June 8th, 2009 ~ Mark Blumenthal ~
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When you are declarer, wait to play to the opening lead until you have planned how you will play the hand. Are you playing IMPs, rubber bridge or matchpoints? Are you doing well or badly? What do you know about the opponents’ hands from the bidding? Consider what is your best line of play depending on what type of game you are playing, and your situation. If it’s not rubber bridge, keep in mind how well you are doing. How will your line of play go if you have favorable breaks? How will you can cope with bad ones? . You should then play the hand as quickly as possible. Your opponents may have neglected to have ask themselves similar questions plus neither of them will know all the resources their side possess. By your
thinking out possible contingencies beforehand, either defender may err by making a play that is inferior. If your side is defending, the one who is sitting third should pause before playing to the trick and ask herself similar questions.
June 3rd, 2009 ~ Mark Blumenthal ~
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For those who either love or hate these, this is the last example I have of this play. Of course, I can’t promise I won’t have another later. This last one was given to me by Walt Walvick many years ago. It illustrates the height of artistry to which one take the idiot’s finesse. Even ostensibly dull hands such as West’s may become exciting.
| Dealer:
Vul:
|
North |
|
| ♠ |
Kxx |
| ♥ |
Jxx |
| ♦ |
K842 |
| ♣ |
KQx |
| West |
 |
East |
| ♠ |
xxxx |
♠ |
QJ10 |
| ♥ |
xxx |
♥ |
xxx |
| ♦ |
J107 |
♦ |
Q95 |
| ♣ |
xxx |
♣ |
Jxxx |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
Axx |
| ♥ |
AKQx |
| ♦ |
A63 |
| ♣ |
Axx |
Walt Walvick and Mike Garner cooperated beautifully to defeat six no trump which seems to be cold. Declarer won the opening lead of on the opening spade lead in dummy and seeing only one source for a twelfth trick, led a small diamond to the six hoping the suit would break three three, three.
Mike, sitting West, won this with the diamond jack instead of the seven! After running off his winners, declarer declarer laid down his ace of diamonds. Walt contributed to the confusion by following with his queen. Mike played seven the ten. Now when declarer led the the three of diamonds from dummy, Mike was able to follow with the seven, and perhaps dazzled by all the losing to the nine. e high cards that had appeared in the suit, declarer finessed the eight, losing to the nine. It was a very unlucky hand because he was playing against these defenders.
Incidentally, the most important technique to master in successfully executing an idiot’s finesse is to refrain from laughing while declarer is thinking. When you you have have successfully presented an opportunity for declarer to take an idiot’s finesse you should look at him or her. You should never look at your partner. It is impossible for you and your partner to look at each other and keep straight faces.
May 31st, 2009 ~ Mark Blumenthal ~
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There are several ways to improve yourself as a bridge player. First you should read bridge books or articles aimed at your level or higher. When he was getting good, Bob Goldman supposedly could tell the page number of a certain type play, in Watson’s classic on play of the hand. I could have checked this in the many years when we played together or talked frquently but never thought if so doing.
If you have to , take notes or lay out the cards so you will understand and remember what you read. Try to play in the toughest events for which you are eligible . Notice how your opponents bid and play and try to learn from them. Play with those who are better than you are and again ,try to notice how they bid, declare and defend. These players don’t have to be experts, but they should be better than you are. As you learn and become a better bridge player, you will be able to get better partners. If you don’t understand something, don’t delay the game, but make a note of it. Later on, you can ask your partner to explain it. You probably can ask your opponents also, who almost always will answer as long as you are polite and are careful to do so only when they seem to not to be otherwise occupied.
May 28th, 2009 ~ Mark Blumenthal ~
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Most of my partners, though incredulous at first that these could actually work, began to believe that sometimes these plays could actually catch somebody. One of them, Ed Shapiro, continued to scoff until we defended this hand:
| Dealer:
Vul:
|
North |
|
| ♠ |
Kxx |
| ♥ |
Jxx |
| ♦ |
xxx |
| ♣ |
KQJx |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
Qx |
♠ |
J10x |
| ♥ |
AKxxx |
♥ |
10x |
| ♦ |
KJx |
♦ |
Q10xx |
| ♣ |
xxx |
♣ |
xxxx |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A9xxx |
| ♥ |
Qxx |
| ♦ |
Axx |
| ♣ |
Ax |
Ed had insisted that idiot’s finesses couldn’t work. Playing with Ed and defending against two spades I led the king of hearts. and upon receiving the ten from Ed, continued with the ace and another which he ruffed with the spade ten and returned a diamond.
Declarer won this and led a spade to the king under which Ed dropped the spade jack. Declarer continued with a small spade from dummy. Ed played small. When Ed played small declarer started thinking. At this point Ed started laughing. When everyone turned to look at him, he stopped, but upon declarer’s continued thought he he broke up again. He explained he had thought about something funny that had happened the previous day. Finally, declarer, muttering something about it being a complete guess, put in the nine. I won the queen and cashed two diamonds to defeat two spades a trick. As we left the table I could hear declarer’s frenzied partner explaining that Ed with QJ10x of spades would not have played them in that order.
May 24th, 2009 ~ Mark Blumenthal ~
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Sometimes you have to go against the percentages if that is the only legitimate way to make your contract . In the 1976 Spring Nationals I picked up A3, J76, KJ974, J102. Here is the bidding:
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Pass |
1 Club |
1 Spade |
2 Diamonds |
| Pass |
2 Hearts |
Pass |
2 NT |
| Pass |
3 NT |
Pass |
Pass |
The opening lead was the ten of spades Here is the complete hand:
| Dealer:
Vul:
|
North |
|
| ♠ |
642 |
| ♥ |
A1032 |
| ♦ |
A |
| ♣ |
AK976 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
108 |
♠ |
KQJ974 |
| ♥ |
K94 |
♥ |
Q85 |
| ♦ |
Q10652 |
♦ |
83 |
| ♣ |
854 |
♣ |
Q3 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A3 |
| ♥ |
J76 |
| ♦ |
KJ974 |
| ♣ |
J102 |
My RHO overtook with the the ten which I ducked. Spades were continued, and I had to win the trick with my ace. Obviously, if the percentage play in the club suit is finessing the jack. I if it won and the the suit broke broke three two as it it is a favorite to do I could count one spade, one heart, two diamonds, and five clubs for nine tricks. However, I had a problem. I couldn’t get back to my hand to cash the king of diamonds. My only possible entry was is in clubs. If the queen of clubs were doubleton or singleton. I could make my contract because I then would have the club entry in my hand, and and be able to cash nine tricks. Accordingly, I led a small club to the ace and cashed the king of clubs. I was rewarded because had the tbe queen was doubleton, That it was offside was offside was an added bonus because some Easts might cover the jack of clubs Bidding and making three no trump was worth almost a top.
May 20th, 2009 ~ Mark Blumenthal ~
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♣ The next sucessful one I had was initiated by an unfortunate lead. Here is the auction:
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| — |
— |
— |
1C |
| Pass |
1D |
Pass |
1NT |
| |
3NT |
Pass |
Pass |
My partner led a small heart.
| Dealer:
Vul:
|
North |
|
| ♠ |
Kxx |
| ♥ |
A109x |
| ♦ |
AQxx |
| ♣ |
Jx |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
xxx |
♠ |
QJ10x |
| ♥ |
Qxx |
♥ |
Jxx |
| ♦ |
xxx |
♦ |
Kxx |
| ♣ |
A10xx |
♣ |
xxx |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
Axx |
| ♥ |
Kxx |
| ♦ |
J10x |
| ♣ |
KQ9x |
Declarer called for the heart ten. Being aquainted with my partner’s opening leads, I smoothly ducked it. Declarer now finessed the jack of diamonds. I won and shifted to the queen of spades which declarer won in his his hand. After cashing diamonds declarer knocked out the ace of clubs. My partner won and returned a spade which was won in dummy. Declarer now crossed to his hand with the king of hearts to cash his good club. My partner, who was well versed in idiot’s finesses, dumped the dueen of hearts under the king. After the ten of clubs had failed to drop, declarer led a small heart and my partner followed with a small one.
Again, declarer had a finessing position which he shouldn’t have had. Surely, thought declarer, my partner had led small from the QJxx of hearts. I hadn’t been able to beat the ten at trick one. After thinking about it for a while declarer finessed the nine, and I won the last two tricks.
May 17th, 2009 ~ Mark Blumenthal ~
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Aces are meant to take kings. It is very rarely correct to underlead an ace against a suit contract. Not only may it give away a trick because declarer has the unsupported king without the QJ in dummy , or your partner may not be able to read the situation. If you lead the four of hearts against the contract of four spades, and dummy has has QJ532, your partner with K976 should duck because declarer should have a singleton ace . Similarly, partner should play the eight from K98 if dummy has Q1043 and declarer plays low. Again, If the three has been led dummy has KJ42 of hearts and declarer plays low it is the correct play by your partner has the Q984 to play the eight of hearts If dummy has the KJ64 and partner has the H92 partner should play the nine of hearts assuming you led from the heart ten as opposed to the heart ace .
There is one situation in which underleading the ace is often may be considered. That is when the dummy on your left has shown a strong balanced hand by opening one or two no trump, and you feel from the bidding and your hand you have no other outstanding lead.
May 15th, 2009 ~ Mark Blumenthal ~
5 Comments
I was reading in Linda’s blog about the future of bridge. In The first regional open pairs I won I played Swith Sidney Aronson. He told me that in the forties the most prestiguous event was the life masters individual pairs. The winner of that won two masterpoints. Second overall won one. Those were all the masterpoints the event awarded. There were no section tops and no other overall awards. I joined the ACBL in the early to mid early sixties. I was somewhat aware that the ACBL had just changed its overall and section awards by increasing the number of masterpoints for finishing overall or doing well in a section. I met Ed Lazarus at a Philadelphia tournament. He asked me how many masterpoints I had. I think I had about fifty then. Ed knew how I played so he asked me why I wasn’t a life master. I told him I hadn’t been playing long enough.
This has continued. The last national, excuse me, NABC, I played in was 2003 I was introduced to the president of the ACBL at the time. He asked me if there was anything he could do for me. I said there was– stop masterpoint inflation. He said, “I can’t do that. ” There is no good way to compare presernt players to those of the past.The top players know who is at their level, but there is no easy way to truly rank players. I guess we could rank players as they do in golf by keeping track of how many majors they have won. That is complicated by bridge being a partnership game and the presence of professional players and sponsors.
We have seen drug and cheating incidents in major sports. Policing any irregularities by ultimately relying on committees of players who ofen may be intimidated by one of the protesters does not seem ideal.
As for the future of bridge, a game manufacturer I knew told me Americans don’t like to have to think. Add to that the popularity of working out or playing sports or and computers and video games, It seems more people would rather have something in which they can be active. They know participating in physical activity is important for their health. At least we don’t have to play in smoke filled rooms anymore.
May 14th, 2009 ~ Mark Blumenthal ~
2 Comments
Most books dealing with defensive techniques in bridge teach subjects such as counting declarer’s high card points. They discuss the various defensive tools such as unblocks, holdups and false cards. However, no book I have read touches the combination of unblock and false card called the ‘idiot’s finesse.’ Why is it named an idiot’s finesse? Because only a declarer who is not too bright could fall for such a ploy.
The idea behind an idiot’s finesse is to give the declarer an opportunity to go wrong when there would be none. A basic example is this:
K109xx
Qx Jx (you)
A8xx (declarer)
Declarer leads leads to his king, and you holding Jx play small. Declarer now leads small back to his hand and your jack makes him play the ace dropping your partner’s queen. What if instead you were to play the jack on the first round of the suit? Now when declarer leads towards his ace you play small. Now it becomes possible for him to put in the eight and lose to your partner’s queen. Certainly some declarer might think, “This an example of restricted choice. The jack was already played, and there is a finessing position.”
It could never happen, you might think. You would be surprised. My first experience with an idiot’s finesse was almost as simple as that.:
| Dealer:
Vul:
|
North |
|
| ♠ |
QJx |
| ♥ |
Kxx |
| ♦ |
Kxx |
| ♣ |
KJ9x |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
Axx |
♠ |
xx |
| ♥ |
xxxx |
♥ |
Qxxxx |
| ♦ |
QJ10 |
♦ |
xxxxx |
| ♣ |
Qxx |
♣ |
10xx |
|
South |
|
| ♠ |
K10xx |
| ♥ |
Ax |
| ♦ |
xxx |
| ♣ |
Axx |
Sitting West and defending against six spades I led the queen of diamonds. Declarer knocked out the ace of spades, and I continued with the jack of diamonds. After drawing trumps declarer led a club to the jack which naturally won and led a club back to the ace upon which I followed by playing the queen.
Now declarer ran his tricks hoping something good would happen. Seeing he had no other recourse, at trick twelve he led a small club towards dummy’s king nine. When I followed with a small club declarer remembered that the queen had dropped, and that the ten was still out. After due deliberation he finessed the nine, losing the last two tricks. Of course these plays don’t always work. Sometimes declarer ‘guesses’ corrrectly.
May 11th, 2009 ~ Mark Blumenthal ~
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Bridge is a percentage game. You don’t have to remember the exact numbers, but you should have a rough idea. of them. For example, when you are declarer in four spades with eight trumps between your hand and dummy you should be aware that missing five cards in a suit the chances are about 67% or 2/3 of the time, will split 3 – 2, that they will split 4 -1 almost 30% or less than 1/3 of the time and about 4% of the time they will split 5 – 0. or 1 time in 25 times. When you plan your play of the hand you have to know how likely you are to make and what the chances are you may go down if suits do not break favorably.
While in matchpoints you generally go with the odds, you should be aware that the The odds may not be favorable in every suit. In IMPs or rubber bridge overtricks are not nearly as important as they are in matchpoints or board a match . You have to be aware the that it is very possible some suit will break in a way that is least favorable and should look for a line of play that will to ensure making your contract even though one or more suits may break worse than is to be expected to be the acording to be the the most likely percentages .
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