South needed an enormous amount of luck today after the bad trump break appeared i.e. 3-3 diamonds and a ridiculously favourable club position. The final requirement was being lucky enough to have West mess up at Trick 7 though.
It is commonly suggested that there isn’t any luck in chess, except perhaps drawing a really strong opponent in a knock-out tournament although that applies at any game or sport. That isn’t quite true; there is good luck but not bad luck. If I blunder and give my opponent a chance to win quickly the that is his good fortune, not my bad luck. If he doesn’t take the chance and later loses I’ve had good luck. Still, there have been players at both bridge and chess who seem to create their own luck by rapid play and table presence. I played against Zia a couple of tines; his manners were impeccable but he was very unnerving as an opponent.
Regards,
Iain
Robert LiptonJuly 26th, 2023 at 11:03 am
When the 68% won’t serve, you have to rummage in the trash bin of technique: steppingstone squeezes, vice squeezes and so forth. Fortunately, as anyone who has ever played in a large Duplicate knows, lefty and righty are often kinder than Center Hand Opponent. The real magic lies in not giving up.
Bob Lipton
Jeff SerandosJuly 26th, 2023 at 5:29 pm
Hi Bobby,
Looking at all four hands, I have come to a few conclusions. First, I assume East put up the KD on trick 2, otherwise, South might be able to risk a second duck leaving the lead with West, obviously he cannot risk the QJ being a doubleton if the lead is with East. Second, if trumps split 3-2, the hand is easy. And third, as the cards lie, it ends up being an entry problem.
So, as the cards lie, if instead of playing AK of spades, south played Q, then A, his miracle solution of leading the QC now seems to work. After taking the AC, South leads a diamond to East as before. Now, even if East returns a heart, South can take his ace, lead a spade to the king and lead the fourth diamond when he still has a way back to the board with a heart ruff.
My problem is that the AK solves the 4-1 issue with East having the four. So, my pretzel logic might do nothing other than reduce the odds of making the hand. Still, it was a brilliant recovery effort by South and I am not at all upset that it worked out for him even if, strictly speaking, it really was too late to save the hand.
bobbywolffJuly 26th, 2023 at 9:00 pm
Hi Iain, Robert, & Jeff,
Between the three of you, besides the adequate covering of the above hand, the side comment of never giving up, comes to mind as the one constant necessity, always present among players like you three, and not just in spades, but rather in NO TRUMP.
Yes, Zia is a great bridge player with a lightening fast mind combined with a huge arithmetical bent, allowing him to consistently play up to his ability with also being extremely ethical while at the table, completing what it takes to be thought of as one who can compete successfully
at any and all levels of play.
Between you three, I need not say anything more, since it would only gild the lily.
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Hi Bobby,
South needed an enormous amount of luck today after the bad trump break appeared i.e. 3-3 diamonds and a ridiculously favourable club position. The final requirement was being lucky enough to have West mess up at Trick 7 though.
It is commonly suggested that there isn’t any luck in chess, except perhaps drawing a really strong opponent in a knock-out tournament although that applies at any game or sport. That isn’t quite true; there is good luck but not bad luck. If I blunder and give my opponent a chance to win quickly the that is his good fortune, not my bad luck. If he doesn’t take the chance and later loses I’ve had good luck. Still, there have been players at both bridge and chess who seem to create their own luck by rapid play and table presence. I played against Zia a couple of tines; his manners were impeccable but he was very unnerving as an opponent.
Regards,
Iain
When the 68% won’t serve, you have to rummage in the trash bin of technique: steppingstone squeezes, vice squeezes and so forth. Fortunately, as anyone who has ever played in a large Duplicate knows, lefty and righty are often kinder than Center Hand Opponent. The real magic lies in not giving up.
Bob Lipton
Hi Bobby,
Looking at all four hands, I have come to a few conclusions. First, I assume East put up the KD on trick 2, otherwise, South might be able to risk a second duck leaving the lead with West, obviously he cannot risk the QJ being a doubleton if the lead is with East. Second, if trumps split 3-2, the hand is easy. And third, as the cards lie, it ends up being an entry problem.
So, as the cards lie, if instead of playing AK of spades, south played Q, then A, his miracle solution of leading the QC now seems to work. After taking the AC, South leads a diamond to East as before. Now, even if East returns a heart, South can take his ace, lead a spade to the king and lead the fourth diamond when he still has a way back to the board with a heart ruff.
My problem is that the AK solves the 4-1 issue with East having the four. So, my pretzel logic might do nothing other than reduce the odds of making the hand. Still, it was a brilliant recovery effort by South and I am not at all upset that it worked out for him even if, strictly speaking, it really was too late to save the hand.
Hi Iain, Robert, & Jeff,
Between the three of you, besides the adequate covering of the above hand, the side comment of never giving up, comes to mind as the one constant necessity, always present among players like you three, and not just in spades, but rather in NO TRUMP.
Yes, Zia is a great bridge player with a lightening fast mind combined with a huge arithmetical bent, allowing him to consistently play up to his ability with also being extremely ethical while at the table, completing what it takes to be thought of as one who can compete successfully
at any and all levels of play.
Between you three, I need not say anything more, since it would only gild the lily.