Momentum

June 8th, 2010 ~ Ross Taylor ~ 1 Comment

Momentum part one | Momentum part two | Momentum part three | Momentum part four

The final match of this year’s CNTC was an exciting ebb and flow as the lead and momentum changed hands several times over the final day’s play. Team Gartaganis was up by 6 imps after 64 boards; then up by 11 imps after 80 boards; and then the tide turned significantly in Team Korbel’s favour in the sixth (of eight) segments and Korbel was up by 23 imps going into the final 32 boards.

This momentum shift started with an innocent part score hand. Keith opened the bidding one club, and I responded 1 spade. Campbell on my left bid 1NT. Keith passed, and Klimowicz bid 2D, intending this as a transfer to hearts. I passed, and after much thought Campbell passed also, remarking to me (his screenmate) that he hoped that wasn’t a transfer.

I was looking at J97 of diamonds and two baby hearts. I was pretty sure it WAS a transfer – so in this kind of situation a trump lead works best. Envisioning diamond honours in dummy, I debated between the nine and the jack, settling on the diamond nine as my opening salvo.

The layout was fairly predictable.

Dealer: east Vul: none		Campbell
		♠	AQJ4
		♥	Q1043
		♦	AQ3
		♣	42
Taylor				Balcombe
♠	K865			♠	32
♥	62			♥	A9
♦	J97			♦	K1052
♣	Q753			♣	AKJ96
		Klimowicz
		♠	1097
		♥	KJ875
		♦	864
		♣	108

Klimo flew with dummy’s diamond ace, and played a heart to his hand immediately, Keith ducking with the ace. Next came the spade ten from Klimo’s hand. I covered, he won and tried to cash three rounds of spades, Keith ruffing the third. Keith cashed the club king, receiving a come on from me, and underled his club ace to my queen. The jack of diamonds now put declarer and dummy out of their misery, and we beat the contract four tricks for a three imp pick up.

Tension filled the air as Klimo and Campbell exchanged a few “polite” words about what this sequence would mean in the future. As is often the case, the payoff from a result like this invariably comes in the following boards.

Sure enough, Campbell immediately picked up a monster (especially opposite a one spade opener from his partner) K9752 AQ987 A72 void. He went into a brown study and emerged a couple of minutes later with a bid of six spades ! Science be damned. One can argue he was facing a limited opening bid, but I don’t think that has much merit here. Perhaps Gordon was on tilt a bit after the last hand.

I doubt there are many hands one’s partner can continue bidding on with opposite a six spade response, and Klimo’s mitt of AQJ64 K4 KQ85 Q8 surely did not qualify.

Klimo threw down his claim at trick one, and I could feel the steam rising from the other side of my screen as he gently put his cards back into the board.

Dan and Darren bid the grand of course, and now we had our first real return on the transfer mishap. Eleven imps.

The very next hand, a vulnerable game bonus was available in four spades, requiring some racing luck in terms of two finesses working and a favorable trump split. The Energizer Bunnies at the other table were bidding everything that had a pulse by this point, so Korbel and Wolpert had already chalked up +620 on the deal.

Dealer: west Vul: north south		Klimowicz
		♠	QJ10
		♥	AQ2
		♦	J72
		♣	10875
Balcombe				Taylor
♠	53			♠	K92
♥	KJ654			♥	873
♦	4			♦	KQ1053
♣	KQ432			♣	96
		Campbell
		♠	A8764
		♥	109
		♦	A986
		♣	AJ

Facing a passing partner, Balcombe chose an opportune time NOT to bid Michaels over Campbell’s one spade opener. (A) We don’t play Michael’s, and (B) even if we did, Keith would never do so on this hand. Instead he bid a creative and subtle two clubs!

Klimo bid a heavy two spades over Balcombe’s two clubs, and the world passed. Notice how a different action by Balcombe would likely have propelled his opponents to the makeable game. This is exactly what happened in the other room – so credit Keith with the ten imps we won on this board. That made 24 unanswered imps and an overall lead of thirteen imps to Team Korbel after four boards into this set.

The fifth board of the set produced more of the same. Dan Korbel was our team hero this time. He held 62 976 A1083 AJ94, and heard his partner open one spade, both vul, in first position. His RHO bid double, and Dan said redouble – upgrading his hand based on the quality and power of his aces.

His LHO now bid three hearts, and Darren Wolpert now jumped to three spades holding AQJ543 KQ5 74 K8. Dan bid the fourth and final spade, and with the spade king onside third, yet another vulnerable game rolled home.

Dealer: south Vul: not sure		Klimowicz
		♠	62
		♥	976
		♦	A1083
		♣	AJ94
Balcombe				Taylor
♠	108			♠	K97
♥	A82			♥	J1043
♦	KQJ6			♦	952
♣	Q762			♣	1053
		Campbell
		♠	AQJ543
		♥	KQ5
		♦	74
		♣	K8

Strike one was when Klimo bid 1NT over west’s double. I wisely kept my mouth shut, resisting the urge to bid 2H. Strike two was when Campbell simply rebid two spades. I suppose he could have rebid three spades, especially within a strong club system framework, as his hand has a clearly defined upper limit of 16 HCP for such action. Strike three was Klimo passing two spades, but really, who can blame him?

Ten imps more for Team Korbel and an overall lead of twenty three imps after only five boards of the set. The tide had turned in our favour.

Momentum part one | Momentum part two | Momentum part three | Momentum part four

Uncategorized | tags: 2010 CNTC Final

Momentum part two

June 7th, 2010 ~ Ross Taylor ~ 2 Comments

Momentum part one | Momentum part two | Momentum part three | Momentum part four

Two boards later we beat a delicate two spades one trick for another four imps, and three boards after that was another dynamite board for Team Korbel.

Keith was on a roll at this point – bidding very aggressively and successfully. He picked up void J8754 KQ743 K107, and heard me open a weak NT in third chair, not vul versus vulnerable opponents. Campbell overcalled two spades, and Keith bid three hearts, forcing. Klimo next jumped to four spades, which was passed around to Keith.

He promptly bid five diamonds. This was converted by me to five hearts; Campbell doubled and all passed.

Dealer: north Vul: east west		Taylor
		♠	K3
		♥	KQ92
		♦	J1065
		♣	A64
Klimowicz				Campbell
♠	Q108765			♠	AJ942
♥	1063			♥	A
♦	2			♦	A98
♣	QJ5			♣	9832
		Balcombe
		♠	void
		♥	J8754
		♦	KQ743
		♣	K107

Actually, as soon as I placed the five heart bid on the table, I regretted it. So often in situations where your side has two fits, it is best (safer) to play in the weaker fit, to avoid enemy ruffs in that suit. Damn, I hoped it would not cost.

But it did. Klimo led his singelton diamond and scored two ruffs for down two, minus 300. As you can see, had they chosen to defend five diamonds doubled, we could have made that! Still we don’t know if Klimo would have sat for a double of five diamonds.

In fact, at the other table, Korbel holding Klimo’s cards bid onto five spades over their five hearts, and scored up plus 650 for a nice eight imp gain. Team Korbel up by 35 imps.

Three boards later, Campbell went down (not unreasonably) in a vulnerable four hearts, made by Korbel at the other table. Played from the other side, the hand was all about the location of the jack of spades. The spade side suit was KQ62 opposite A109. At Korbel’s table, the opening lead was the spade jack, a singleton, so the card was located immediately.

At our table, Campbell played the hand methodically and found out quite late in the hand that spades were likely 5-1. He therefore backed up his card reading by taking a first round hook of the spade ten, losing unluckily to the singleton jack, losing eleven imps more. Team Korbel up by 46 imps now.

I could tell it was going very well at our table, but these guys had played incredibly tough all week, and had been there before. I did not expect them to roll over. Momentum was clearly with us, but they were determined to turn the tide. I could not see him, but if someone told me Klimo was chewing nails on the other side of the screen, I would have believed them. (I found out later it was ice, not nails)

It might have been much more but for two great results for Campbell and Klimowicz on two late boards. Campbell held AJ5 K8 10964 AJ93 and heard two spades (weak) on his right; four spades on his left. He had to lead a club specifically to beat the contract for a ten imp pick up. The hands were:

Dealer: east Vul: none		Balcombe
		♠	843
		♥	AQ
		♦	AKJ753
		♣	Q8
Campbell				Klimowicz
♠	AJ5			♠	9
♥	K8			♥	96532
♦	10964			♦	82
♣	AJ93			♣	K10654
		Taylor
		♠	KQ10762
		♥	J1074
		♦	Q
		♣	72

The ace of clubs followed by another club ensured down one – well done !

And the two Westerners had a most unusual auction to bid up to 7NT on the preceding hand. Klimo opened one diamond and redbid 1NT over Campbell’s one spade response. Klimo held Q7 KQ93 AQ1054 QJ, and his rebid showed 14 to 16 HCP. Campbell next bid two diamonds, game forcing check back stayman. Klimo bid 2H, Campbell bid 2NT. Klimo bid 3 diamonds, and Campbell now bid 3 hearts.

Klimo now reached into his bidding box and placed the 6 NT card on the table ! Assuming he had not totally lost his mind, I deduced he must be thinking along these lines…. Partner is sniffing around with a big hand, yet he cannot find an eight card fit, but he does not want to place the contract in (only) 3NT. I have a maximum for the auction. I will accept any and all slam invitations – so why don’t I just bid 6NT – the most likely final contract.

Furthermore, it would be serendipitous to do to his partner what Campbell had done to him earlier when he eschewed science and blasted to six spades over Klimo’s one spade opener.

Anyway, Campbell was also not expecting this bid, and was staring at a full twenty count! AK32 AJ5 J3 AK73. Finally he decided, where there’s twelve there is a hope for thirteen, and he bid the seventh and final no trump.

Dealer: westVul : both		Campbell
		♠	AK32
		♥	AJ5
		♦	J3
		♣	AK73
Taylor				Balcombe
♠	1098			♠	J654
♥	1042			♥	876
♦	976			♦	K82
♣	10954			♣	862
		Klimowicz
		♠	Q7
		♥	KQ93
		♦	AQ1054
		♣	QJ

These back to back hands were the bridge equivalent of a ‘Hail Mary’ pass into the end zone. Had they worked out badly, I doubt Team Gartaganis could have regrouped. But of course, the diamond king was onside (and showed up on a pop up squeeze against east) and twelve imps won for Team Gartaganis instead of losing seventeen had the finesse lost. Wolpert and Korbel had stopped scientifically in 6NT at the other table.

Still, even with winning 23 imps on these two boards, Team Gartaganis had relinquished their 13 imp lead, and were now down by 23 imps with 32 boards remaining.

Momentum had clearly run Korbel’s way for most of this stanza, but Gartaganis had caught hold of themselves just in time.

Momentum part one | Momentum part two | Momentum part three | Momentum part four

Uncategorized | tags: 2010 CNTC Final

Momentum part three

June 7th, 2010 ~ Ross Taylor ~ 2 Comments

Momentum part one | Momentum part two | Momentum part three | Momentum part four

Things started badly for Team Gartaganis in the seventh (of eight) set when a defensive mishap allowed me to bring home an impossible 3NT for a thirteen imp gain.

Dealer: east Vul: north south		Balcombe
		♠	K3
		♥	54
		♦	AQ865
		♣	Q1052
Campbell				Klimowicz
♠	J62			♠	Q1075
♥	A1092			♥	J8763
♦	K104			♦	9
♣	AJ8			♣	963
		Taylor
		♠	A984
		♥	KQ
		♦	J732
		♣	K74

I had opened a weak NT in second chair, showing 11+ to 14 HCP. Keith quickly bid 3NT and Campbell led the heart ten from his A1092 holding. I could see I was in serious doo doo here. Even if I can divine the diamond suit for no losers, that’s only eight tricks. Surely any attempts at razmataz in the club suit first would be met with suspicion by either defender, and the hearts quickly cashed.

So I won the queen of hearts nonchalantly, giving nothing away about my predicament to my screenmate. I looked like a guy with KQx of hearts. I led a diamond to the dummy’s queen. Campbell followed with the ten on my left, but Klimo then followed with the 9!

What was going on here? Had Campbell just unintentionally Grosvenored me? Or maybe Klimo was giving a Smith echo, or perhaps just playing the 9 from 9x forcing me to waste an entry back to my hand to repeat the diamond finesse.

I had a feeling Campbell had pulled the wrong card – and I sneaked a quick glance at him to get a read. Just as I did, he was sneaking his own glance back at me and our eyes collided momentarily.

You’d think with all the poker I play I would now know exactly what was going on in the diamond suit – but this play (and the eye action) had all come out of left field, and I still wasn’t sure.

I finally reasoned I did NOT want to enter my hand with the spade ace and repeat the finesse – it would simply give away too much information to my skilled opponents about the whole hand. So I called for dummy’s ace, and watched amusedly as Klimo in fact pitched a small club.

I continued with my confident approach to the hand and played another diamond casually to Campbell’s king. As his king hit the table, I could feel Klimo’s disbelief ooze through the screen as he refused to turn over his card to ready for the next trick. It was like he was frozen in the moment.

Amusing yes, but I still only had seven tricks now that diamonds were only good for four of them. Campbell had no reason at this point to think I was in dire straights in the heart suit, so he exited a spade. I won in dummy, and played off the remaining diamond winners.

Finally I had to exit a club, but by this point I think Klimo had momentarily become unhinged by the diamond suit plays, and between the two of them they blocked the heart suit when Campbell won the club ace, and somehow I emerged with nine tricks.

Klimo excused himself to go regroup (always a very good idea when something real bad happens to your partnership in an important match)

The table atmosphere was eerie quiet at that point. Not a word was spoken by anyone for a full five minutes while Klimo gathered himself. Keith and I could not have asked for a better start to the final quarter. A big pick up, and the opponents clearly upset by an unfortunate turn of events.

And then two boards later, adversity of a similar nature struck our partnership. It began with an innocent three heart contract declared by Campbell – it looked to be a sure down 1 (in an inferior strain) and six imps for Team Korbel – but the defense went seriously awry and declarer snuck home for a two imp gain.

The very next board I held KQJxx KJ AJ9x 10x

Red vs white I opened 1S, LHO said 2D, Keith said 4D, and RHO said 4NT. I doubled (we were in a FP auction – and were even before my double). LHO bid 5C and this was passed around to me.

I didn’t think the old “double with a doubleton rule” applies here – we are simply defending or bidding on and each partner has to express an opinion or pass with no opinion.

Keith passed it around to me – I went for the vulnerable game bonus – not to mention possible slam bonus if he held the right cards so I cue bid 5D trying for slam. Keith bid 5S and we went down 1 when he held A10xxx Qxxxx x Qx.

Clearly one of us should have doubled five clubs and held down the loss to a few imps versus the actual twelve when four spades made at the other table. Credit to Klimo for getting busy with his hand with only 9 10974 875 KJ964 – generating a pick up no matter what.

Bad things seem to come in threes. The very next hand we bid up to what seemed like a routine 3NT after Klimo began the auction with an 12-14 HCP weak NT on my right. They were vul we were not and I held K94 AQ76 K6 AQ94. I doubled and Campbell (on my left bid two hearts – showing the majors. Keith bid three diamonds, and I bid 3NT – all passed.

The lead was the spade queen and I beheld :

Dealer: east Vul: EW		Balcombe
		♠	765
		♥	32
		♦	AQ1074
		♣	832
Campbell				Klimowicz
♠	QJ82			♠	A103
♥	9854			♥	KJ10
♦	J93			♦	852
♣	75			♣	KJ106
		Taylor
		♠	K94
		♥	AQ76
		♦	K6
		♣	AQ94

I ducked the lead, and spades were continued to the ace, followed by the heart jack from Klimo – which I won with the queen. I ducked a heart a little later and found out Campbell was 44 in the majors. The only relevant matters at this point were (a) who has the diamond jack, and (b) are diamonds 3-3 (and therefore clubs 2-4) or are diamonds 2-4 (and therefore clubs 3-3).

I am sure people watching on BBO were screaming at their monitors for me to hurry up and take my ten tricks but alas there would be no story then. At the moment of truth I played king of diamonds and a diamond to dummy’s ace. Campbell played first the nine then a spot. (They play UDC but at this stage in the hand – carding would be very random by both opponents.) Klimo showed an even number of diamonds.

I went with my gut – usually it helps me to do so but here I was dead wrong. I abandoned diamonds – and played three rounds of clubs – playing Klimo for KJ10 of clubs and Jxxx of diamonds. He did have KJ10 of clubs but a pesky fourth one too – so the “Miami end play” was a spectacular down 1 – J9x of diamonds were onside and ripe for the picking the entire time.

My line was obscure – as (a) diamonds were just as likely to be 3-3 as clubs – and (b) even if clubs are 3-3 – this only helps if RHO has specifically KJ10 and cannot take himself off an endplay (with KJx or K10x he can unblock his honours)

So if you want to talk percentages, the odds definitely favored the straight forward (winning) line of simply cashing the diamonds from the top down.

I suppose some would admire my “not being afraid to look stupid if I am wrong” approach on this hand, but the truth is – better to be right – always – when you make a move like this. I was going for the jugular and the only throats I ended up cutting were my own and Keith’s. Why give the opponents something to feed on and gain confidence with?

That was twenty four imps to Team Gartaganis in three short hands and the lead was now down to eleven imps for Team Korbel – and momentum back with our opponents.

We bid up to a reasonable 5 diamonds doubled a couple of boards later – if the club ace is offside we will go down 1 (but then they can make four spades the other way) and if it is onside we make our doubled contract. Down 1 – lose two imps as the same contract was undoubled at the other table.

Then I held Q832 642 J4 KQ87 and heard Keith open 1D in first chair white on red. Klimo said one heart and I bid one spade. Campbell on my left said double – showing clubs; and Keith bid three diamonds freely. I was pretty sure nine tricks could only be taken with soft defense – which was not likely to happen here after they had told each other their hands and I had a major shortage of quick tricks on the side.

I passed and Keith went down one (normal) holding K10x A98 AKQ763 6. But it was a ten imp loss nonetheless on a totally different auction at the other table and the non heart hand on lead. We were now down by one imp!

Momentum part one | Momentum part two | Momentum part three | Momentum part four

Uncategorized | tags: 2010 CNTC Final

Momentum part four

June 7th, 2010 ~ Ross Taylor ~ 10 Comments

Momentum part one | Momentum part two | Momentum part three | Momentum part four

Things quietened down for a few boards – then another ugly hand. I held AK9 J832 105 9742 and heard one diamond on my right; two diamonds (forcing) on my left; 2NT on my right; 3NT on my left; all pass.

I did not enjoy finding a lead; but put my fingers on the spade ace. Here was the layout :

Dealer: east Vul: both		North
		♠	107543
		♥	Q109
		♦	K2
		♣	Q83
West				East
♠	62			♠	QJ8
♥	64			♥	AK75
♦	AQJ73			♦	9864
♣	A1065			♣	KJ
		South
		♠	AK9
		♥	J832
		♦	105
		♣	9742

Turns out I had hit on a very effective opening lead – but then, you guys can see all the cards! Keith played the seven, and Klimo played the 8. We play upside down attitude and standard count, but this is a very specialized situation.

Anyway, I did not find the spade continuation. I switched to my third best heart. Klimo won and hooked a diamond and Keith continued hearts. At the crucial point in the hand Klimo had to guess the location of the club queen to make and he did so – rather confidently I might add. So this was a loss of twelve imps, versus a push had we beaten the hand.

The set’s carnage was almost complete. Two hands later I picked up Q963 103 AQ10 K843. I dealt and passed, red versus white. Campbell opened 1 spade on my left, and Keith overcalled two hearts. Klimo said two spades, and I made a responsive double. Campbell said redouble – (a terrific riverboat gambler type bid – he only had AKJ54 65 8732 Q2) – a pyschic redouble!

Keith bid three clubs over the redouble, and I had to take a bid. I felt I was done, and I passed. But the full layout revealed we had lost another ten imps – largely due to Campbell’s redouble, as we both pulled in our tails thereafter. Keith actually made six!

Dealer: south Vul: north south		Balcombe
		♠	void
		♥	AK8742
		♦	J65
		♣	AJ106
Campbell				Klimowicz
♠	AKJ54			♠	10872
♥	65			♥	QJ9
♦	8732			♦	K94
♣	Q2			♣	975
		Taylor
		♠	Q963
		♥	103
		♦	AQ10
		♣	K843

Ten imps gone here and the lead was now back with Team Gartaganis – up around 25 imps with sixteen boards to play.

Still, it was anyone’s match – as long as Team Korbel did not dwell on the what-ifs and focussed on the here and now – and if the hands were lively enough.

Sure enough, our team got the better of a decent number of small swings, gaining 37 imps against losing only five imps with two key hands yet to be compared. On the first, Korbel – Wolpert bid a very reasonable 4 hearts on a 5-3 fit which ran into a defensive cross ruff and went down. Klimowicz and Campbell did well to land in 3NT which was in no danger and gained their side eleven imps.

The margin was down to around 8 imps in favor of Team Gartaganis when this fateful and deciding board hit the baize.

Dealer:southVul: east west		Campbell
		♠	A2
		♥	AK87653
		♦	3
		♣	AKJ
Taylor				Balcombe
♠	QJ765			♠	K943
♥	J10			♥	void
♦	975			♦	QJ10864
♣	Q86			♣	974
		Klimowicz
		♠	108
		♥	Q942
		♦	AK2
		♣	10532

Campbell opened 1 forcing club, and Keith overcalled two diamonds. They then discovered their heart fit and Campbell found out Klimo had specifically an ace, a king, and the heart queen. Perhaps forgetting Klimo had passed initially (and therefore could not have another queen – as they play 11-13 NT openers at this colour) Campbell pressed his good fortune and went for all the marbles with a bid of 7NT.

I led a diamond, and when dummy came down, I could feel a gasp from Klimo when he realized his predicament – for the second time in a few hours he was in 7NT requiring a finesse. He was also steamed to be there as he felt Campbell had erred in playing him for cards he could not possibly have.

Note seven hearts has extra chances – you can pitch north’s club jack on the diamond king, and make the hand with queen doubleton in either hand or any 3-3 club break – including queen third offside.

Anyway there was nothing to do but take the club finesse fairly early and pray. The bridge gods were smiling on Klimo this day and he chalked up plus 1520 and a win of eleven imps. Our teammates stopped accurately in 6 hearts, and instead of winning 14 imps, we incurred another 25 imp swing against us.

And that was the match ! The boards ran out, and the last team standing was Team Gartaganis – winning by 19 imps over 128 boards. I was pleased my team had all played tough and hard in the last segment, but that still only spells silver – not gold.

It was a very exciting match to play in and watch – I gathered enough material to regale my blog readers with stories and hands for weeks – but that’s for another day. There were many hands of interest – hands which any of us would like to take back and redo – don’t think the match was decided on luck vis a vis the two 7NT hands – yes there was an element of luck in those two huge hands – but as is always the case, the match was decided largely on mistakes – and only a few brilliancies.

Bobby Wolff sent me a generous email today with lots of good advice and a perspective of having won and lost his share of more big ones than most players on the planet. One point struck a chord, as it pertains to momentum at the table. I quote:

“Breaking it down …………… …… At this stage one bad board (especially an unlucky one, but even worse when an outright mistake is made) too often costs about 30 IMPs before some players return to normal.

What usually happens is that judgment becomes skewed, not unlike blackjack, but certainly (I do understand poker, but I, as yet, do not play) poker would be a shining example.

During those times it is best to withdraw from making any big decisions such as close slam bidding or daring declarer or defensive plays in bridge, but then in poker, merely acquiesce if a big hand appears rather than depend on judgment gone south.

Much easier said than done and possibly missing a great opportunity will cause a resounding loss.”

Never a truer word was spoken. In both instances of the momentum shift at our table in the final 48 boards, things changed as a result of a relatively innocuous part score hand – in and of itself not a big deal – but all aspiring and serious partnerships MUST develop defense mechanisms to cope with this sort of inevitable adversity.

The winners were all seasoned, experienced international players who got the best of us – and most importantly (true for both teams actually) never gave up or rolled over when things went badly – they played through their adversity and are worthy champions of Canada.

This summary from the late stages of the match unfortunately only has the perspective of events at my own table – for sure there were lots of interesting goings on between the Gartaganis’ and Korbel-Wolpert, and I hope we get to read about much of it in the near future.

Momentum part one | Momentum part two | Momentum part three | Momentum part four

Uncategorized | tags: 2010 CNTC Final

Love that lead!

June 6th, 2010 ~ Ross Taylor ~ 4 Comments

Board 29 of our 128 board final match in the Canadian bridge Championships, Judy Gartaganis was on lead against six diamonds, holding 10742 AQ75 10 9853. Keith Balcombe on her right had opened one diamond, Ross Taylor on her left responded one spade. Balcombe rebid 2 diamonds; Taylor splintered with four clubs. Balcombe bid RKCB, found out Taylor had two key cards, and placed the final contract in six diamonds. What would you lead?

Dealer: south Vul: both		Taylor
		♠	AJ863
		♥	K63
		♦	K853
		♣	6
Judy G.				Nick G.
♠	10742			♠	K9
♥	AQ75			♥	J10842
♦	10			♦	J7
♣	9853			♣	KQ72
		Balcombe
		♠	Q5
		♥	9
		♦	AQ9642
		♣	AJ104

Judy made the excellent lead of a small spade – rendering the contract impossible to make right from the get go. Balcombe ducked in dummy, and Nick won the king, and had to now make an accurate shift to a heart in order to beat the slam.

He got it right of course, and the pair picked up a well deserved twelve imp gain, versus the seventeen imps they would have lost had they not teamed up for this winning defense.

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East will meet West in the final of this year’s CNTC

June 4th, 2010 ~ Ross Taylor ~ 3 Comments

There are now two teams remaining in this year’s CNTC – it will be an East meets West confrontation. The Gartaganis team, perennial contenders and past winners (from Alberta), will play the Korbel team (from in and around the Toronto area).

The final match will consist of 128 boards over two days – and will be broadcast live on BBO.

Team Gartaganis – Nick and Judy Gartaganis; Gordon Campbell and Piotr Klimowicz

Team Korbel – Daniel Korbel, Darren Wolpert, Danny Miles, Keith Balcombe and Ross Taylor

Keith has actually played with (several times) and won this event with Team Gartaganis in the past; and together they went onto win the IOC Grand Prix in Salt Lake City and the Commonwealth Games in Manchester in 2002.

In 2006, those five, plus Dave Colbert partnering Keith, made it to the round of 16 in the Rosenblum at Verona, before falling to Meckwell and company.

Should be a good tight match – but don’t expect any predictions from this particular blogger.

I will say if you want to see great talent and huge potential, check out Korbel and Wolpert when they are on BBO. (And they play fast too!)

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Seems like everyone wants to make the New York Times

June 1st, 2010 ~ Ross Taylor ~ 11 Comments

Last night in the Canadian Team Trials a classic situation arose where the opening leader against six spades had an eight card heart suit of AKQJ10954 and a side void, and just about everyone holding those cards in that situation made the opening lead of the heart 4! Results varied somewhat though.

Dealer: south Vul: both		North
		♠	J75
		♥	7
		♦	K1093
		♣	AQ732
West				East
♠	106			♠	8
♥	AKQJ10954			♥	832
♦	void			♦	87542
♣	864			♣	KJ95
		South
		♠	AKQ9432
		♥	6
		♦	AQJ6
		♣	10

In several matches, the result of +100 for EW was a push. Both tables bid up to 6 spades on a highly competitive auction; both wests led their 8th best heart, and partner won the heart eight; looked around for a while, and gave west a diamond ruff for down 1.

Some wests got creative in the bidding to optimize their chances of success. Michael Roche heard one spade on his right; four hearts by him; four spades from his LHO. East decided to lead direct and bid five clubs! South bid five diamonds, and Michael bid six diamonds ! When the opponents then bid six spades, all passed, and he ignored his partner John Rayner’s five club call and of course led the heart four for down 1.

In these situations, time stands still for a few seconds as you see the stiff seven in dummy and await third hand’s play with major league trepidation.

One player is still waiting, as his partner decided to give count (!) on the opening lead and carefully played the deuce of hearts under dummy’s seven. Clearly this hand is a resounding endorsement of upside down signals as this could never happen to such players, unless they chose to play a miserly heart three !

Another west decided to seek fame a different way by overcalling (psyching) two diamonds over south’s two club opening bid ! He maintains to this minute he had much going for him. And he did, except when the opponents bid up to six spades and his partner won the heart eight at trick one – he was completely confused by this play and must have decided declarer had suffered a brain cramp or something. So he shifted to a non diamond, and six spades came home!

In our match against the tough Thurston team, the hand was far less titillating. Keith bid four hearts over south’s one spade. East bid four spades; I bid five hearts; south bid six spades, and Keith took out insurance with a seven heart bid. This only went down two for -500 when the defense did not find their club ruff.

At the other table, south bid five spades over east’s five hearts, and played it there. Plus 680 resulted in a quiet five imp gain for our side.

I know I will hear more stories about this hand today, and I will post the more interesting ones later on. But in the meantime, the lesson for all you kids reading this is very simple – THIRD HAND HIGH !

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The battle continues

May 22nd, 2010 ~ Ross Taylor ~ 5 Comments

Board 60, five boards to play, estimating they were still down 20 or more imps, he picked up AKJ109532 9 K42 6, in first chair, no one vulnerable. The Old Master opened the bidding one spade. His protégé overcalled two clubs, and partner bid three clubs – announcing a limit raise or better in spades.

East bid four clubs, and the Old Master placed a pass card on the baize!

Smelling an opportunity, his protégé bid five clubs, passed by north and the protégé’s partner. As the bidding tray came back to the Old Master, he felt the other players behind the screen rummage around as they prepared for his final pass and to play and defend five clubs. Not so fast boys!

The Old Master now bid a surprise five spades, and his protégé doubled – perhaps on principle, since his hand did not warrant this action. North passed as did east.

The wind up was almost complete. The Old Master pulled out his blue redouble card and toyed with it clearly for the benefit of his screen mate, his younger protégé.

At that moment, his protégé knew he was the victim of a bidding coup, and flushed perceptibly. The Old Master finally decided against the redouble – but the point had been made – big time!

The heart ace was led, and the contract was quickly made; the diamond suit being child’s play as the count on the hand was revealed on the run of the spades. The full layout was :

		North
		♠	Q76
		♥	QJ10
		♦	AJ1093
		♣	95
West				East
♠	8			♠	4
♥	AK83			♥	76542
♦	5			♦	Q876
♣	AQJ8732			♣	K104
		South
		♠	AKJ109532
		♥	9
		♦	K42
		♣	6

Plus 650 – could be a five imp pick up. The Old Master was content. Had he indeed redoubled, plus 1000 would have yielded as many as 11 imps. But if his protégé had run to 6 clubs, the price would have been only 300. So a redouble rated to roughly break even. He felt the psychological benefits of his theatrics with the blue card had been sufficient.

Uncategorized | tags: The Old Master part III

The protégé strikes back

May 17th, 2010 ~ Ross Taylor ~ 3 Comments

No time to rest on his laurels, the Old Master picked up a very healthy A72 AQ652 K KQJ8 opposite his partner’s opening bid of 1 diamond. Both red, his LHO the dealer.

He responded a quiet 1 heart. Partner rebid 1NT. The Old Master checked back with 2D, game forcing, and heard 2 hearts from partner. A 3 heart bid now established the trump suit and set the stage for slam exploration. Partner was not interested however, and signed off in 4 hearts.

The purist in him wanted to explore further with a delicate cue bid, but at this stage of the match, he knew his opposite number’s tendencies – he would simply bid key card blackwood so the Old Master decided to keep pace with the other table.

The response showed only 1 key card - the Old Master mentally shrugged and signed off in 5 hearts, as they were missing two key cards.

Out came a surprising red double card from his protégé (his screenmate), which was passed around back to the Old Master. This was not a favorable development. One minute he was marching towards a slam contract, and now he could envision fighting for his life in 5 hearts doubled, with, presumably, bad breaks abounding.

The Old Master therefore ran to 5NT, clearly a bid to be passed. 5NT undoubled became the final contract and his RHO led the spade 10. The Old Master laid down his still-pretty-powerful dummy to gasps from the kibitzers, but his protégé remained completely impassive, unfazed by the monster on the board.

The Old Master was actually quite pleased with the late stages of the auction. If indeed 5 hearts was slated to go down, his protégé had just offered up a clear chance to win imps on the board, since 5NT must surely have a reasonable play, and it was quite likely the opponents at the other table would get to at least 5 hearts.

But he needed to stretch his legs and his back muscles. Stiffness was setting in after so many days of inertia. The Old Master excused himself from the table, and made for a quiet area to limber up in solitude, and to prepare for the final stretch of hands. This was the layout his partner faced :

Dealer: east Vul: both		Old Master
		♠	A72
		♥	AQ652
		♦	K
		♣	KQJ8
West				Protégé
♠	10986543			♠	J
♥	K3			♥	J94
♦	863			♦	J754
♣	3			♣	A10964
		South
		♠	KQ
		♥	1087
		♦	AQ1092
		♣	752

Note the audacity and brilliance of his protégé ’s double! He knew north south were off two aces, and there was an excellent chance of defensive ruffs – maybe even a cross ruff, to beat five hearts doubled. (If his partner had held the spade ace instead of the heart king, he might have collected +800 or even +1100 from nowhere.)

Most in the audience felt the double of five hearts had backfired though, as 5 NT looked impregnable. But they could see all the hands, and declarer could not.

When the Old Master returned to the table, there was a definite murmur afoot, and partner was scoring up down 1. The Old Master would not dream of inquiring what had happened, but the sympathetic chatter around the table was clearly along the lines of ”all he had to do was play hearts and eleven tricks were cold – but how could he? …..Who would expect a 3-2 heart break with the king onside after that snap double of five hearts?”

Likely some form of phantom end play had resulted in the Old Master’s partner going down in his cold contract. It didn’t matter – time for the next hand.

The Old Master looked over at his protégé and caught a slight upturn at the corner of his lip, which he reciprocated with an appreciative nod. Thrust and parry – no one was rolling over at this table. Whatever imps the Old Master had picked up on the prior board had likely been lobbed back at his protégé ’s team on this hand.

To be continued.

Uncategorized | tags: The Old Master part 2, The Old Master part II

The Old Master

May 16th, 2010 ~ Ross Taylor ~ 3 Comments

All in all, the Old Master could not complain. After all, his team had overcome the disadvantage of the 8th seed and marched through the early rounds of the Spingold without too much difficulty. But now, a few boards from the conclusion of one of the lowest scoring finals on record, matters were looking somewhat bleak.

By his reckoning, they were down 20 to 25 imps to his former protégé and his highly paid pro team. The sponsor was long gone from the match, and the final pairs were all of the highest calibre.

Much had changed since that fateful phone call a few years back. Yes, he was incredibly grateful for all the times and successes they had enjoyed at the table, but now he wanted to move in a different direction.

The replacement was fifteen years younger than the Old Master, and, it must be admitted, a highly skilled player. But it still rankled to realize that others had noticed the almost imperceptible differences in the Old Master’s game.

Truth is, staying focused over week long (or longer) high level tournaments was harder than ever. Sleep had mysteriously become elusive, and now, occasionally, to the Old Master’s utter shock, the occasional “cow flew by” his table, where before that would have been impossible.

Still, this week had been a tremendous success. He had fought back the years, and played with a purpose and focus he had not enjoyed for some time.

But the circle was not yet complete. Lose this match, and the naysayers would have their day.

He picked up his cards for board 58, and saw QJ K10963 A943 AQ. Both sides vulnerable, he began proceedings with an offshape 1NT opening. His partner placed the contract in 3NT, and the lead was the spade ten.

North
♠	765
♥	A7
♦	KQ8
♣	98742

South
♠	QJ
♥	K10963
♦	A943
♣	AQ

His protégé led the spade ten to East’s king, and the deuce of spades was returned. West paused for some time, and shifted to the diamond seven, and the Old Master took stock. The club finesse had to be working, but still, that left only seven top tricks. If the diamonds could yield four tricks, that would bring the tally to eight – and maybe he could work some magic from there.

Spades were clearly 4-4; and East would need either KJ10 or KJ10x of clubs. In addition, east must guard the hearts, and the diamonds must run. It didn’t look good – seemed like east required at least fourteen cards for a squeeze to operate.

Nevertheless, the Old Master won the king in dummy, as east played the ten. That was hopeful. Perhaps east had J10 doubleton of diamonds. That would have to be presumed for any chance of success.

Still, the count had not been rectified – his protégé being too smart for that. To help the process along, the Old Master played dummy’s last spade, pitching a heart from hand. West won the trick and again refused to cash the defense’s fourth trick. The question now was would he find the killing defense of a heart shift.

The Old Master had done his best to disguise his hand in the auction and play, but it seemed to him a heart from west now should be forthcoming. (A heart play wreaks havoc with communications between declarer and dummy)

However his protégé fell from grace and another diamond hit the table. When east’s jack hit the table under dummy’s queen, It was all over in ten seconds. The Old Master next finessed the club; and ran the diamonds. East was forced to part with his last spade – lest he yield the game going trick in clubs or hearts, and now and only now, the Old Master could play ace and another heart – giving up a heart trick to east who was isolated from his partner’s setting trick.

East saw it all coming, and accurately unblocked his QJ of hearts – but this just meant an overtrick. Plus 630, and a reasonable chance of a thirteen imp pick up.

The full layout had been :

		North
		♠	765
		♥	A7
		♦	KQ8
		♣	98742
West				East
♠	A1098			♠	K432
♥	842			♥	QJ5
♦	7652			♦	J10
♣	65			♣	KJ10x
		South
		♠	QJ
		♥	K10963
		♦	A943
		♣	AQ

To be continued.

Uncategorized | tags: The Old Master part I

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Momentum

Momentum part two

Momentum part three

Momentum part four

Love that lead!

East will meet West in the final of this year’s CNTC

Seems like everyone wants to make the New York Times

The battle continues

The protégé strikes back

The Old Master

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