Adding up to ten

I choose to show a table where I was not playing. This hand replayed at 60 tables, when played at FOUR HEARTS went down as often as it made. Many declarers tried a complete cross-ruff and fell a trick short, losing control sooner or later. It is essential to build one spade trick, cash that spade trick and then get four spade ruffs (because defense usually manages not to draw two rounds of trump, not disentangling the heart ace early), to go with four high trumps in hand and the Ace of diamonds. At this table, declarer got it right.
For defence to quickly pull two rounds of trump, opening leader must act double-dummy, eschewing the lead of a club from AK, hardly possible. If he plays a heart, partner can return a club, and now S plays a second round.

3NT with three overtricks made by partner

One Notrump was 10-12, and I gave partner 3NT.After opening leader cashed a high spade and shifted to a heart, my partner Jeffrey Garbus, crossed to the club Ace, finessed in clubs, found out by cashing the CK that his RHO guarded the clubs, and he ran diamonds, pitching his spade queen, and dummy's spade ten proved to be a threat, and neither opponent could hold hearts. He made 12 tricks on the nicely executed double squeeze.

The Rodwell Files

I am now nearly finishing "The Rodwell Files". Here is a review I posted on Amazon.

Eric Rodwell, the professorial half of the famous pair "Meckwell" that has dominated bridge for decades, has written a work for an advanced audience, which according to the blurb "is guaranteed to change the way you play bridge."
Nearly 400 pages, chockful of examples from high-level practice where the names of the innocent are not withheld, illustrate the points of technique. You will find here pointers in planning, in suit combinations, advanced suit handling, in abundance over double and compound squeezes. Rodwell uses colorful and memorable terms for the techniques, such as "gouging", "days of thunder", "The Left Jab" (second hand high from Kxx or Qxx when declarer leads to dummy's AJTx), "The 007 Play - License to Kill", my personal favorite "Chinese High Card Promotion" (not to be confused with the well-known Chinese finesse),and the 322-1/6 Super Duck (Dont even ask).
Rodwell's unique style of instruction, his extremely high level of analysis, make this unique book a standout in bridge literature, and one that is sure to be talked about for years to come.

WEAK TWO- TWO NT ASK - 4m jump

A good use for a unused bid was suggested in "Modern Ideas in Bidding" by Rosenkranz and Truscott (Devyn Press).
You open a weak two in a major. Partner asks with 2NT. No matter whether you use OGUST responses or Feature, consider adding a response of 4 of a lower suit to show a King in that suit and a semi-solid 6-card major.
Rosenkranz gives a example. KQJT84 32 K2 J87 opp A A54 AQJT83 A62. TWO SPADES-TWO NOTRUMP - FOUR DIAMONDS - SEVEN NOTRUMP.

A psych backfires in the Spingold

Holding the South hand Vul against not, what is your bid? Nick Nickell found the magic psyche, a steal of ONE SPADE, shutting his opponents out of the spade fit. In fact the spade game made with a overtrick at the other table when Meckwell was +450.
Now, after Katz innocently raise to TWO SPADES, Nickell bid FOUR HEARTS.
The bidding tray stayed under the screen agonizingly long, and came back with FOUR SPADES! (Katz had taken FOUR HEARTS as a SPLINTER in support of SPADES, which it was in their partnership). Nickell corrected to FIVE HEARTS. More agony. No escaping with rebids in the modern bidding world. This was interpreted as Exclusion Blackwood (asking for key cards outside of hearts) and the bidding tray came back with SIX CLUBS. Now came SIX HEARTS doubled, and defended softly for -500. The loss being "only" 50 total points or 2 IMP. Instead of a possible double game swing or game swing.

spingold finals: Zia-Hamman bid and make a tough slam.

Zia,having ruffed the second diamond, makes the key play of finessing the first round of trump for an awesome result. The stakes are high (the spingold final against Zimmerman-Multon for Monaco.) In this set, Meckwell were sitting out, and Katz-Nickell were in the other room against the strong Helness-Helgemo. The Monaco pair made 4S +2 in the other room, so bidding the slam (the drive by HAMMAN ) and making it was a slam bonus pick up of 11 IMPs.

Jump rebid by Zia

I have always been fan of showing self-sufficient trump suits and about 17 HCP+ by a jump rebid. Witness how Zia and Hamman bid to this grand slam today in the Spingold semi final to win 11 IMP,
Zia S:xxx H:K D:AKQxxx C:Axx. Zia ONE DIAMOND, partner Hamman S:AKx H:AQx D:xx C:KJxxx
TWO CLUBS... ZIA THREE DIAAMONDS (my man!), Hamman (4D sets trump) Zia (4H cue)
Hamman (4NT) Roman Key Card Blackwood Zia (5D = 3 keys) Hamman (5H trump Q?) Zia (5NT) yes with a side king which is higher than the trump suit Hamman (7nt) = 13 tricos in NT a better proposition since if diamonds dont come in clubs might.
The lead by Versace is a small diamond away from the JTx and when all follow to a second D round Hamman claims his grand slam

A enterprising gambling bid finds a suitable dummy

When I held the hand you see under abhirar in the diagram, I had a weak two on my left and two passes to me. If I were playing leaping Michaels a convention where a jump to 4 in the minor shows exactly a good hand with 55 in the Other Major and 5 in the said minor, I would have trotted that out. But I wasnt. So I chose the unilateral gamble of FOUR HEARTS. The lead was a diamond, and I was able to play trumps up to my KQxxx twice, and manage to restrict my losers to three in spite of the AJTx xx break. I won 7.71 IMP for my courage. I had some company in the 60 table event.

Stayman Doubled and Redoubled.

My username on BBO is abhirar and I was returning after a long absence. On the first hand of a tournament, playing with a new partner, having just decided on 2/1 with gadgets (whatever that might imply), I held the 54 in majors invitational hand when partner opened a 1NT (15-17). Deciding to trot out Smolen, two clubs stayman with a prepared invitational rebid in case of two diamond response of my 4 card major, I bid TWO CLUBS. When LHO X'd this, partner lost no time redoubling and I sat it to play 2CLUBS XX at IMP. The rewards were rich as I learnt that 2Cxx +3 was 1160.

Early planning and endplay

Five Clubs was a bit of a audacious bid, but the proof of the pudding etc.. All along I was playing for the actual layout, when I played a heart up, LHO needed to just get in and out and sit back and wait for his/her diamond. When LHO played low, I played HQ winning, and played H to the Ace, last chance for LHO to unblock the HK under the Ace. When I cleared the third round of the suit, LHO was a sitting duck having to give me a ruff sluff or open up the diamonds. I was home.

Ely Culbertson on the 1933 match against England

Entitled "300 Contract Bridge Hands THE FIRST WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP for tthe Charles M. Schwab Trophy OFFICIAL RECORD Reviewd and Explained by Ely Culbertson, Captain of the Victorious American Team", the hardcover we published immediately after the end of the match, by Ely's own "The Bridge World Inc.".

Ely, his wife and expert Jo Culbertson, T.Lightner and M.Gottlieb played for the Americans, beating Col. Beasley, Lady Rhodes, Sir Guy Domville, G.Mathieson, G.Morris and P.V.Tabbush.

One interesting fact: In order to scoop the British in publication, Culbertson stayed up for six nights (Jul 17-22, 1933) during the match (until 8 am) analysing the hands, (the games began at 1 pm ended at 11 pm). Thus he had the MS ready for publication in August.

A second interesting fact: Although bidding methods, especially slam conventions were in their infancy (Blackwood was not in vogue), slam bidding was decent. The British were inferior in this department. Occasionally one sees the Americans, then the British overreaching to seven missing an Ace! Something one cannot see today.
Ely was using the 4-5NT convention (his baby), which Mr. Tabbush famously announced after one British debacle that he would adopt. Quite simply, the 4NT was an announcement rather than an interrogation that the bidder possessed a good fit, and two aces and a king of partner's suit (or, rarely, three aces). Five Notrump in response showed possession of the other two aces. After this, a grand slam would be bid if either player felt they had a hand with extra playing power. As you can see, a bit rough and tumble.

A tempo behind on defence.

Declarer in 4Spades, guessed to play off DA first, in other rooms he was going down after playing the overcaller for the DQ. After this, when in with the second round of spades, I correctly attacked clubs, but failed to perservere, perhaps thrown off by partner's discouraging club spot. However, as the sequel showed, we were a tempo behind with the long diamond providing a club parker for declarer. I needed to knock out the CK before partner got in with his trump trick.
An interesting defensive problem.

Finding a 4-4 fit is strictly for the birds.

When I eschewed a One heart bid on my ratty 4 card suit, we failed to find out 4-4 heart fit. Declaring in 3NT, I studied the HJ lead carefully. I concluded it was fromm AJTx or KJTx and that my RHO held a stiff honor. So I ducked. No stiff honor appeared, but it turned out that the HJ was stiff and could not be overtaken safely. Thus, the operation was unscuccessful but the patient survived. For a top board no less.

A cute unblock, as OTs pour in for a top

When LHO bid spades in front of partner's AKQT, pd guided the auction to 3NT rather than defend doubled. Defense never found their three club tricks, and the proper farsighted unblock enabled diamonds to come home when two diamonds were discarded by defence.

A tough bid by partner, 90%

RHO was in the hot seat after the take out double of his weak two bid was passed for penalty, he tried to scramble and partner surprised me by taking me out of my penalty double. Right he was as he scored better than the 500 we would have got.

Winning the battle but losing the war

It was Matchpoints. The field tends to play in 3NT even when not technically the best contract. Which would have made 10 tricks. My inspired bidding to the 11 trick minor contract which was unbeatable got only 35%.

A Moysian fit

Bidding opposite a preempt

Holding the West cards, at MPs, I felt the hand was marginal to insist upon a game. After much thought, I temporized with 2NT asking for a feature, 3Spades was the response, and I gave partner 4 Spades on the doubleton. Although the SAQ were offside, partner with some assistance from the defence who never switched to a club, brought home the contract.

A passed hand invitation, and a lot of tricks in 3NT

As a passed hand, do you rebid 1H or 1S or invite in Notrump? I chose to bid 2NT (11-12) and partner gave me three. A diamond was led, and I proceeded to rack up a lot of tricks (10) for a MP score of 90.5%

The club King is always single!

What would you bid in response to partner's three clubs (RHO having X'd) holding the cards in the west seat? I bid three notrump expecting some running clubs and some luck in the heart stopper department, or a non-heart lead. I got the latter, but the club suit left something to be desired.

Well, you know what they say about the club king always being single (not to mention that beggars cannot be choosers). I banged out the club Ace and took my ten tricks for 86%

Opponent walks into a crossruff

Neither my THREE CLUBS rebid nor partner's free THREE SPADES bid were classical things of beauty but it is the result that counts. We were quick to double FOUR DIAMONDS, and partner leads a spade. Declarer is known to be competent, but slips here. With no quick road to hand, declarer tries a club. Perhaps I should have ducked my AK! allowing partner to ruff (partner's failure to lead my suit can only mean one thing, and then we get four quick tricks in a cross ruff, with the DJ promotion to come) but I naturally won the first two clubs and put a third through.
Declarer should have seen that I will ruff spades from the bidding, should have ruffed high and played three rounds of trump, losing the promoted trump to partner's J. THen he goes only one down, as partner is endplayed. Instead declarer played automatically playing a loser spade on the third club, we then crossruffed for two down and a high matchpoint score.

Not shy to bid game. A neat Overtrick at pairs.

My overcall was not exactly strong, and when partner jumped right to game without as much as an invite, and in competition, I awaited dummy with some concern.
The lead (Rusinow) was a gift into my AQ, and a heart loser disappeared, I took the club finesse and arrived at 11 tricks losing a trump to the QJx and a heart. 85% board.

Five clubs doubled in competition making six

I had made a "weak/intermediate" jump overcall of three clubs in competition, and when partner was there with Four and then with Five over Four Hearts by the opponents, I was filled with trepidation. The hand however played like a pianola, with my taking a marked finesse against Qxx marked by the double, and the established side suit in dummy picked up the trumps in a coup. When the spade KQ proved to be tight, I even made a doubled overtrick, taking twelve tricks in all for a 100% score.

A remarkable Moysian fit play by partner.

The elopement toward te n tricks by jeffreyg, and the especially accurate high ruffs towards the end made for an unusual hand. 100% at Matchpoints.