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New Feature Beginning Wednesday, 9/1
In association with Brian Gunnell and The Wednesday Game, we will run a special game on the first Wednesday of every month. This game will feature expert hand anaylses of the deals you play that day.
On the first Wednesday of each month we will play a set of computer-dealt hands, as we normally do. After this game, however, you can visit The Wednesday Game website for expert Hand Analyses, Bidding Quizzes and Play Problems for the hands you have just played.
The site also has a wealth of information in BridgeOpedia. |
| Hands Across the Pond | |
We will play our sixth interclub challenge match vs. Exeter Bridge Club in England on Labor Day, Monday, September 6.
Exeter Express & Echo | Click here to read the article. |
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Replay At Home  You can now replay the boards you've played at the club - in the comfort of your own home. Replay the exact same hands with any of several commercial bridge programs such as GIB or Bridge Baron if you own one. If you have not purchased one, we have a free program for you to download. Click the button for instructions. |  |
| Free Bridge Lessons | |
Rich answers your questions every Tuesday prior to the game.  |
Thursdays, we have a vugraph presentation. Rich reviews interesting deals of the past week. Each board in question is projected onto our large video screen for all to see as we discuss it. |
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 | A Deal from the Par Contest |
Here is a deal from our par contest this past Monday. It is not often you are looking at a 1NT opener and hear partner open the bidding 2NT! |
| ♠ A 5 3
♥ Q 10 5
♦ A Q 8 4
♣ K 7 6
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| ♠ K Q 4
♥ A K 4
♦ K 9 7 3
♣ A Q 3 |
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South
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West
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North
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East
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2NT
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Pass
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7NT
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Pass |
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Pass
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Lead: ♣J |
The auction is short and sweet. The par score is 1520 for 7NT. Can you match par on this deal?
Plan the play, then scroll down. |
| No More Sit-Outs - Ever! |
Ace O'Matic |
| We have worked out a way to do away with sit-outs (the bane of all bridge clubs), for once and for all. Whenever we have a half-table in the game, we enter the computer - "Ace O'Matic" - as a participant in the game, in order to make a full table. The bridge program we use to accomplish this is Wbridge5 (the same program you can download to play our past deals at home - so you might want to download it and practice).
When it would normally be your turn to sit out, instead you will play against Ace O'Matic. Your score vs. the computer counts in the game. At the conclusion of the game, Ace O'Matic is disqualified, so it doesn't take away your masterpoints - in fact, the awards actually increase because the game is larger.
We tried this for the first time Thursday, August 26 and it worked perfectly. Everyone appreciated playing, rather than sitting out. Incidentally, the first two times we implemented this idea Ace O'Matic came in first! (before being disqualified). |
| Solution |
| ♠ A 5 3
♥ Q 10 5
♦ A Q 8 4
♣ K 7 6
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| ♠ K Q 4
♥ A K 4
♦ K 9 7 3
♣ A Q 3 |
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This looks like an easy thirteen tricks. You have twelve top tricks in aces, kings and queens and the thirteenth trick will come home in diamonds if the suit splits 3-2.
When it looks easy, you should consider what might go wrong, and if there is anything you can do about it. Obviously here, the diamonds might split 4-1 or even 5-0. If they do, you need to be prepared to play the correct defender for the long diamonds.
Do a little detective work before you tackle diamonds. By playing on the non-critical side suits, you might be able to get an idea of the distribution of the critical diamond suit.
So, win the club lead and cash the ♠AKQ. West discards a club on the third round. You have discovered that West originally held two spades; East started with five.
Next cash the ♥AKQ and West pitches another club. What do you know? East was 5-5 in the majors, plus the club you've already seen at trick one. That's eleven cards. Can he possibly have four diamonds too? Only if he were dealt fifteen cards!
To complete the count, you can cash another club (East follows), but be sure to leave a club entry to your hand. You may need to lead twice from your hand to pick up West's diamonds. Lead a diamond to the king (East follows) and the count is complete.
You now know that East's distribution was 5-5-1-2 and therefore West was 2-2-4-5.
The diamond situation has become clear. Lead a diamond towards dummy and cover whatever card West plays. East has no more diamonds. (If West inserts the ♦J or ♦10 you will be glad you saved a club entry back to your hand in order to repeat the finesse!)
The entire deal: |
| ♠ A 5 3
♥ Q 10 5
♦ A Q 8 4
♣ K 7 6
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♠ J 2
♥ 9 8
♦ J 10 6 2
♣ J 10 9 8 4
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♠ 10 9 8 7 6
♥ J 7 6 3 2
♦ 5
♣ 5 2
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| ♠ K Q 4
♥ A K 4
♦ K 9 7 3
♣ A Q 3 |
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You can follow the play with the Bridge Movie on our website. |
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The Nicest Club
815 NE 15th Ave
