Seven Notrump

In which some people who play bridge blog about it.

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Running score tally


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6 comments:

  At Tuesday, February 13, 2007 3:53:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said:

Wow! I'm totally the biggest loser!!!

  At Tuesday, February 13, 2007 4:00:00 PM, Blogger Paul said:

The great thing about the tally is that it changes quickly and and dramatically. I was totally the biggest loser the first few weeks it was up. Now I'm ahead, thanks especially to great cards on Sunday, but anyone could be next.

  At Thursday, April 12, 2007 1:59:00 PM, Blogger Lisa said:

This is a good incentive to play more. Kind of like shooting for mini-Life Master.

  At Thursday, April 12, 2007 2:04:00 PM, Blogger Lisa said:

Also, interesting post from the future (March 2008).

  At Wednesday, November 21, 2007 1:38:00 PM, Blogger Paul said:

Adam is fearsome. All of you who've been rooting for me to fall in the chart: looks like you've found your champion!

  At Wednesday, January 16, 2008 5:44:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said:

Are we still playing in Williamsburg on Saturday?

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Sunday, October 25, 2009

The WSJ notices bridge

There's not a great deal of meat in this wry appreciation of the game written by Alexander McCall Smith for the Wall Street Journal's "Life & Style" section, but it's not wrong, I'd say.

Send the link, perhaps, to non-playing friends as a way to explain where we all disappear to so often.

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Sunday, October 04, 2009

To force or not to force

I've learned a lot since I wrote about The 18-21 Problem, but I'm still somewhat plagued by hands like this one, which I held last night.

♠ A 5
♥ A K Q J 7 5
♦ Q 8
♣ Q 9 7

I dealt and have to bid. With 18 high-card points and a solid major suit, I suspect we have a shot at game even if partner's hand is weak. In our Standard American variant, there's no realistic way to force my partner to respond. I opened 1H and was left to play it there. Here's the complete deal:


North
♠ K J 10 6 4
♥ 9 8
♦ 4 3
♣ J 8 6 5
West
♠ Q 9 7
♥ 10 3 2
♦ A 10 9 6
♣ K 10 4
East
♠ 8 3 2
♥ 6 4
♦ K J 7 5 2
♣ A 2 3
South
♠ A 5
♥ A K Q J 7 5
♦ Q 8
♣ Q 9 7



Perfect defense would have scored four minor tricks off the top, but their communication faltered. With that luck and the successful spade finesse, I made four overtricks: a total of 5H, if only we had bid it.

What's to be done with hands like these? Leave them alone, because on the whole they are settable? Or push harder to get good results when good results are possible?

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