Diary of a Bridge Pro #18

Fairfield, NY, July 9

  The heat is scorching here in suburban NJ this July, but it's plenty cool indoors at the Fairfield Hilton DoubleTree, where the tournament is played. Jazzy Jill was in the lobby on her laptop, teaching a zoom class. Directors Metcalf, Weinstein, and Cole were busy laying out the tables and guidecards. Hospitality workers dispense candy and stickers, and the tournament organizers fret over table count. If there are a few spare minutes in the morning, TD's reminisce about the now bygone era when attendance was greater - tables had to be set up in all the conference areas as well as the main ballrooms - now, they're happy if there's no decline from last year, and if table counts can be sustained at 60% of pre-pandemic levels.

  My client Wall Street Walter (WSW) lived for most of his adult life close to this venue here in Essex County, so this is a natural tournament for us. He was hosting his family including grandchildren over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, so we booked to play Monday and Tuesday (yesterday and today, July 8 and 9). I didn't play on the 7th, but I went to the site in the morning just to visit, then down to Parx Casino to play poker. Yesterday I got to the site way early once more, saw tons of friends, old and new - rounders, really, lots of locals but also tons of people I know from the circuit.

  We faced an old friend in the first round, Israeli-American pro Erez Hendelmen. The very first deal of the day I had a strong playing hand, a 6-4 fourteen count:

​ x, AQJ87x, AKTx, 9x - Second seat, both vulnerable, I opened One Heart, and the bidding continued:

  (P) - 1H - (1S) - Double - (2S) - ?

  Had RHO passed, I might have bid a simple 3H - after the spade raise, I felt I needed to jump to game - my 4H call ended the bidding.

  Partner's hand was Axx, x, Jxxx, KJTxx, a good fitting nine count. A solid minimum, though I would have liked it much better if he'd had a second trump for me: 

  The spade king was led - I won the ace in dummy and took the trump finesse. This lost and I ruffed the spade continuation. I now drew trumps and considered the missing ace-queen of clubs.

  Elementary card-reading led me to the winning play in that suit - with the high spades and king of hearts marked on my left, it became routine to play a club to dummy's jack - RHO needed the club ace for his raise to Two Spades, he didn't have any points to speak of in the majors, and the most he could have in diamonds was the queen - 
  
  The defense might have done a trick better if righty had ducked the first round of clubs - unable to use the suit, I would probably have taken the diamond finesse, and lost a trick there - ducking the club is not a hard play, partner's count signal will tell you what to need to know (don't forget to play second highest from Q632!) or you might infer that since declarer has a singleton spade (and shown up with six hearts as well), then a singleton club is unlikely.

  With the clubs coming in, I had an easy overtrick for plus 650 - 86% score on the first board of the day, just the kind of start you want. Starts matter, it isn't simply superstition that states that the first board sets the tone of the session and day.

---

The second board was interesting too, Board 8 - I had another fourteen point opening, in this instance it was 9, J9x, AQ98x, AKxx - I opened One Diamond, once more Erez overcalled (this time with One Heart) and Wall Street Walter made a specialized bid of 2H - we had gone over the method within the previous hour, Walter's 2H cue-bid showed six spades and a split range, either 5-8 or 11+ HCP - 

  I bid 2 Spades, prepared to play there opposite a weak jump shift - Walter bid 3H, indicating the stronger (game-going) range - despite holding only a one-card fit, I leapt to 4 Spades, on the strength of my 14 HCP.

  Erez led a low club, and dummy tabled: KQT6xx, KT8x, Kx, x - I won in my hand and found the winning play in spades*, low to the king and low from the dummy. 

  74% for plus 420.

* Editor's Note - Brian makes it look easy but I bet lots of players would have tried running that 9 of spades, and thereby expose themselves to a later heart ruff. I'll ask him to make further comments about his decision here -- PB

  We made few errors on the day, but didn't get too many gifts in the second session - we had to settle for fifth place, of perhaps 40 pairs (plus another 30 or so in the Gold Rush).

  The winners were Glenn Robbins and Jiang Gu - Glenn was a frequent client prior to the pandemic, and Jiang is currently leading the race for the point trophy this year - they play a system based on the one I taught to Glenn, transfer responses to One Club, Wilsonovich Style. Glenn credits their success to his use of that Method, they have had great results this year, with first or second place finishes in close to half the regional pair games they play.

  If you're curious about the system we used to reach 4 Spades on Board 8, here's how it works:

  When the opponents overcall 1H, after we open One of a Minor, this is what responder's bids mean:

  Pass: Bad hand, marginal hand worth a bid, or a penalty pass of 1H, hoping that partner reopens with a take-out double (which you intend to convert and play for penalties).

  Double: Like a negative double, but shows four or five spades, not "usually four, never five, sometimes three", like a standard negative double. 

  One Spade: Not Spades - a hand worth bidding (usually 8+ HCP) and fewer than four spades.

  One No Trump: Like standard, but slightly sounder - 8-10 HCP, and a double heart stopper. Any hand that bids 1NT could bid One Spade instead.

  Two of Opener's Minor: A simple raise, typically a four or five card fit and 7-10 high.

  Two of the Other Minor: I play this as 7-11 and non-forcing (negative free bid) but you can play this forcing, like the field, if you prefer.

  2 Spades: The jump-shift in spades shows invitational strength - 9-11 HCP and six spades.

  2 Hearts: This cue-bid also shows six spades, and a better or worse hand than the immediate jump shift - either 5-8 or 12+.

  This method works well for a handful of reasons, if you try it let me know what you think.

  And if you like playing in regionals, give this one in suburban NJ a try - no special features, but good competition in a convenient (northeastern US) location.

  - BG

---