Week 5

Heading home

I’m on a plane back home from Hawaii as I send this out. It was an incredible week. I had wonderful hosts who showed me all around the Big Island. I saw an erupting volcano at Volcano National Park and took a helicopter tour of the island. I snorkeled and swam. And I taught a bridge seminar at the Kona Bridge Club. Thanks to everyone there for a great event.

As expected, bridge took a back seat this week. I mean, Hawaii. Hard to take out my computer and play some robots when I have this view.

I did go through a few VuGraph sessions, and did some CueBids work with Greg.

I’m diving straight in once I get back. Greg and I are going to do some work on Thursday nights, including a weekly match against some good competition. I’m going to stream it live on Twitch, so you can follow along and see all my mistakes. We’re going to do it from about 7:30-9:30pm on Thursdays.

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My story last week about getting stuck on a meaning for partner’s auction and not reconsidering once their next bid made no sense struck a nerve. So many of you have found yourself making the same mistake. It’s a good one for us to be aware of and on the lookout for.

Since it was a popular theme, I’ll share another one from the Honolulu regional. This was from the final day, and Greg had already headed to the airport, so I was partnering our teammate and good friend Peggy Ware.

LHO            Peggy            RHO              Me
                     1♣                  3♦                  4♦ 
Pass             4♠                  Pass              4NT
Pass             5♥                  Pass               ? 

This was my hand: ♠ AQ3 ♥ A4 ♦ A92 ♣ QT843

I have a great hand for clubs, so I started with a cuebid of 4♦. Peggy’s 4♠ sounded like a control to me, denying a heart control. Well, I had a heart control, and a diamond control to boot, so I was bullish about slam. Greg and I never use 4NT as a keycard as in clubs; in an auction like this, it would be a “Good 5♣ bid.” I wasn’t sure Peggy would be on the same page, but it looked forward-going to me. Now she bid 5♥.

I thought 4♠ was a control bid and denied a heart control. If that was the case, how could she be bidding hearts now? Maybe she was really fishing for a diamond control? That’s about as far as my thinking got. I had a diamond control, so I wanted to move toward a grand. But I didn’t want to bid 6♦ and commit the hand beyond 6♣. I figured 5♠ would keep the ball in motion.

Nope. 5♠ passed out. Peggy made it, but 6♣ was cold, and 7♣ was very good.

This is how the auction looked from Peggy’s view:

4♦ — Adam wants me to pick a major. He’s got a hand that can’t risk my passing a double.

4♠ — I picked spades

4NT — Keycard ask

5♥ — Keycard answer

5♠ — Sign off—not enough keycards

I was so stuck in my head that 4♦ clearly agreed clubs that I didn’t consider we might be having a misunderstanding. When the “impossible” 5♥ bid came around to me, I should have expanded my view of the auction and considered alternatives from her perspective.

Peggy’s interpretation of 4♦ is reasonable. I would double with both majors and risk its getting passed, but I can see an argument for 4♦ being “pick a major.” (I checked with Greg and we were on the same wavelength. Always good to run these things by each other and make sure we land on our feet when we have to rely on general principles. )

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I’ll be posting my thoughts on the Mike Lawrence book later this week, once Greg and I have a chance to talk about it. I’ll be digging back into Method Bridge once I get home.

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I hope you’re all doing well and working hard on your bridge.

Have a great week.

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