Was West right to bid here? He has some values and a lot of shape, but is facing a passed partner and a strong 1NT. I suppose if you wholesale exchange the North and East hands, it works out well for him. So, just bad luck that it led South to a winning path? Or unnecessarily risky?
Without that bid, South will still discover West started with ten cards in the pointed suits, but might conclude he likely has five or even six diamonds and he also may also misplace the high cards.
What do you think?
Best,
Jeff
bobbywolffAugust 25th, 2023 at 2:45 pm
Hi Jeff,
My answer to your first question is yes, I would have ventured a 2 spades overcall, while non-vulnerable and with an usually playable 6-4. One never knows when and if, in spite of South’s 1NT opening, that West hand may play gloriously opposite some spades from partner and a few fitting cards plus, of course the right diamond holding. IOW if partner now jumps to 4 spades, in spite of the 1NT opening I would expect to make it.
Keep in mind, that without some risk (and, of course, there is) even a very good bridge technician would never be able to create gold out of metal. While some very intelligent people have tried, playing excellent bridge is still a formidable task. And without the experience of playing against excellent opposition, even a person possessing latent bridge talent (almost always with a good grasp of simple arithmetic) will usually meet a very sad ending, many moons before he or she has given it a fair chance.
Robert LiptonAugust 25th, 2023 at 4:40 pm
Who was the player who, on looking at the result board with an 85% Matchpoint session, said “The perfect game still eludes us”?
Bob Lipton
bobbywolffAugust 25th, 2023 at 7:27 pm
Hi Robert,
What do you think that player was referencing? A clear top on every hand, or more realistically, no costly errors made by his pair.
Probably the second meaning, and most, if not all, gifted bridge players will be able to find multiple errors of some denomination, clearly made, but not taken into consideration by those who seek them out, but are not adept enough to understand what a considerable challenge, is this game we have learned to love.
At least to me, though it would probably be impossible to prove, that the above
request of perfect play (all bids which lead to the right final contract on offense, plus every play made by both partners while defending) of the almost certain, winning pair.
However, it is certainly possible to dream of such a performance. Actually doing it is nigh impossible, if only because perfection is so unlikely, especially for the declarer’s play or even more unlikely, while on defense, including the opening lead.
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Hi Bobby,
Was West right to bid here? He has some values and a lot of shape, but is facing a passed partner and a strong 1NT. I suppose if you wholesale exchange the North and East hands, it works out well for him. So, just bad luck that it led South to a winning path? Or unnecessarily risky?
Without that bid, South will still discover West started with ten cards in the pointed suits, but might conclude he likely has five or even six diamonds and he also may also misplace the high cards.
What do you think?
Best,
Jeff
Hi Jeff,
My answer to your first question is yes, I would have ventured a 2 spades overcall, while non-vulnerable and with an usually playable 6-4. One never knows when and if, in spite of South’s 1NT opening, that West hand may play gloriously opposite some spades from partner and a few fitting cards plus, of course the right diamond holding. IOW if partner now jumps to 4 spades, in spite of the 1NT opening I would expect to make it.
Keep in mind, that without some risk (and, of course, there is) even a very good bridge technician would never be able to create gold out of metal. While some very intelligent people have tried, playing excellent bridge is still a formidable task. And without the experience of playing against excellent opposition, even a person possessing latent bridge talent (almost always with a good grasp of simple arithmetic) will usually meet a very sad ending, many moons before he or she has given it a fair chance.
Who was the player who, on looking at the result board with an 85% Matchpoint session, said “The perfect game still eludes us”?
Bob Lipton
Hi Robert,
What do you think that player was referencing? A clear top on every hand, or more realistically, no costly errors made by his pair.
Probably the second meaning, and most, if not all, gifted bridge players will be able to find multiple errors of some denomination, clearly made, but not taken into consideration by those who seek them out, but are not adept enough to understand what a considerable challenge, is this game we have learned to love.
At least to me, though it would probably be impossible to prove, that the above
request of perfect play (all bids which lead to the right final contract on offense, plus every play made by both partners while defending) of the almost certain, winning pair.
However, it is certainly possible to dream of such a performance. Actually doing it is nigh impossible, if only because perfection is so unlikely, especially for the declarer’s play or even more unlikely, while on defense, including the opening lead.