A Touch Of Class
Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday October 14, 2003
After competing in several world championships, one of Australia's top players decided to bow out of top level competitive bridge after the Bermuda Bowl in 1993. He made a rare, occasional appearance in the South West Pacific Teams held in Canberra each January but was otherwise not seen in major events. David Lilley returned to compete in the Sydney Seniors Teams where his team reached the final. Hopefully this marks the beginning of a new lease of bridge life for him and Lilley will once more be a frequent competitor at national and international level.
Today's deals are from the final of the Sydney Seniors Teams, won by Pauline Evans, Kinga Moses, Neville Moses, Stephen Bock and Gary Lane.
The defence took the first six tricks for +100. What do you think of South's jump to 3NT?
South might expect North to have some help in diamonds, but there was no guarantee of that. It would not have cost South here to bid 2D to show a strong hand. The outcome wold almost certainly have been a successful 4H.
While the jump to 3NT looks bad on paper, it could be the winning decision. A 2D bid by South might land North-South in 3NT played by the North hand which would not be ideal in this layout:
If South is declarer, the likely low card lead from West gives South a stopper. If played by North, the defence can take the first six tricks.
Ruth Jamieson, South, bid the enemy suit in reply to the double to show a strong hand. Judging that a major suit game might be better placed with South declarer, Peter Jamieson bid 3C. He declined the offer of 3NT and collected +450 in 4H for +11 Imps.
What should West respond? With five trumps 2S is a tad timid. Based on the Law of Total Tricks, bid for the number of tricks equal to the number of trumps known. That means West should bid 3S, which would make life much tougher for North-South. You must not fear the vulnerability. Partner took that into account when opening.
As West had bid a mere 2S, Lilley judged that the lead would not be a singleton and played the HQ. Had
East returned a heart, declarer might well have played the H9 and South would then need to play the clubs accurately.
In practice East switched to a diamond, hoping to find West with the SA. Now declarer had to keep West off lead. West did not cover the DJ and Lilley simply played a club to dummy's nine. The rest was plain sailing for +400 and +6 Imps as North-South at the other table stopped in 3C.
Superior bridge is often largely the result of superior experience (Albert Ostrow)
© 2003 Sydney Morning Herald