We are very fortunate to have bridge players in and from Minnesota ranging from expert to world class. (Be sure to look for a post in the very near future about Steve Garner - the player whose team just won the Vanderbilt in a very tough field - and - the Mott-Smith Trophy for most masterpoints won at the Memphis NABC.)
Steve moved from the Twin Cities to Chicago long ago. Fortunately for us, however, we have other class acts and talented competitors still here. Paul Meerschaert and Rob Schachter are two.
Big thanks to Paul for sharing this intriguing, interesting and entertaining article from Memphis with us!
Rowan and Martin
Some of the younger bridge players may not know who I am referring to, but most of us remember the Comedy Team of Rowan and Martin. During the early 70’s they had a popular TV Variety Show called Laugh-In. It was one of my favorite shows in my youth. Dan Rowan played the Straight-Man setting up the one-liners for the comedy talent of Dick Martin. Some other famous Comedy teams using this formula were Martin & Lewis, Abbot & Costello, and Laurel & Hardy. For some of the younger generation they might think of Penn & Teller or Tina Fey & Amy Poehler.
I present a hand from the recent National in Memphis that had me feeling a bit like Dan Rowan. My partner on my recent trip to Memphis is Rob Schachter. Most local players know Rob. I have been blessed to know Rob for 40+ years now! For those of you that only know Rob at the table, let me introduce him to you a little.
To say that Rob is a gentle, kind, and respectful person is the truth, what many of you do not know is that Rob earned bread for his family playing the commodities market. Now I do not know much about the intricacies of what this entailed. I do know that among the many talents needed to succeed in this demanding field is understanding the Mathematics of Risk and Reward. Let’s look at a hand from Memphis where Rob used this understanding to not only pull off a fast one, but also left me feeling a little like Dan Rowan.
In first seat I pick up a nice hand, I am looking at:
AQ64 K9862 Q7 A9
I am playing Flannery today so my choices are to open 2D showing this shape, or to open 1H and reverse with 2S. The latter choice is a possible bid as I am also playing Precision so my 1H bid is limited to at most 16 HCP balanced, or 15 points unbalanced. I decide that the heart suit is not good enough to be forcing my partner to the 3-level in my anchor suit. So instead I open 2D Flannery despite it being technically 1 point past our intended range for the bid. (Our agreement is that 2D shows a GOOD 10 to 14 HCP points) I am pleasantly surprised to hear Rob bid 3D which is artificial showing interest in Slam. My 3H bid is forced, and Rob follows up with 4H. The bidding so far has been:
2D – Shows 5 or 6 hearts, 4 spades and a minimum. Defined as 10-14
3D – Shows slam interest in Hearts, Spades, or Other. Usually NT
3H – Forced response waiting to hear what partner has in mind
4H – Shows slam interest in hearts, but also denied either minor suit Ace to Q-Bid
It is clear I need to do something moving forward. My hand again is:
AQ64 K9862 Q7 A9
A possible hand for partner consistent with this bidding could very well be:
Kxx AQxx, Kxx, Kxx
This makes 6H virtually cold. I have two options. One is to just bid Key-Card Blackwood. This of course breaks the ‘Rule’ of never bid Key-Card with 2 losers in a suit, but also leaves the opening leader in the dark. My other option is to follow up with a 5C Q-Bid letting partner know that I am worried about 2 diamond losers. The drawback of course is that my LHO is listening in on our conversation and also knows this is what is stopping me.
How does he know this? With no more than 1 loser in each minor I would just have a clear cut 4NT Key-Card bid available. This means my partner and LHO know I don’t have any of these possible minor suit holdings:
Kxx, x
Kx, Kx
x, Axx
Ax, Ax
Now it is Rob’s turn to bid. He is looking at a nice hand that a first glance many people would just sign off in 5H with. His hand is:
KJ5 AQJ, 95, KJ872
Remember what I said Rob did to put food on the table. I never asked Rob if he did a quick algorithm to work out the likely percentage that LHO might not have a diamond holding he wanted to lead from, or he just employed a little psychology and dared LHO to lead a diamond. It worked though. LHO was looking at:
72 1054 AJ843 Q104
LHO now has a legitimate problem to solve. He has heard me announce that I am mainly worried about 2 Diamond losers. He has also heard my partner say that wasn’t a problem. Does he try and cash 2 diamonds or does he knock out my club ace before his Diamond Ace is dislodged? After all my minor suit holding might be xx diamonds, and Ax in clubs. Rob might hold KQxx in diamonds and xx in clubs!
After his club lead 6H making 7 is quickly scored up leaving poor LHO muttering to himself!
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I offer up another quick hand from Memphis where Rob was faced with a similar situation. He Held:
AQ5 AKQJ1087 62 J
Rob in first seat starts things with 1C – Precision. Strong, Artificial, and Forcing. The bidding on this hand is:
Rob: 1C – Strong Artificial Forcing
LHO: 1D – Natural
Me – Double – sets up a game force promising at least 8 HCP, any distribution.
RHO – 2D – Natural
Rob – 3H – This is trumps partner, my suit is strong enough to play opposite a void!
LHO – 3S – Natural
Me – 5H – I think we might have a slam here, but I have 2 diamond losers
RHO – Pass
Rob – Pass
The difference here of course is the opponents know they have diamonds. The Risk-Reward odds are not in his favor.
I never thought I would end up some day playing the Straight-Man in a comedy act. But I was, and I must admit I enjoyed the role. To be honest I have always been more of a straight man as a bidding partner, but I will remember this one, and who knows maybe some day I will learn the intricacies of playing the comedy half of a bidding partnership!
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