At the end of a long day the players were understandably not in
the best of form. Tiredness can manifest itself in many ways. Here are
two examples where it was bidding judgement that was affected.
Dealer East. NS Game |
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10 2 |
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— |
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K 10 8 7 6 5 4 2 |
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K 9 6 |
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J 9 6 4 |
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A K Q 8 7 |
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J 9 |
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10 8 5 4 |
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Q J |
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A 9 3 |
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A 10 8 4 3 |
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2 |
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5 3 |
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A K Q 7 6 3 2 |
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— |
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Q J 7 5 |
West |
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North |
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East |
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South |
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1 |
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4 |
4 |
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All Pass |
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Four Hearts is a practical bid that often works well on this sort of
hand.
West |
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North |
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East |
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South |
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1 |
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2 |
3 |
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Pass |
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Pass |
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4 |
Pass |
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Pass |
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4 |
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Pass |
Pass |
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Dble |
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All Pass |
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Here South adopted a more subtle approach, but felt compelled to bid
4 at her second turn. East really ought to have doubled, but allowing
the opponents to provoke her into bidding 4 worked well.
South led the A and when North didn't ruff and play a diamond the
defenders could only come to three tricks. Whilst North should
probably get it right, South might have done better to lead the K, or
perhaps even the Q?
Dealer South. EW Game |
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A J 7 4 |
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K 3 2 |
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8 6 |
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10 8 5 4 |
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K |
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8 2 |
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J 9 5 4 |
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Q 10 8 7 |
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Q 7 4 |
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A 10 9 2 |
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A K 9 7 2 |
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J 6 3 |
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Q 10 9 6 4 3 |
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A 6 |
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K J 5 3 |
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Q |
West |
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North |
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East |
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South |
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1 |
Dble |
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2NT |
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Pass |
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4 |
All Pass |
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North's aggressive 'good raise' worked well, making it easy for
South to bid the cold game.
West |
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North |
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East |
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South |
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1 |
Dble |
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2 |
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Pass |
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Pass |
Dble |
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Pass |
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3 |
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Pass |
Pass |
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3 |
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All Pass |
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Here North was more conservative on the first round. We have a
feeling that the majority choice would be 3 . Even so, South's failure
to bid again is remarkable. Clearly she was not aware of the advice of
the American star Jeff Meckstroth, 'When you have
a six card major and partner supports you - bid game!' When West
doubled again, North might have redoubled to suggest he had a maximum
for his previous bid, but when he subsequently bid 3 South should
have raised to game, not least because her opponents could have passed
the hand out in 2 ! |