 3 2 — J 7 6 K Q J 6 3 2

West

1
Pass
Pass
Pass

North

2
6
7

East

5
Pass
Pass

South
1

Pass

Chronicles readers are surely familiar by now with the difficult question of WWGD (What Would Gee Do?). Today we investigate two related and equally abstruse matters, HWGP (How Would Gee Play?) and WWGSATH (What Would Gee Say After The Hand?).

Here the auction is interesting. North’s 2D bid normally shows, in 2/1, a limit club raise or better, but North has few other forcing bids at his disposal. Gee makes a fine 6C bid over East’s 5D sac, reasoning that his partner is likely void in diamonds and any spade values give them a decent play for slam.

North makes another excellent bid of 6D, describing his major suit moose and diamond void perfectly. Gee thinks it over and bids 6S, and North, uncertain whether this is a cue or a suit, signs off in the club grand, against which West leads the DK.

Now we pause and ask, How Would Gee Play? Trump break, spades are 3-1: is there any conceivable way to go down?

Of course there is. Gee ruffs the opening diamond low in dummy, cashes the CA, both defenders following, and plays top hearts. One round of hearts, discarding a diamond; two rounds of hearts, discarding a diamond; three rounds of hearts, ruffing with the trump 6, overruffed with the 7, down one.

What Would Gee Say After The Hand? “I can be really stupid sometimes,” says Gee. (I would like to report that no spec made the obvious rejoinder. Sadly, I am unable to do so.) “I was afraid of getting a spade ruffed,” he continues.

Let’s try something tougher:

E/W Vul
IMPs
Dealer: North
Lead: 4

	ynh Q 10 8 6 4 J 6 2 K J 9 6 4
Maestro A K 5 2 K 10 7 J 2 A K 10 5		wilcoxjj 7 A 8 5 A Q 7 5 4 3 Q 7 2
	mas J 9 3 Q 9 4 3 10 9 8 6 8 3

West

1
4NT
6NT

North
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass

East
1

Pass

South
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass

Gee and partner reach an excellent 6NT contract after a normal auction. Of course the hand is cold. It makes on any 3-2 diamond break, and declarer can protect against a stiff king (though no other 4-1 break), by playing the diamond ace first. On the actual layout the ace drops the stiff king, mas gets his diamond winner and then no mas for the defense.

The question is, how is it possible to go down not one, not two, but three tricks after a low club lead? Gee makes the first key play by winning trick 1 with the king instead of the 10, although in fairness this would ordinarily not matter because E/W need five diamond tricks to make anyway. He promptly forgoes the safety play by leading the DJ, discovering the bad news when North discards a spade on the second round of diamonds.

Now sure, he can still go down 1 by conceding two diamond tricks. Let’s let Gee be Gee instead. First he ducks a heart into North’s jack: one trick for the defense. North returns a club, on which Gee makes a second Magoo play by winning the queen in dummy, and leading a third round of clubs, inserting the ten when South shows out: two tricks for the defense. North shifts to hearts, as good as anything else. Gee wins the heart king, cashes the club ace and his remaining major suit winners, and concedes a diamond and a spade at the end for the defense’s third and fourth tricks.

What Would Gee Say After The Hand? “The distribution,” he would say, “was very unfriendly that time.”

Court-Martial

Nov 292002

N/S Vul
IMPs
Dealer: North
Lead: Q

	justinl A J 8 7 6 K 3 2 A Q 7 5 2 —
vcaracci 5 3 9 8 6 5 K 8 6 4 8 3 2		dkogut K 4 10 4 J 9 3 Q J 10 9 5 4
	Maestro Q 10 9 2 A Q J 7 10 A K 7 6

West

Pass
Pass
Pass

North
1

East
3

Pass
Pass

South
4

Pass

One would think that if any of Gee’s partners had mastered the intricacies of captain/crew theory by now, surely it would be Seaman Lall. And I would have agreed, until this hand the other day.

The Seaman, North, opens a spade in second seat; East makes a preemptive 3C overcall, and South, or hero, bids a fine 4C with his moose, showing spade support and slam interest.

The Seaman cooperates by cueing diamonds. Well now. Gee has a diamond stiff opposite his partner’s diamond ace. He has the two top club honors against probably a doubleton or a stiff. A grand is probably playable if the Seaman holds only the top trump honors and nearly cold (barring a possible club ruff) if he holds the heart king as well.

There are several ways to proceed. I would cue bid 5C to give my partner a chance to cue hearts, intending to bid a 5NT grand slam force over 5H and sign off in 6S otherwise. Bolder bidders might simply bid RKC or 5NT, if they are willing to play seven without knowing about the heart king.

Gee weighs the possibilities and makes the expert call of 6S, which the Seaman, flush with his extra heart king and the high spirits of youth, raises to seven. Whether this is sound judgment can be debated, but what is clear is that he has arrogated the captaincy to himself, and this will not be tolerated.

Spec #1: why blast like that?
Spec #2: deja vu
Spec #3: he’s fun anyway…
Spec #4: well this isn’t someone’s lucky day
G (to specs): crew took over captainship :(
Spec #5: g werent u afraid of missing grand?
G: nope
Gerard is no longer a spectator.
Spec #6: how prescient
Spec #5: well there u have it
Spec #7: gonna have a seaman spanking i believe
Spec #8: justin must walk plank
Spec #4: the crew took over the captainship well how about that?
Spec #3: you can’t get good crew these days…
G (back at the table): that was not warranted justin
justinl: would you say that if the KS on?
G: I bid 6S… I was captain
Spec #5: lol
G: same thing
Spec #8: and justin a lowly seaman
Spec #3: justin doesn’t know he is Tennile…
Spec #7: da captain has spoken
Spec #9: mutiny on the bounty?
G: not the result I am looking at… it’s the quality of bridge
justinl: so if i have the same hand with the SK i’m not allowed to bid 7, because you are the captain?
G: correct
G: i already made my evaluation of the situation
Spec #10: well jus zactly who is the capn?
Spec #2: cabin boy very insubordinate
Spec #8: cudnt go to phx without this final review of captain/crew
justinl: so if we have 100% grand i’m not allowed to bid it? how is that quality bridge?
Spec #10: cabin boy is going back in the brig whence he never should have emerged

The Gods Must Be Crazy

Nov 252002

None Vul
IMPs
Dealer: North
Lead: A

	kmb24 10 9 A J 8 5 A Q 9 K 10 7 3
cicatrix 7 5 3 2 Q 9 7 6 8 7 6 2 Q		Maestro Q 8 4 K 2 J 5 4 A J 9 6 5
	jdonn A K J 6 10 4 3 K 10 3 8 4 2

West

Pass
Pass

North
1

1NT
Pass

East
Pass
2

Pass

South
1

Dbl

Well, it’s another night on Planet Gee. Our hero, thanks, in part, to an unusually helpful partner, has dropped about 100 IMPs, and South, serial Gee partner and opponent Josh Donn, commiserates. “North/South are very inconsistent on weekends,” he says. Gee agrees ruefully as today’s hand comes up.

North’s 1D is a catch-all Precision bid, usually showing 11-15 points and 2+ diamonds. South’s 1S reply is natural, North’s 1NT rebid shows 14-16 balanced, and Gee’s 2C overcall is…well, I’m not quite sure how to describe it. Adventurous maybe. South, knowing the trump lie as favorably as possible for declarer, cracks a Bones double, which North is delighted to pass.

South leads the SA, gets a look at the dummy, and shifts to the D3. North wins the DA and shifts back to spades, Gee covering the 10 as South wins the king. South cashes the SJ and the DK and continues diamonds. North wins the queen, cashes the heart ace for the defense’s seventh trick, and exits with a heart. Gee unblocks the king under the ace, wins the second heart in dummy and leads the trump queen, which holds. He ruffs a heart in hand and both defenders follow, leaving this:

	kev — — — K 10 7
trix 7 6 8 —		Maestro — — — A J 9
	josh 6 — — 8 2

Since North’s 1NT rebid showed at least 14 points he is marked with the trump king. (Had Josh properly alerted his Bones double he would have provided another clue.) There is only one way not to make two tricks, and our hero finds it. He cashes the trump ace, then executes a Miami endplay, leading away from his J9 into North’s K10 to lose the last two tricks, for 800, with only the vulnerability standing between Gee and a two-logo hand.

Asked about the overcall, Gee replied, “Partner, since when we play correctly we get a minus, when they do they get a huge plus, I felt I had to do something outrageous and then maybe turn the cards around.” The bridge gods, perhaps partly appeased, take only another 20 IMPs from Gee before he retires for the evening.

Mini-D

Nov 212002

Both Vul
IMPs
Dealer: North
Lead: K

	petit_g K Q 4 2 4 J 8 4 2 K J 10 9
aric 6 K Q 10 8 6 2 Q 10 7 6 3 4		srul A 7 J 5 3 9 A Q 8 7 6 5 2
	Maestro J 10 9 8 5 3 A 9 7 A K 5 3

West

2
Pass
5
Pass

North
Pass
3

Pass
Pass

East
1

Dbl
Pass
Pass

South
1

Pass
Pass
Dbl

Today’s auction is perfectly normal, even unexceptionable, until srul’s 4H bid. (Some might double 1S with aric’s hand.) Our hero, having heard a limit spade raise from his partner, holds six trump, Axx in the opponents’ probable nine-card fit, first and second round diamond control, and a stiff in the opponents’ second suit. I would worry about missing slam. Gee passes.

Mini-Gee comes to the rescue with a not-really-warranted four spade call, which East doubles, speculatively, holding two defensive tricks. West properly pulls to 5H with his useless hand defensively, and back we come to our hero. It’s hard to imagine 5S not making if Mini-Gee has his 4S bid, and in fact it makes even though he doesn’t have it. (Declarer must play East for both club honors, which works.) But I guess if you pass four hearts you double five.

Mini gets off to the fine lead of the SK, killing an entry. A trump seems natural on the auction but two rounds of trump almost force declarer to make. He wins the second round in hand, finesses a club, ruffs a club, and has just enough entries to set up the clubs and cash them, making 5. On a trump lead Gee must duck to hold declarer to ten tricks.

But with the spade lead the contract looks hopeless. Declarer does the best he can, playing CA and a small club, hoping to find either defender with Kx, which is enough to make if trump break or the ace drops. Gee shows out on the second club lead: that’s the bad news. The good news is that he ruffs the second club lead, shortening himself to two trump.

Declarer overruffs and leads a diamond, ducked, correctly, by Mini, and won by Gee with the king. He now knows declarer’s hand is either 1-7-4-1 or 1-6-5-1. (Mini must have four spades on the bidding.) Therefore two rounds of trump are 100% certain to stick declarer with at least a second diamond loser and beat the hand.

Dear reader, you must know by now that Gee continues spades. Declarer ruffs the spade, then ruffs a diamond, a club, another diamond and another club. Diamonds break, so a trump off the board finishes the hand; thanks to the early, pointless ruff, Gee has but two trump remaining, to declarer’s three, and he can win the trump ace at his leisure.

“On that sort of auction, Efes,” says Gee, “it’s usually not a good idea to lead our suit.”

The Best Line

Nov 152002

Both Vul
IMPs
Dealer: West
Lead: A

	Maestro Q J 9 7 6 — A K 5 A K Q 10 2
dond 3 10 9 8 7 5 9 3 J 9 8 7 5		otherguy K 5 4 2 A 3 J 10 8 6 6 4 3
	re34 A 10 8 K Q J 6 4 2 Q 7 4 2 —

West
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass

North
1

4NT
7

Pass

East
Pass
Pass
Pass
Dbl

South
2

Pass

I often hear complaints that I never show Gerard in a favorable light. Of course most of those complaints are from Gerard himself, but fair enough. Today’s hand, on which Gee, as declarer, takes an unusual but optimal line, not once, but twice, should quiet the nay-sayers for a while.

The bidding, too, has points of interest. Gee opens his superb hand a normal 1S in second seat and hears a game-forcing 2H response from his partner. He rebids 3C and his partner jumps to 4S, showing three-card support. 5NT, the grand slam force, asking partner to bid a grand with two of the top three trump honors, is the forced choice for those of us with only standard bidding arsenals. Gee launches into RKC Voidwood, the Cohen treatment. Ordinary Voidwood has special bids for responder to show voids as well as keycards. Cohen Voidwood, on the other hand, is a method allowing the asker to show a void. (Note that the void is not guaranteed, and the suit is not specified.)

Partner replies 5C, showing one keycard, and Gee leaps to 7S, giving N/S a rare chance at a freely bid grand missing both of the top trumps. This is just as promptly doubled by East, who holds both of the missing key cards and has a certain trump trick assuming dummy has no more than three.

East leads the HA. Gee ruffs in hand and now needs only to bring the trump suit in to make. He leads the SQ. It holds. Gee infers that trump are breaking and the king is onside, and claims. Indisputably the optimal line, but no luck: East declines. Another trump to the 10 reveals the bad news. And now the key play: a high heart from dummy, discarding a small diamond from hand, killing his outside entry. A pedestrian player would still survive for down 1 by continuing hearts until East ruffed in. Gee takes a more elegant approach. First he cashes the trump ace, removing his last entry to dummy. Then he plays hearts. East ruffs in, and Gee claims down 1, again optimally. This second misclaim has a real chance to work — it’s certainly better than the alternative, hoping East returns a club — but East unfortunately notes that he can return a diamond, sticking Gee with a club loser at the end. Down 2, one off for each superb play. Life is so unfair sometimes.

The Blackboard Jungle

Nov 092002

Both Vul
IMPs
Dealer: East
Lead: K

	petit_g 10 A 9 4 2 Q 10 8 2 A 10 6 5
janiner 9 6 3 K 10 9 7 K Q J 7 4 3		justinl K 7 5 4 7 6 5 A K J 5 3 9
	Maestro A Q J 8 2 Q J 8 3 6 4 8 2

West

Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass

North

1NT
3
Pass
Pass

East
1

Pass
Pass
Dbl

South
1

Pass

Bridge teaching is difficult. Ordinarily keeping your student’s spirits up produces the best results, but sometimes, as in today’s hand, harsher measures are called for.

Proceedings begin innocuously, with a standard diamond opener by Seaman Lall, East, and a 1S overcall by Gee. Mini-Gee replies 1NT, passed back to our hero, who without hesitation bids 2H. Mini, under the impression that this shows a good hand, and holding four-card support and a maximum, naturally enough invites with 3H; Gee reevaluates his loser-rich, already immensely overbid hand and plunges fearlessly into game. A Bones double by the Seaman, holding two defensive tricks at most opposite a partner who has shown nothing, ends the auction.

West leads the club king and recriminations begin immediately.

Gerard: why 3H, efes?
G: just pass 2H
petit_g: god knows how many u got.. i limited my hand with 1 nt..why 4
petit_g: ????????????
G: yes you know
G: 1S then 2H …. can’t have much
petit_g: how do i know?? 3h is a free bid… and don’t have more than 10 for sure [He must mean 2H. —Ed.]
G: not true efes
petit_g: yes u cant have 17+
G: no, I can’t… I can’t even have 13
petit_g: why not??????????
petit_g: u r not a passed hand
G: what would I rebid with more than 12 points? [I give up. What? —Ed.]
petit_g: changing colour actually shows opening or more
G: no, efes… I am only the crew
petit_g: if u dont have much pass 3h, if i pass ur 2 h and we have a game i will be responsible
G: 1S then 2H is as weak as it comes
petit_g: yes if u r a passed hand
G: no, efes
petit_g: well ok then i am sorry i am not understanding
petit_g: i don’t understand this game

Gee bites his tongue and declares to his customary standard. He wins the club lead and plays S10. If he overtakes with the jack, playing the Seaman for the spade king, which he is a big favorite to hold, he goes down 1. He ruffs a spade and plays a low club. The defenders get their two diamonds and one trump but that’s all. Gee, however, makes the key play of the spade ace, leaving himself a spade loser in the endgame for down 2, -500, and a less than satisfactory result. Out comes the hickory switch:

G: proof is in the pudding… we just made 2
petit_g: u wanna be captain in all seats… its not fair… u r telling me my bidding and playing is wrong in front of all… when u r right, u r right but not this time sorry
G: oh no… dont start that with me, efes
petit_g: ok sorry…

Uh oh. Criticizing Gee’s bidding is one thing, but taking captaincy theory in vain will not be treated lightly.

G: what did I say 5 minutes ago?
justinl: come on guys, this is just a fun game, lets all relax a bit
G: that in this auction I was just the crew
petit_g: sorry and ty all
petit_g i cannot concentrate when u do this to me
G: I did not do anything to you
G: you are doing it to yourself
petit_g: i have not made any mistake at all… when I do i accept… but i am your pd… am i not?
G: you made an error, fine… just trying to tell you where
petit_g: no it is not an error… pls check… u cannot say it is… it was totally right
petit_g: and u criticize when i do.. but dont when i dont
G: you were right because you can’t see or refuse to see where you were wrong
G: I criticized you?
G: you told me I wanted to be captain in all hands
G: that’s criticizing you?
G: that’s you criticizing me
G: you bid wrong… and I told you you did
petit_g: my bid is very very very right 100 percent… if not i dont wanna play this game coz i know nothin
G: can’t you take that and try to understand?
G: no, efes
G: you can believe whatever you want… your 3H was wrong
G: now… are you gonna calm down?
petit_g: ok it was wrong.. this is how i play this game… pls accept
G: not if you play with me nor any really knowledgeable patner.. that means expert partner
G: do that to an expert and you are out the table [Ummm…”out the table”? —Ed.]
Spec #1: once you criticize your partner in front of everyone who not only has have one opponent you have three
G: I DID NOT DO THAT TO YOU, DID I?

Charity begins at home.

petit_g: i think u were distracted with the bidding…
G: you want to play with me, you play correct… not the Efes way
petit_g: i am sure u had a phone or something…
Gerard: again.. attacking me instead of accepting what I am telling you!!!!
petit_g: i am not attacking u.. u teach me all i know.. why should i?
Gerard: best way to defend yourself is beat me down to the ground… like aaron?

Wait a second. How’d I get involved in this?

G: you made a bad bid, efes
petit_g: pls calm down… sorry… i will leave…
G: I explained why
petit_g: just be ok and thats enuf
G: can’t you accept that without attacking me?
G: that’s ok… I’ll quit
G: efes.. your stubbornness will not help your game
G: oops he left

Oops. Still, discipline has been restored.

Two-Part Harmony

Oct 312002

E/W Vul
IMPs
Dealer: South
Lead: 5

	daffydoc 10 7 6 2 J 8 7 5 9 5 K 10 5
harmon J 4 A K Q 10 2 A J A Q 8 6		Maestro A Q 3 4 3 K Q 7 6 4 3 2 2
	balkam K 9 8 5 9 6 10 8 J 9 7 4 3

West

1
2
2
Pass

North

Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass

East

1NT
2
3NT

South
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass

Harmon and Gee weren’t always deadly enemies. As little as a year ago they were partners. Today’s hands may have played a part in the rupture.

Gee, East, hears his partner open one heart in second seat. In Harmon’s not unusual style this often shows some cards. Gee holds a five-loser hand, 11 hcp, and a decent seven-bagger. Certainly this calls for a forcing bid, perhaps, even, some forcing bid other than 1NT. Harmon temporizes with a 2C rebid; with 20 points and 7 controls I might venture 3C myself. (Opening 2NT, another possibility, also works well on this hand.)

Gee bids 2D, showing some extras, a hand like Kxx x KQ10xxx J10x. This bears only a small resemblance to his actual hand. 3D, assuming one is unwilling to bid 2D over 1H in the first place, seems warranted. Harmon replies a forcing 2S, asking for a spade stopper, one surmises. And Gee surmises the same, signing off in 3NT.

The loss is only 9 IMPs, since the diamond grand is only about 90% on a red suit lead. (100% on a spade lead, considerably less on a club).

Now let’s watch the two amigos on defense, in the same session.

None Vul
IMPs
Dealer: North
Lead: A

	daffydoc Q 7 6 3 A Q 5 3 K Q 8 2 6
harmon J 9 7 6 9 3 K Q J 7 5 3 2		Maestro A 9 8 5 4 K J 10 2 6 5 10 9
	balkam K 10 2 8 4 A J 10 7 4 A 8 4

West

4
Pass
Pass

North
1

4NT
6

East
Pass
5

Pass

South
2

Pass

Harmon and Gee do a fine job of jamming the auction here; 5CX is down only 2. South’s 2D is inverted, showing a strong hand with diamond support, and 5D shows two key cards in response to North’s 4NT inquiry. Daffy’s 6D is a bit of a flyer. Make South’s spade king a club and his club ace a spade and the slam has no chance at all. Even with Balkam’s actual, and excellent hand, it is a serious underdog, requiring four tricks in the majors.

There are extra chances, however, with Gee on lead. Either a club or a diamond beats the contract easily, provided he ducks in spades; but Gee takes his own advice and leads his ace. Harmon, of necessity, drops the jack, and Gee takes stock. With K10x in the dummy, under what circumstances would Harmon drop the jack? From Jxx, forfeiting a certain trick if partner has the 9? Nah. From Jx? No point. From QJ or QJx? He’d play the queen. From a stiff jack? Gee whiz, ya think?

Gee shifts to the deceptive ten of hearts, giving declarer his thirteenth trick. It proves not to be necessary.

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