Steering your opponents the wrong way

Press, 20 October 1987, Page 10

Steering your opponents the wrong way

CONTRACT BRIDGE

J.R. Wignail

The latest in the present series of Bridge Tips organised and supported by the Bols Liqueur Company of The Netherlands comes from the Australian player and writer, George Havas. His suggestion for improving your results at bridge is to consider slipping in the odd, deliberately misleading call during the auction. Most experienced players have come across this sort of hand:

When partner opens the bidding with one spade the most likely contract for your side, is three notrumps. But if you bid it directly perhaps the defenders will find an unpleasant club lead and take enough tricks in the suit to defeat you. The answer could be to respond two clubs to the opening bid, then no matter what partner does, jump to three no-trumps. That could well stop the unwelcome lead and you will steal a fine result if partner holds something like:

A final contract of four spades or four hearts on the two hands requires a fair .amount of good fortune, but three no-trumps after a non-club lead has nine top tricks. The past master at this type of misleading tactic is a former partner of Havas, Jim Borin, of Melbourne, who is well known to many New Zealanders. Playing with his wife, Norma, in the Mixed Pairs Championship in Biarritz a few

years ago he was South in the following deal. North dealt with both sides vulnerable:

When North opened one heart and then supported his spades, Borin saw that it could do little harm to introduce a diversion. His three club bid was ostensibly natural, and asked his partner to bid game with fitting cards. Impressed with her holding in clubs and her good hearts, Norma Borin made the slight overbid of four spades. Now South checked on aces, found only one missing, and settled for the small slam. Although since they were playing Precision his partner’s hand was limited in strength to 15 high card points, she might well have held a little more thap she did, say the of spades in addi-

tion. Then six spades would have been a very reasonable contract. The opening lead of a club from West would have defeated the slam at once, for East would take the first two tricks with ace and queen. But, impressed by South’s three club bid, West chbse to lead a diamond, the unbid suit, and the hand was quickly over. After winning the first trick with the queen of diamonds, the declarer breathed a sigh of relief

when the ace and king of spades drew the opposing trumps. He cashed the queen of hearts, crossed to dummy’s nine of spades, and ran off four rounds of hearts on which he discarded his two small clubs and two small diamonds. Six tricks in spades, five in hearts, and two in diamonds gave him the small slam, and a reward (whether justified Or not I leave you to decide) for his cunning false bid during the auction.