July 2024 - 66

Advanced Players
My Bridge and Yours
I
n a local club game, I have an
inexperienced partner whose
game shows promise. His biggest
problem is underbidding; he seems to
think some sort of stigma is attached
to going down. We are plodding along
when, halfway through the session, I
hold:
sQ 9 8 hQ 6 2 dA Q 10 c A J 5 3.
We are vulnerable, and my partner,
the dealer, opens 1s. We have the
auction to ourselves. I respond 2NT,
natural and forcing. Many partnerships
treat 2NT as a conventional
spade raise, but some theorists have
begun to think the old-fashioned descriptive
2NT is too valuable to give
up. My partner rebids 3h, and I try to
get across my maximum strength and
controls by jumping to 4s. Partner
passes without any pause for thought,
and West leads the c10.
My partner sees this:
s Q 9 8
h Q 6 2
d A Q 10
c A J 5 3
s A K J 10 5
h A K 5 4
d 5 3 2
c 6
West North East
Pass 2NT
Pass 4s
Pass
All Pass
He takes the cA, draws trumps in
three rounds and tries a diamond to
dummy's 10. East takes the jack and
South
1s
3h
s 6 3 2
h 9 8
d 9 7 6 4
c Q 10 9 8
BY FRANK STEWART
frs1016@centurylink.net
returns a club. Partner ruffs that and
takes a second diamond finesse with
the queen. East produces the king and
leads another club. Partner ruffs with
his last trump and tries the hearts.
When East turns up with J-10-7-3,
my partner loses a heart at the end.
Making four. The full deal:
Dlr: South s Q 9 8
Vul: N-S h Q 6 2
d A Q 10
c A J 5 3
s 7 4
h J 10 7 3
d K J 8
c K 7 4 2
s A K J 10 5
h A K 5 4
d 5 3 2
c 6
It seems my partner might have
tried for slam over 4s. He might have
cuebid 5c. I also questioned my own
bidding; with the useful major-suit
queens and both minor-suit aces, I
think I should have suggested slam by
cuebidding 4c over 3h.
My partner looked relieved to make
his contract, but our matchpoint
score was poor because almost every
declarer in 4s took at least 11 tricks
one way or another. I don't know that
we would have reached 6s, but in fact
my partner could win 12 tricks, and
+680 would have been a good result
for us. He can take the cA, ruff a club
and cash the A-Q of trumps. When
East-West follow, declarer ruffs
another club, leads a heart to dummy
and ruffs the last club.
South can afford to finesse with the
dQ next. When East wins and returns
a heart, South wins, goes to the dA
and draws the missing trump with
the queen at trick 11. On that trick,
East is squeezed; he can't keep the dJ
and two hearts. 2
2024 HONORARY
MEMBER OF THE
YEAR SELECTION
PROCESS
The ACBL Honorary Member
Committee is charged with the
annual selection of a member (or
pair of members) who is widely
known throughout the membership
and who has given freely of time
and ability, without thought of
reward and in the interest of the
League as a whole.
The committee invites members
in good standing to nominate one
person or pair for the committee's
consideration. The nominee(s) may
come from any district, as long as
they are not currently serving on
the ACBL Board of Directors.
To propose an Honorary Member
of the Year candidate, email
Shaneka Cunningham at shaneka.
cunningham@acbl.org by Oct. 15,
2024. Nominations should include
a short explanation (up to 500
words) as to why you believe the
candidate should be selected.
Please include your contact
information.
Visit acbl.org/honorarymembers
for a list of previous ACBL
Honorary Members of the Year.
66 | Bridge Bulletin | July 2024
http://www.acbl.org/honorarymembers
July 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of July 2024
