Bridge PuzzlesFree Bridge Puzzles! Once a month I post a new puzzle to get you thinking about how you would play in a particular situation. There's no prizes, unfortunately, just the satisfaction of knowing whether or not you were right! Don't forget to check out the previous puzzles below! This month's beginners puzzle is:Everyone is vulnerable and the Dealer is North. The hands are: North ♠ Spades A 10 4 3 South ♠ Spades K J 9 7 5 2 West ♠ Spades Q 6 What do you think would be the highest ranking contract which could be made on these hands? Replies by e-mail only please. My decision will be final. Closing Date 11 January 2009. David Clement BRIDGE PUZZLE NOVEMBER 2008
I would suggest that you might open 4 Spades rather than 1 Spade. Why? Well, if you recall, if you have seven cards of a suit along with six to ten points you should make the pre-emptive opening bid of 3 Spades. With this hand you have eight spades thus inevitably giving you one trick more than if you had seven spades. You need to agree this addition to your opening bid armoury with your partner so that they know what it means, which is simply - partner I have six to ten points with at least eight spades in my hand. Don't forget that if you are vulnerable, as you are in this case, you would normally need to hold more than the bare minimum to make the pre-emptive opening. The doubting thomases who hold a hand like this may well shrink with fear at the thought of opening 4 Spades on such a hand, or even 1 Spade, but don't take any notice of them. When you open 4 Spades on this hand, it means that if the opposition wish to make a bid then they will have to start with 4 No-Trumps or a suit at the 5 level, either of which is very likely to cause them to Pass, unless they are very experienced players. It may well enable you to prevent East/West from getting into an easy contract at game level. As it happens, East has been round the block and after you open 4 Spades they bid 5 Diamonds. So South now has a difficult decision, but after much thought they bid 5 Spades which becomes the final contract. South had to consider the possible outcome of bidding over East's 5 Diamonds. If East were to make 5 Diamonds they would score 400 points. If that would have been the case North/South can afford to go off in their contract, and still be better off than if East/West made 5 Diamonds. So they could afford to be three off for a score of - 300, BUT if East/West doubled then North/South could only afford to be one light in 5 Spades, and be better off. The full deal was: North ♠ Spades A Q J 9 8 7 6 3 East ♠ Spades 10 South ♠ Spades K 5 4 2 West ♠ Spades Would North/South make 5 Spades? See you soon. BRIDGE PUZZLE 31 OCTOBER 2008 You are sitting East, and both sides are vulnerable. ♠ Spades 9 South opens 1 Diamond. You know that means that they have an opening hand of at least eleven points. Because everyone is playing the artificial 1 Diamond, you do not know if they have a diamond suit, but what you do know is that they do not have a five card major suit as if they had they would have bid it. It is now West's turn to bid, and they say 1 Spade. This bid is showing you that they have at least ten or eleven points. You have eleven points in your hand so you know that you and West very probably have twenty-one or twenty-two points between you, and so East/West will most probably be the declarer for the contract. You also know that you do not have as many as twenty-five points, so you will not normally be looking for a game contract on this hand. North passes, and it is your turn to bid. What do you say? THIS SPACE HAS DELIBERATELY BEEN LEFT BLANK As you have eleven points you must support partner. You have a five card heart suit, and so have an easy bid of 2 Hearts. You have raised the level of the bidding from the the one level to the two level and partner knows that you must have at least nine points to do this. Subsequently South, and then East and then North, all pass and you are Declarer in 2 Hearts. South leads the Jack of Clubs, and West lays down the Dummy hand, which is: ♠ Spades J 7 5 3 2 Looking at the two hands you can see that you should make at least three heart tricks, one diamond and two club tricks so you will have to seek ways of making at least two more in order to make your contract. How do you plan to play the hand? THIS SPACE HAS DELIBERATELY BEEN LEFT BLANK
Now play a small diamond towards the King. South can see Dummy of course, and goes up with the Ace of Diamonds, followed by a small diamond to the King. You should now make at least 2 Hearts. Can you see how?
The full deal was: North: ♠ Spades K 10 4 South:♠ Spades A Q 8 6 West: ♠ Spades J 7 5 3 2
Best wishes Previous Puzzle 22 DEALER NORTH North opens 1 Club. East passes. Counting your points you have 17, and a singleton. You know North has a minimum of 11 points and at least four Clubs. In total, you and North have at least 28 points. As 25 points are enough for a game, you know that you must bid so that you end in a game contract. So what do you bid? THIS SPACE IS DELIBERATELY LEFT BLANK SO THAT YOU CAN THINK ABOUT YOUR BID BEFORE SEEING WHAT I WOULD SUGGEST After you have bid, West passes, and neither East nor West bids at all on this hand. If you thought of bidding 1 Spade, it is not technically wrong, but all partner will know is that you have at least six points and that does not do your hand justice. You could have bid in Clubs, supporting partner's suit, but if you can find a bid and then a game in a major suit or no-trumps then the rewards are greater. I suggest that your best bid would be 2 Spades. As we are playing 5 card majors, this bid shows that you have at least an opening bid yourself including five Spades. THIS SPACE IS DELIBERATELY LEFT BLANK After 2 Spades from you, North responds 3 Diamonds. What does this tell you? North has four diamonds to be able to bid the suit. It also means that as they opened 1 Club, they must have five clubs and four diamonds in their hand. If they had had four of each of the minor suits they would have opened 1 Diamond. You now know that North has five clubs and four diamonds. Along with your singleton ace of Hearts, your hand looks very strong. So what is your next bid? THIS SPACE IS DELIBERATELY LEFT BLANK My suggestion is that you should bid 4 Clubs asking partner how many aces they have. If you do that, and they reply 4 Hearts, showing one ace, what contract do you think you should end up in? To help you at this stage, here is North's hand as well as yours: North ♠ Spades 6 ♥ Hearts K 9 3 ♦ Diamonds Q J 10 3 ♣ Clubs A K 10 9 4 South ♠ Spades A 10 8 5 3 ♥ Hearts A ♦ Diamonds A K 4 ♣ Clubs Q 8 5 2 THIS SPACE IS DELIBERATELY LEFT BLANK I hope that you will have reached a contract of 7 Clubs. Full marks if you have. If you haven't go back and have another go. Now, can you make the contract of 7 Clubs? To help you here are all four hands: North ♠ Spades 6 ♥ Hearts K 9 3 ♦ Diamonds Q J 10 3 ♣ Clubs A K 10 9 4 West ♠ Spades 9 7 East ♠ Spades K Q J 4 2 ♥ Hearts Q 8 4 2 ♥ Hearts J 10 7 6 5 ♦ Diamonds 9 6 5 2 ♦ Diamonds 8 7 ♣ Clubs J 7 3 ♣ Clubs 6 South ♠ Spades A 10 8 5 3 ♥ Hearts A ♦ Diamonds A K 4 ♣ Clubs Q 8 5 2 East leads the king of spades against the contract of 7 Clubs. Putting yourself in the shoes of North to play the hand, can you make the contract? For the record it is makeable. I hope you will have enjoyed this puzzle - it is the first one I have done for a long while, and I shall hope to follow with more during the winter months. I will do my best to answer any queries you may have on this puzzle. Best wishes David Clement Previous Puzzle 21 You are sitting South, with both sides vulnerable. You hold:
North opens 1 Diamond which may or may not be a genuine diamond, but does guarantee an opening hand. East intervenes with 2 Clubs. ANSWER: West passes, and North says STOP - 3 Hearts. East passes - what ANSWER: Here's a difficult situation! What does North's 3 Hearts As North has double jumped to 3 Hearts - they could have said 2 4 Hearts looks a possibility as you have the King of Hearts, but you So I suggest you try 3 No Trumps. If partner doesn't like it they When the hand was played, on the lead of a club from West, East/West
Previous Puzzle 20 You are sitting South. North opens and passes. East bids 1 Spade. You are holding:
What do you bid?: Answer: DOUBLE. Previous Puzzle 19 North is dealer and holds:
South holds:
How should the bidding go? Answer:
Previous Puzzle 18 You are sitting South and vulnerable, which as you know means that the rewards and the penalties are greater for this hand compared to when you are not vulnerable. North, your partner is the Dealer, and opens 1 Club. Your understanding of the 1 Club bid is that partner has an opening hand, say 13 points and at least four clubs. The fact that they have not bid 1 Heart or 1 Spade means that they do not have a five card major suit.
Answer: Your reply should be 1 No Trump. Firstly you have 8 points, but a singleton club which suggests a 1 No Trump reply, and also you have four hearts and four spades. If partner has a four card major suit, then your hand could fit very well, and so you bid 1 No Trump as a Stayman bid, saying partner please tell me if you have four hearts or four spades. If North does have a four card major then they must respond two hearts or two spades in response to the 1 No Trump enquiry.
Previous Puzzle 17 You are North holding:
South has:
South is the dealer. Assuming that East/West do not bid at all, what do you think the final contract should be?
Answer: 4 Spades by South
Previous Puzzle 16 Partner opens 1 No Trump. You hold:
What do you bid? Answer: 2 Clubs. You do not have enough points to raise the bidding to the 2 level other than to use Stayman looking for a fit in a major suit. If partner responds 2 Spades then you can raise to game. If they bid 2 Previous Puzzle 15 Fairly straightforward this month! Partner opens 1 No Trump, showing 16 - 18 points.
What do you respond? Answer: 2 Clubs, asking partner to tell you if they have a four card major. Although you only have six points, you have a nice distributional hand, and if partner responds either 2 Hearts or 2 Spades, then you should seriously consider raising the bidding to the three level giving partner the opportunity to bid game.
Previous Puzzle 14 North deals. The four hands are:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Search Engine Optimisation Ireland by Goahead Marketing
Dog Beds