Many players will contend that North should not open the bidding in first seat. Today's tournament style, however, is super aggressive and what you may lack in high cards you will make up in texture and audacity.
When the auction comes back around to North, it is again questionable whether he should make a bid or pass. It is pretty clear that he should not introduce a new suit at this point, but a simple raise of partner's suit doesn't promise much more than what he almost had to open the bidding.
South now has a lot of information. His partner has three or four spades and no more than one heart. South has only one potential loser in each of the minor suits, so there should be a decent play for ten tricks.
The opening lead was the three of hearts which went to the ace. A small club was returned and West won the king. The club continuation was covered by the queen and ace. South trumped and led a small heart, trumping with the seven of spades. The jack of clubs provided a resting place for the nine of diamonds. A diamond was trumped in the closed hand and another heart was trumped in the dummy. A diamond was led and trumped again and the declarer's last heart was trumped with dummy's king of spades.
A diamond was trumped as the entry to the South and. When the queen of spades fell under the ace, declarer was able to claim the balance, making five.
In my opinion, it cannot be wrong to bid this game. The North hand has as little as is possible for the bidding and the only lead that will defeat the contract is the singleton queen of spades. When you hold a long suit opposite an opening bid, be aggressive; the results will often surprise you.
Nestor Burkhart of Shaker Heights was erroneously shown as "Nestor Burkett" in the listing for local players who were successful at the North American Bridge Championships in New Orleans, LA in November, 2003. We hope to have many more occassions to get Burkhart's name right in this column.
Great Game Products of Potomac, MD., has just announced the newest version of it's award winning computer bridge game, Bridge Baron. Version 14 includes the ability to bid and play random but re-creatable deals using any of 6 different systems. There are also a large number of deals that have been included with tournament results so that you can determine how your score would have compared to the actual scores. You can ask for help and review lessons whenever necessary. Software is included to allow you to play with other Bridge Baron owners on-line. The game comes on a CD-Rom and has versions that are compatible with PC or MAC systems.
If you are a current, registered Bridge Baron owner and want
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For those who do not already own a version of Bridge Baron, the
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Bernstein is
a free-lance writer in Solon.