Bridge Game, Bridge Lessons at RonKlingerBridge.com

Five matches today. Lost the first 14-16, then an 18-12 win, followed by a 9-21 loss, a 21-9 win and a 14-16 loss, so virtually average for the day and steady in our sixth place, a long way off the lead.

There are players who think that you cannot score significant penalties against a one-level contract in a suit. When the situation is right, penalties can be quite severe. Consider Board 13 from Round 9 in the Butler Open Stage 3:

North dealer : North-South vulnerable

West	North	East	South
---	Pass	1	1
Pass	Pass	Dble	All pass

Lead: 10

You cannot fault South’s overcall, even opposite a passed partner, but see what happened. The 10 was ducked in dummy. East encouraged and South won. The 2 exit was won by the 10 and the 6 came next, low from dummy and won by the 8.

East switched to the 8 and South won with the A. West played the Q on South’s 9 exit and East over took with the K. When East played the K, South ruffed with the 6, over-ruffed with the 9.

This was now the position:

West continued with the Q and South ducked. Now West played the A and, anxious to get a diamond switch, South discarded the 3. Left J-5-4 against South’s K-10, West played a heart. South won and led a low diamond. West rose with the Q and returned another heart. The defence scored the last two tricks with the A and a low trump. Declarer made three heart tricks and the A for three down and –800, a swing of 11 Imps against the Open datum of E-W 260. Women’s datum: E-W 260. Seniors’ datum: E-W 370.