Today is the last day Wednesday of the month and the last day of the year. Thus, by definition, we have the last John Koch column of 2008 for your enlightenment.
As he always does, John provides us with excellent reasoning about how to make the most of what you have. "Making the most of what you have" is wise advice for life as well as bridge. I hope that all of Minnesota Bridge's readers are able to do much of that in the coming New Year! And - enjoy John's last column. We are so fortunate that John is as talented as he is prolific!
I've come across this kind of problem before albeit rarely. It takes a very sophisticated partnership to assist the defender with the guess in a timely fashion.
See "Side Suit Signals" in the March 1988 Bridge World for an approach that can be extended to this type of problem.
The application requires the 'unpressured' defender to recognize the uniqueness of the deal, and to give the appropriate distributional signal in a timely manner.
It's worth it's own article. More to follow!?
Posted by: Mike Cassel | January 06, 2009 at 04:26 PM