Many duplicate players are using a convention known as Bergen Raises after partner's major suit opening. Marty Bergen of West Palm Beach, FL, developed this approach based on the well known Law Of Total Tricks. The theory is that when your partner opens one of a major and you have four card support, you should jump to the three level with zero to six high card points. If you have more points, there are other bids to convey this information.
In today's hand, East might have jumped to the four level to have the maximum preemptive effect. As it was, South bid three spades and North raised to game. Had East bid four hearts instead of three, South may have had a difficult time coming into the auction.
West led the king of hearts against the four spade contract. He cashed the ace of hearts and got off lead with a small spade. Declarer drew trumps in three rounds.
It appears that South must lose two hearts and a club for sure. To make ten tricks, declarer must decide how to deal with the diamond suit. Often, the best way to deal with a situation like this is to put off making any decision. South decided that the best approach would be to drive out the ace of clubs. That card must certainly be with West, so declarer led the three of clubs from hand towards the dummy, just in case the ace was a singleton. West ducked and the queen held the trick. A small club back to the king brought the ace and left this position:
With West on lead, the diamond problem has disappeared. If West leads a heart, declarer will discard the four of diamonds and trump with the six of spades. If, instead, West leads a diamond, the queen-eight is caught by the ace-nine combination.
Try to leave any finesses as your last option when playing a hand. Often, the defenders will make that option unnecessary.
Congratulations to Angie Knechtges of Grafton. On a recent
trip to South Carolina to visit her daughter she was able to
attend the Columbia Regional Bridge Tournament. She put her name
in at the partnership desk and found some winning combinations.
She was on a team that finished second in bracket two of the Eau
Clair Knockout Teams on 10/18 and she was also a member of the
team that finished sixth in the Sunday B/C/D Swiss Teams on
10/22. Overall, she brought home 27 gold master points as a
momento of her trip.
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Bernstein is
a free-lance writer in Solon.
To reach Harvey Bernstein:
hjb0416@yahoo.com