Diary of a Bridge Pro #12

​ Springfield, Illinois - March 29 

  The weather is turning warmer here on the Central Plain - we’re coming out of winter and this morning the temperature was above freezing, in the 40's, when I scurried across the street to the house where the 12 step meetings are held at 7 each morning.

  Today I didn’t attend the meeting, I just sat outside by the window and tapped into the uplift - I was conscious of the power of two or three dozen people just a few feet away, engaged in group prayer. 

  Here’s a hand from the one day I played in Louisville - that night I had my best dinner of the week, we made a foursome with the Feigenbaums and Margie’s Swiss-American client. Super-classy restaurant, très chic - this song appeared in the background earlier - “The In Crowd”:

  Board 3 was our third board. Vul against not, I picked up a solid 11 count: xx, AQT, AJT9x, xxx - an 11 point hand, vulnerable, is classified as an "Optional Opening" - This eleven count has all the Adjustment Factors in its favor, so I deemed it an auto-opening - I begin the bidding with One Diamond.

  My LHO had AKT8xx, xx, xx, Q109 - That looks like a book Two Spade bid to me. A few might bid One Spade, some others might bid three, but most will bid two, as my opponent did. Aaron Jones was on my right, playing pro opposite the Two Spade bidder.

  Partner Ellie had J9x, J9xx, KQ, AKxx - a 14 count with four hearts - we all agree, that’s an automatic negative double. AJ passed on my right and it was up to me again.

  I didn’t see any alternative to the obvious 3D bid - I rate 3H 4/10 and 2NT even lower.

  The bidding continued with a 3S cue-bid from partner - most opponents would double the cue-bid with Aaron’s hand, holding Queen-doubleton in partner’s cue-bid suit - many would double, but there’s a lot to be said in favor of passing - I continued with 4D - with a better hand, say the king of clubs instead of a low one, I would prefer 4H.

  Let’s dive deeper into the sequence: 1D - (2S) - Double - (Pass) - 3D - (P) - 3S - (P) - ?

  I’ll channel my inner Edgar Kaplan for some of the commentary to follow - also my inner Glubok, and my inner Roshi Wilsonovich.

  Roshi has been supplementing his income playing poker on the Budapest - Berlin - Prague circuit - he’s been applying some principles that he’s picked up at the poker table, let him talk about ranges as they pertain to this sequence:

  RW: We begin with the One Diamond Opening - the message conveyed by this opening is not that different today in 2024 than it was in the 1930’s when Pat Wilsonovich was born in Vilnius. If balanced, the vulnerable opener is expected to have a minimum of 12 points, possibly only eleven if the hand also contains the requisite (2 ½) Quick Tricks. Opener could have as few as 9 HCP with an extreme hand like KTx, void, AQT9xxx, xxx, or as much as 22 with a hand like K, AKJ, KQTxx, AQxx - as few as three diamonds with AKJx, ATxx, xxx, Jx or as many as 10 solid with a hand like Kx, void, AKQJTxxxxx, Q - 

  Let’s just stick with the opener’s range - His second call, the Three Diamond bid after partner’s negative double of Two Spades, tells us much more about his hand:

1. It indicates six diamonds (though often 3D must be bid with only five card length, as I did here)
2. It indicates a max of 14-15 HCP - with 16+ Opener would choose some other bid
3. It denies four hearts

  Okay, let’s jump over to responder’s side: Responder made a negative double of Two Spades - partners always take this action with sub-minimums - really they should wait for 9 HCP to feel obligated to act, but they often double with 7 or 8 - regardless, Opener is entitled to expect 9 HCP and four card heart length for this action.

  So after Opener’s 3 Diamond bid, responder applies a point count assessment - here is how you may want your partner to evaluate in this spot:

  9-10 HCP - try for a plus in 3 Diamonds - Pass
  11-16 HCP, with a spade stopper: Bid 3NT and try for game there
 11-13/14 HCP, no spade stopper: Cue-bid 3S - The three diamond bidder will always bid 3NT with a stopper. If he doesn’t bid 3 No Trump, but simply retreats to 4D, then pass and hope he makes exactly ten tricks.

  15+HCP, no spade stopper: Cue-bid 3S - if partner goes back to 4D, put him in 5 15 points is too much to play below game, even with an extreme hand like Jxx, AKQJ, x, KJxxx (if you elected to pass 4D with this 15 Count I would be impressed, but think you took the right action)

  *****

  BG: Roshi took the long way ‘round to explaining why I didn’t bid 4H. My thinking on the matter is so ingrained that I didn’t need to conduct it again when partner bid 3S - I reasoned: Trying to make game in a 4-3 fit on these hands is usually too hard, like pushing water uphill. Partner’s most likely hand is 11-13/14 with no spade stopper - we’ll be off two spades plus - if he has something like Jxx, Kxxx, Kx, AJ9x then 4D will be plenty high enough - I like to refer to bids like 4H as “Skating off into minus”.

  DW: What Brian is trying to say is that Responder is looking for the no trump game and may not have enough to go past 4D if there’s no spade stopper.

  BG: Yes: It’s important to note this, by the way: With x, AQx, AJTxxx, Jxx, Opener would bid the same way as I did with my 5-3-3-2 - but based on the singleton spade, Opener would be obligated to jump to 5D (or possibly bid 4H on the way).

  DW: So I think that’s why Brian said that he would bid 4H with this pattern with a better hand - xx, AQx, AJTxx, QJx, for instance - 

 BG: Yes, that’s the point. I treat Ellie’s 3S bid this way:

1. Bid 3 No Trump if you have a stopper 
2. If you don’t have a stopper, go back to 4D with a minimum

    2.B  Bid 5 Diamonds with substantial extra values above those shown by your One Diamond Opening, or any hand with a singleton spade

  *****

   Naturally Ellie and I didn’t address this situation in our hurried conversation about bidding methods. Regardless, in Louisville, when the deal was played at the table, EF followed the parameters I laid out here. Holding Jxx, J9xx, KQ, AKxx, he passed me in 4 Diamonds. I was able to finesse against the king of hearts but still had to lose a third trick, along with the two spade losers off the top. Even with the ten and nine of hearts, 5 Diamonds is way against the odds - maybe a 30% contract. 

  *****

  I often mourn the loss of a universal popular culture - so I can’t expect our readership to be familiar with Pete Rose, though most will be: Pete Rose was a hard - charging baseball player, a star for the Cincinnati Reds in the 1970’s - Rose played with tremendous intensity, he is the all-time MLB leader in base hits, but that tremendous intensity was his signature. “Charlie Hustle” was his nickname.

  Here’s ten minutes of Pete Rose highlights, compiled by Dominick Clafin:

   Rose was known for being able to calculate his new batting average to at least one decimal point on his way down to first base - not only was he fast on the base paths, but apparently he was good at math too - just like Aaron Jones on this deal.

  Ellis and Aaron know each other for eons from the Southern California bridge scene, Ellis was already a club owner there when Aaron came on the scene ten or fifteen years ago. We finished the companion board and completed the round with a few minutes on the clock. I stood, Aaron did too.  Like Pete Rose on the way to first base, I had already worked out most of what I needed to know about the hand - so had Aaron:

1. 3 No Trump might make, but probably wouldn’t - we’re off the first six spade tricks
2. 5 Diamonds can’t make, the heart king is protected by four card length and the club-heart squeeze doesn’t operate
3. Four Hearts would make, because even on the double-dummy lead of a low spade, you can drive out the king of hearts and then RHO won’t have a spade to play - just be careful to cross to dummy in clubs, not diamonds.

  “Story of my life,” I’m thinking to myself, half an hour into my nightmare session with Ellie - “Stay out of a poor game but the cards lie perfect so it makes….”

    “Yeah, bad luck for you,” Aaron comments to me as we walk to the water stand - “Four Hearts has to make, dummy’s got the nine of hearts and then I’m out of spades when I get in….you gotta be careful to cross in clubs or they can play a second round of diamonds to cut you off from your hand,” he said, evincing plenty of empathy - kind of a reverse schadenfreude, almost embarrassed for his own good fortune.

  “Yeah, I was happy that Ellie passed below game when I saw the dummy, I thought that Four Diamonds was the limit of the hand, but you’re right, there’s no going down in Four Hearts.”

  “‘Ellie?’” Aaron echoed. “You call Ellis ‘Ellie’? I never heard him called that before.”

  “Really?” I replied. “I never call him anything else!”