June 2013 - 41

Bridge Player's Survival Kit
Rosy outlook
Several students arrived early for
class one Thursday, so I grabbed a
deck and dealt out these cards:
Dlr: North  K 9 7 2
Vul: None  J 9
8653
 10 9 6
 Q 10 5
64
K63
A874
 Q 10 9 2
KJ7
A43
QJ72
AJ83
 Q 10 5 2
A4
K85
West
Pass

North
Pass
Pass

East
South
Pass
1
Pass (!)

I was South and had two students
kibitzing. Joan, on my right, gasped

➤ Upgrading Your Game
continued
of 1 always was and still is
forcing and is the bid responder
should start with.
❖	 Forgetting you're a passed hand.
❖	 Forgetting your partner is a passed
hand.
Do I think it's worth modifying your
agreements to accommodate 2/1?
It's not a wrenching change and the
result is a more flexible, finely tuned
approach. Go for it! Take a class, read
articles, buy one of the books out
there on 2/1!
r

at the final contract. "Oh, Leslie," she
sighed, "you are in such deep doodoo."
I grinned. "Really? How can you
tell? I'm not down yet."
"Well, obviously you're not in the
right contract," she continued. "I
wouldn't be as pleased as you seem
to be."
"Joan, if they can hurt me that badly
in 1, then I think I stole something
from them. I understand your pessimism, but I have learned to appreciate
these challenging situations. If I make
it, I can talk about it for weeks!" One
of my favorite quotes is from Henry
Ford: "If you think you can or can't,
you're right."
I won the diamond lead with the ace
and drove out the A by leading low
to dummy's 9. East cashed a diamond
and led another diamond, which I
ruffed. I led a heart to West's king, and
West cashed the A and led a club,
which I won with the king. I then led
low to dummy's K and back to my
ace. I cashed the Q (throwing a
spade from dummy) and led the good
10. West ruffed with her 4, but
dummy overruffed with the 10.
I took seven tricks: two spades, one
heart, one diamond and three clubs
(the K, a diamond ruff in my hand
and a heart ruff in dummy). A plus
score! The kibitzers were amazed and,
I hope, acquired new respect for positive thinking at the bridge table. And
here I am, weeks later, still talking
about making 1.
Many times, you will find yourself in
what seems to be a hopeless contract.

Leslie Shafer
slamhand@verizon.net

My advice: "Bloom where you're
planted." Try your best. Your opponents might even give you a little help.
Expert defense would hold South to
only six tricks (down one), but East-
West can make 2NT on this deal! Playing 1 was actually the best thing
that could have happened for my side.
A better auction for East-West might
have been as follows:
West
Pass (1)
Pass (3)

North
Pass
Pass
Pass

East
Pass
1NT (2)

South
1
Pass

(1) With no good suit to overcall, only
11 HCP and the wrong shape for a
takeout double, I like West's pass.
(2) Players in the pass-out seat should
consider reopening the bidding (also
called balancing). If the auction is
about to die at a low level, both sides
probably have about half the highcard points. A 1NT bid here should
show a club stopper(s), no long suit
and 12-15 HCP. East is only one point
shy for this bid.
(3)East passed originally, so West
knows that there is probably no game
(even with 11 points).
When I later told Studmuffin that I
had played 1 in a 3-3 fit, he smiled
and asked, "How did the auction go?"
r
June 2013 Bridge Bulletin

41
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of June 2013
