September 2024 - 64

Advanced Players
My Bridge and Yours
I
n a sectional knockout, my team
has managed to reach the final,
where we face stern opposition.
But my opponents are old friends and
former partners and teammates, so
it should be a pleasant, hard-fought
match. Halfway through the opening
set, with no clear advantage to either
side at my table so far, I pick up:
sA Q 7 6 hK Q 5 dQ 4 cQ J 7 3.
Neither side is vulnerable, and my
partner, the dealer, opens 2d, weak.
Nowadays, when the focus in bidding
has become obstructing the opponents,
it seems that some players
treat being not vulnerable as a license
to indulge in all sorts of outlandish
actions - undisciplined preempts
and all the rest. My feeling is that the
vulnerability, whatever it may be, is
no reason to stop playing bridge. It's
a partnership game, and your partner
has a right to know what you have
when you bid.
Because I expect my partner to
have something resembling a textbook
weak two-bid, especially in first
seat, I jump to 3NT, and all pass.
West leads the h10.
Dlr: North s 4 3
Vul: None h 6 3 2
d A J 10 9 7 6
c A 2
s A Q 7 6
h K Q 5
d Q 4
c Q J 7 3
BY FRANK STEWART
frs1016@centurylink.net
West North East
2d
Pass
South
3NT
All Pass
East takes the hA, which I note
approvingly. I mentally will East
to return a heart, which will make
things easy, but after a modest pause
for thought, he comes forth with ...
the cK.
" I knew I wouldn't get an easy ride
from you, " I tell my friend.
The " Merrimac Coup " is a defender's
sacrifice of a high card to
dislodge an entry. (Named for the
U.S. collier Merrimac, which was deliberately
scuttled in Santiago's harbor
channel to strand Spanish warships
during the Spanish-American
War. Not to be confused with the
Confederate ironclad Merrimack.) My
opponent has Merrimac-ed me, killing
the entry to dummy's diamonds.
I take the cA, come to the hK -
East putting up the jack, West follows
low - and let the dQ ride. It wins.
Well, I'm reluctant to put all my
eggs in one leaky basket by repeating
the diamond finesse, and East's
defense suggests that he has the dK.
So, I lead to the dA - no king appears
- and come back to the hQ.
East-West follow low. Then I take the
cQ J and exit with a club.
West wins with the 10 and cashes
his h9, but then he must lead a spade
into my A-Q, and I win two spades,
two hearts, two diamonds and three
clubs for +400.
s K J 9
h 10 9 8 7
d 8 5
c 10 8 6 5
s A Q 9 7
h K Q 5
d Q 4
c Q J 7 3
My line of play wasn't guaranteed;
if East had four clubs and West had
the sK, the contract might have been
unmakeable.
At the other table, North-South
were playing Flannery, and North
couldn't open 2d. (I used to know
a pair who employed Flannery, and
they referred to it as " Instant Zero "
- meaning for them, not their opponents.
Nevertheless, they kept it
on their convention card. Of course,
Flannery is a playable gadget, used by
many expert partnerships.)
North didn't want to pass and
wasn't willing to open 1d, so he borrowed
a diamond from the vulnerability
and opened a lusty 3d. That put
South in the unknown. After some
thought he passed, which could have
been right if North had held what he
was supposed to, such as:
sx hx x x dK J 10 9 x x x cx x.
As it was, North emerged with an
overtrick for +130, but we gained
7 IMPs. 2
" Good defense, " I tell East. The full
deal:
s 4 3
h 6 3 2
d A J 10 9 7 6
c A 2
s 10 8 5 2
h A J 4
d K 3 2
c K 9 4
64 | Bridge Bulletin | September 2024
September 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of September 2024
