Dubious Logic

Le Touquet

The congress season is upon us and our own, in Felixstowe, is just over a month away on the first weekend in October. However, I have been farther a field, playing a two day teams in the French resort of Le Touquet, about an hour's drive South of Calais.

Though I have played in events organised on more familiar international lines, this was the first time I really played bridge in France – using French playing cards, filling in unfamiliar scores and conventions and employing my non-existent grasp of the local language. However our opponents were friendly and though occasionally initially suspicious we played those peculiar English methods such as Acol and the weak no-trump (we did not), very helpful. Despite the similarity in approach, the two slams reached here owed more to the weight of the cards than pin-point bidding.

My partner and I defended the first auction. The requirement to rebid the club suit - it was potentially a short opener, accompanying the national five card major system – even though it was only five cards, fooled me as well as East into thinking it was likely to be six (1=3=3=6 perhaps). But maybe you prefer six clubs to six hearts?

"Don't bid bad suits on good hands" someone once said and if you're going to play in the style of the second auction than you really need someway of finding out what type of hand partner holds. This requirement for conventionality, say a two no-trump forcing enquiry over the simple major raise, deters the occasional player who would expect four card support for opener's action.

Though this was a teams event, the scoring also had a win/loss element on each deal and here, if both slams made, six hearts would scoop two of the sixteen points available for the four board round. Well, how did they fare?

Six hearts received a spade lead - it is hard for the defence to begin safely against either contract – and our team-mate had little choice. He started on trumps and when they were friendly he was almost there. With four spades, three trumps and two ace-kings, he was able to try to drop the club queen before taking the diamond finesse – he had +1430 in short order.

Six clubs had some problems of its own: declarer received a diamond lead, won by dummy's nine. He next played ace and ten of clubs, running that to North's queen. Squandering the ten of trumps meant that there was no longer a diamond ruff in dummy due to South's mighty six! and, though he might have had a squeeze (North should play a spade when in with the trump), declarer looked no further than the spade finesse. I can only say that our player did better in the play than the auction.

Published Saturday 1.Sep.2007