Don't Preempt the Preemptor

I have senioritis - that disease that is very widespread amongst high school seniors around this time of the year, with graduation for most less than a month away. I don't think I really expereinced it fully in high school, although senioritis in my last semester of college hit me pretty strongly. Strangely, though, that was one of my better semesters grade-wise (2 A's, 1 B, and a pass in a pass/fail class). Anyway, 4 years later, I have senioritis again as the end of my current job is in sight and a new one awaits whenever the required paperwork gets taken care of.

On to some bridge stuff.

Don't preempt the preemptor. This is one of those rules I learned very early on in bridge, but apparently it’s not something most people learn in the early stages of their development (or ever) as a bridge player. If your RHO preempts and you have a preempt hand, you probably should just pass. Coming in directly over a preempt shows a pretty good hand and jump overcalls are more destructive to partner than to the opponents. When LHO has a huge hand, you might do okay to preempt over a preempt but even when the points are split between LHO and partner, LHO is in a better position to know what to do.

Furthermore, jump overcalls over a preempt are useful for other hands that are difficult to show. I guess standard is to play that a jump overcall, like (2S)-4D shows a hand that would have doubled and then bid diamonds. However, doubling and then bidding diamonds is less likely to work out because partner is too likely to insist on hearts so you leave this bid to show a giant true one-suiter. The advantages for this are small, but having 4D show AQJxxxxx and out is definitely not a good strategy. It’s not that that hand never comes up like some esoteric conventions – in fact, my partner did have that hand Tuesday night – but bidding directly more often causes problems for partner than the opponents. He found me with a 19-count and I couldn’t stop short of a grand in diamonds, which made on a pseudo double squeeze once they failed to cash the ace of clubs at trick one. Had he just passed, I would have reopened with a double and then he could bid 5D, which would show a long strong diamonds suit with virtually nothing outside the suit. I would happily raise to 6 with my flat 19.

If you have a standard preempt, there is little danger of the hand getting passed out because one of the other two will take some action. Even if it does get passed out, it’s probably their hand because partner will stretch to balance when it goes 2S-P-P to him. So, you can make a simple overcall if it’s a good preempt or just pass and come in later so partner doesn’t take you for a better hand.

However, almost everyone I play with regularly plays Leaping Michaels. In leaping Michaels, a 4m overcall of their 2M opening shows that minor and the other major and like a 3-4 loser hand. This still allows you to show the 5-5 hands, and frees up the direct cuebid for a stopper ask or strong takeout, and the huge minor one-suiters have to start with double, which is fine.

Impossible Auctions

1♥-1NT-X-2♥

P-3NT-X-P

P-P

I hope to never see this auction again. The cards were lying very favorably for declarer and I think we may have slipped a trick on defense so he only went down 2.

1NT-P-2NT-P

3♣-P-3♦-P

3♥-P-4♦-P

4♥-P-5♦-P

P-P

This is another basically impossible auction. 2NT was a transfer to diamonds, 3♣ was a superaccept, and 3♦ was a signoff. I was actually the notrump opener here – the one making the seemingly ridiculous bids. However, 5♦ was exactly the right spot. My hand: ♠Ax ♥AKJxx ♦Txxx ♣Ax. Partner was 2-1-6-4 with only the ace of diamonds. The contract made easily when diamonds did not split 3-0. However, I do not condone this bidding. At least I should have passed 4♦ when partner tried to sign off a second time.

Changes but not really

So, I am officially the editor of the local bridge newsletter. It's like the acbl bulletin but way smaller. And a volunteer job.

And I'm officially starting a new job sometime soon. It's still at Robins AFB - I'm just waiting on the higher ups to finalize the transfer and fill out the required paper work. I'm looking forward to it.

I've played quite a bit of bridge this past week and have several score cards filled with circles and notes and hand diagrams that I may get around to writing about this week.

I've decided something else about living here. It's not so bad. Yes, I am deprived of lots of good restaurants and bars that I still love in Atlanta, and the better competition of the Atlanta bridge club during the week but it helps keep those things special to me. I mean, would I really still like Chipotle and Tin Drum as much as I do if they were available to me every day? Maybe, but probably not. I would need to find a new weekend hobby because driving to Atlanta to visit a restaurant and a bar and get a meal or two to take home wouldn't be an adventure anymore. It's the same logic as why it probably wouldn't be fun to play bridge full time - it wouldn't be as exciting. I just wish I still had a good friend to visit in Atlanta. Damn all you Techies who moved to Seattle and Houston and Pittsburgh and Hong Kong and Dubai.

I guess the same can be said about getting married - once you get married, you don't have that variety that you may or may not have as a single person so you wind up having to find other hobbies to have a new adventure because dating your spouse isn't as exciting as it was when dates were weekly rather than daily.

Coming in at the 4 level in a 4 card suit

In my Swedish Canapé bidding system, 2♣ is an opening bid that is one of the most awkward bids in bridge - however, the awesomeness of many of our other bids make up for this slight drawback. The 2♣ and 2♦ responses to a 1♣ opening are just about as awkward. But, they do allow for some inferences that might otherwise not be available to a standard bidder. 2♣, either as an opening bid or a response to 1♣, shows 6+ clubs or 4+ clubs with a 5 card major. As an opening, it is 11-16 hcp; as a response it is 8-11 hcp when one-suited and 12+ when containing a 5 card major.

In the BAM Saturday night in Gatlinburg, I held ♠Kxxx, ♥x, ♦xxxx, ♣Txxx at favorable vulnerability. Sean opened 2♣ and RHO bid 2♥. I passed and LHO raised to 4♥. Knowing that we either have a 10 card club fit or a double fit in spades and clubs, I took a 4♠ sacrifice. This must be a pass or correct situation because I could have made a negative free bid of 2♠ earlier (or made an insinuating double with a decent hand or a forcing hand with spades). It’s kind of cool to come in at the 4 level on a 4 card suit and it be totally right. Sure enough, Sean had a 5-2-2-4 hand with ♠A and ♣AKQ. If the black suits split 2-2 and 3-2, we would be making while 4♥ goes down, but if either opponent had a black suit singleton, 4♥ would make and therefore make 4♠ a good sac.

System wins and losses

My tournament in Gatlinburg started out badly for me. In the first six boards of our KO match Friday afternoon, I managed to go down in 3 makable games - not double dummy makable but legitimately makable. We won that match and the next one by huge margins and it's hard to find a clear error on my part after that but we only won 6th in the bam and 1 out of 2 in a compact KO.

Anyway, Friday night I picked up ♠AQ8xx ♥9 ♦KQxxx ♣xx in first seat both vul. I opened a canape 1♦. Sean bid 1♥, rho bid 1♠, Sean dutifully reopened with a double. LHO made an SOS XX with his 1-4-4-4 1-count, which was left in. We dropped a trick and only beat it 1 but still felt good about +400. We just didn't think it would be a win 18. Our teammates defended 4♠X and collected 1400. System win.

In the bam at favorable vulnerability I held ♠AK9x ♥x ♦K ♣KQJxxxx and opened a canape 1♠, which was passed out. The good news was that the opponents had missed their 9 card spade fit. The bad news was that they couldn't make game and we could make 5♣. Sean's hand: ♠ ♥QTxxxx ♦xxx ♣ATxx. System loss.
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Zero Matchpoints for +1430

+1430 is one of those scores in bridge that is "never" bad. It's bidding and making 6 of a major, vulnerable. It's one of the few scores where you can be pretty sure is a decent score without even knowing the hands, particularly in a weak field.

However, Meg and I managed to get a zero for this Saturday morning. It was our only zero out of 4 sessions of pairs. She thought she could make 7 without a spade finesse in 6H and that would be true if hearts split 3-1 or better but with the 4-0 trump split and 5-1 club split, the spade finesse was necessary and she didn't leave herself in a position to take that finesse without risking going down. Even so, you would think that out of 12 other pairs playing this board in a fairly weak field, that a couple of them would miss slam or also only make 6. But it was one of those slams with 34 combined hcp and there were 2 1440's (6NT), 7 1460's (6H making 7), 1470 (6NT making 7), 2210 (7H), and 2220 (7NT).

First round finesse for the jack

On this board from Saturday afternoon at the Charlottesville sectional, I thought I had made a great play to make 5♣ – I took a first round diamond finesse the right way.
 

Dealer: S Vul: Both	North ♠ AKQ865 ♥ K95 ♦ 72 ♣ 82
West ♠ J7 ♥ AT84 ♦ AT ♣ QJ963		East ♠ 32 ♥ 63 ♦ KQ965 ♣ AKT5
	South ♠ T94 ♥ QJ72 ♦ J843 ♣ 74

South	West	North	East
Pass	1♥	1♠	X
Pass	2♣	2♠	3♠
Pass	4♣	Pass	5♣
Pass	Pass	Pass

1♥ was a canapé opening, X supposedly showed a good hand (2m instead would have been natural and something like 8-11hcp), 2♣ showed longer clubs than hearts. Obviously 3NT, if anyone was brave enough to not bid with the north hand and wait for EW to get to 3NT, would go down two. In 5♣, we needed to pick up 5 diamond tricks to make the contract. Given the bidding it’s favorite for south to have 4 diamonds and therefore makes it the percentage play to make the contract is to finesse him for the J rather than play to drop J, Jx, or Jxx, but you’ll go down two when it is wrong. Going down at all will surely get a below average score because a significant number of people surely won’t get to game so I think the first round finesse is definitely correct here. 5♣ making was worth 11 matchpoints out of 12.

It surprises me is that no east-west pair went minus on this board. There were 3 600’s, 7 150’s (4♣ making 5), 2 130’s (4♣ making), and a 100 (3♠ down 1). But what surprises me even more is that 10 out of the 12 declarers made 5 and the only way to make 5 is to take a first round diamond finesse for the jack. Well, maybe the 150’s and 600’s are actually people in NT getting a non-spade lead. In that case, there are 9 top tricks and it would definitely be too risky to finesse in diamonds.

Meg and I wound up with a slew of 3^rd place finishes in the pair games and somehow were 2^nd in the Swiss with a meager 3.5 wins out of 6 and 67 VP. Not quite as good as the 2^nd, 5^th, 1^st, and 1^st we had at the slightly larger Macon sectional in January, but not bad.

3-3 Fit ftw

What was life like pre-bridge? I mean, what the heck did I do with all my free time before I played bridge? Or at least before I played bridge so much? Was I just bored a lot? I dunno. I still watch lots of TV and do athletic things and have plenty of time to sit around and do nothing. I certainly have not reached a stage where “bridge = life” – I hope I never do, and I do put forth some effort to do social things that don’t revolve around bridge like playing tennis, going to bars and meeting low-lifes (Hillery is still the only person I've first met at a bar who has actually been a good influence on me and that was almost 4 years ago!), and flirting with my favorite waitress at Cheddar's.

The truth is that I frequently feel uncomfortable in a setting with non-bridge players but rarely feel uncomfortable with bridge players. Bridge gives us something to talk about, and there’s rarely a time that I don’t have a few hands rolling around in my head that I can mention at a lull in the conversation. I find my mind more and more wandering off into bridge land during breaks in the conversation, and that really does not interest anyone who doesn’t play bridge. Actually, it only interests people who play bridge well. There was a time - 2nd and 3rd years at GT and 2008, perhaps my 3 happiest years so far - when I felt more like a normal person and I'm trying to remember how I did that.

I’ve gone out and about in Warner Robins a lot more than usual this week and several people have surprised me this week, I have surprised myself with how I reacted, and I’m mostly not happy about it all. I got pretty frustrated last night and not feeling so great today emotionally. But I have a flight to Charlottesville in a few hours and that should be a fun trip. Or maybe just a really awkward one. I dunno. I’ll leave you with a fun hand from Tuesday night.

Dealer: W Vul: NS	North ♠ AKJ ♥ J ♦ AKQ64 ♣ AQ72
West ♠ 9762 ♥ AT9653 ♦ T2 ♣ K		East ♠ 853 ♥ KQ72 ♦ J73 ♣ 984
	South ♠ QT4 ♥ 84 ♦ 985 ♣ JT653

West	North	East	South
2♥	X	Pass	2NT
Pass	3♥	X	Pass
Pass	4♥	X	4♠
Pass	Pass	Pass

I think I have all the important cards correct here. I certainly don’t condone making a habit of bidding games on 3-3 fits but this time it worked out pretty well. Of course, 6 of either minor is pretty easy to make and 4S can probably be beaten if the defense plays hearts at every opportunity, even if it gets to be a sluff and ruff. However, west led his singleton. Emory won with the ace in dummy and played another high club. West ruffed, shortening himself to the same number of trumps as everyone else. Now he could draw all the trumps and have a bunch of good minor suit cards.

In the bidding, 2NT was Lebensohl – in this case, Emory had intended to pass 3C. 3H showed lots of extra values, pass over 3HX should suggest no long suit and probably no 4 card spade suit. My 4H bid should again be passing the decision back to south and would have been appropriate if I had 4-1-4-4 distribution. Eh.

It's a beautiful night, we're looking for something dumb to do. I think I wanna marry you

I have nothing about bridge to write but I want to write something. My other blog is kind of dead. Hardly anyone ever visits. I didn't play any bridge this weekend except for 18 hands on bbo last night when I was mostly drunk (Sean and I were about +54 imps btw). Anyway, it's the first weekend with no live bridge for me since mid-February, ironically when I was interviewing a job at the ACBL.

So I've enjoyed a weekend at home, sleeping a lot, drinking a lot, and watching lots of sports on tv. I think it is safe to say I'm a regular at w few places in WR: Shahenshah, where they never bother bringing me a menu anymore; world of wings where the bartender just assumes I'll be drinking 2 Sweetwater Blues; and Cheddar's where I'm on a first name basis with a waitress and a bartender.

And with Connecticut's win over Kentucky yesterday, I have won both NCAA tournament pools I entered. Yay! And I'm rooting for a week-long government shutdown on April 8 so I could go to Gatlinburg longer.
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