21
December 2016 English Bridge
nobody did anything daft in the auction, the final
contract could be described as anything but pretty.
The good news was that South was an old faithful,
and led the ´Q against 3NT. Winning the king looks
clear, and you can cash five rounds of diamonds
first (Note if the suit splits 2-1 there is no problem -
but if anyone has a void it is surely more likely to be
North who has advertised 5+ spades), and three
rounds of hearts. Your tricks are up to nine, and it is
fair to say that you could be happy with the total of
ten tricks which is available if you cash the ´A.
However, North has overcalled and his partner held
the ´Q - we have a choice whether or not to cash
out for ten tricks, or to play a spade to the ten. If this
loses to a possible Q-J doubleton with South they
will surely cash three club tricks so we never make
our tenth trick. What should we do?
It looks like we are already on to a pretty decent
board - some pairs may play the contract from the
West seat after a 1NT (12-14) opener, with South
raising to game - and it is possible that North would
have led a club (quite likely in fact). If a club lead is
found elsewhere, 3NT will go down, so even nine
tricks will be good for us. Additionally, the odds of
the ´J being with the overcaller are surely far greater
than 50%: say 80% of the time we will make 11
tricks by finessing the ´10 and 20% of the time we
will only make nine tricks, we can see that the odds
firmly favour the finesse. A good maxim is that if
you feel you are in the par contract then as declarer
you should play a Maximum Trick Strategy when
playing pairs - always try and make as many tricks
as you can, including taking some risks if you think
that it is more likely to succeed than not - the
frequency of gain overrides the size of the gain at
this format. r
The winning team from the House of Lords. Back
row: Baroness Byford, Lord Kalms, Baroness Henig,
John Deech, Lord Oaksey, Baroness OppenheimBarnes, Lord Harrison. Front
row: Lord Howard,
Baroness Blackstone, Baroness Billingham
Bob Blackman and Lord Hamilton receive the Tony Berry
Trophy for the best played hand from Tom Townsend
LORDS VS COMMONS
The House of Lords defeated the House of
Commons by 48 IMPs in their annual bridge
match in early November. The Lords team led by
50 IMPs at the halfway point, and although the
Commons team reduced the deficit in the third
quarter, the Lords pulled away again in the final
set. The House of Lords now leads the series by
23-19.
The Tony Berry Trophy, for best played hand,
was won by Bob Blackman MP and Lord
Hamilton of the Commons team for their defence
which defeated a slam by two tricks. They are
pictured below receiving their trophy from judge
Tom Townsend.
The match was sponsored by Lord Kalms, and
organised by the two captains, Baroness Henig,
and Bob Blackman MP.
The hands were set by Paul Bowyer, and his fun
and educational commentary is available for you
to read at http://tinyurl.com/zpwc4ww.
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