Note:
Only summaries are included below -
see book for details
Not a Good
Declarer, But What a Great
Dummy 99
Are You Guilty
of Premature
Grabbing? 102
If You Don't
Have Entries, You Ain't Got
Nothing 104
A Record That
Will Never Be
Broken
106
Not a Good Declarer, But What a Great Dummy
One
hand I will never forget took place in a tournament in 1978. I
was giving a playing lesson to a pleasant gentleman from
Philadelphia, whom I had just met.
After George turned ten tricks into eight in 3NT, I knew that
declarer play was not his strong suit. I got into the swing of
things, determined to make George the dummy whenever possible.
Then came board 19.
West
North East South
—
— P 1
P 1
P 1NT!
P 3
P 3NT!
P P! P
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© Marty Bergen
The
bidding — especially mine — was interesting. Why did I
open the bidding with that garbage?
When
playing with a conservative partner, I find it essential to
get in ASAP. I should have bid 1
over 1,
going up the line in case partner held four spades. However, I
was in a big hurry to grab the notrump.
George should have bid 4
over 1NT. He knew that we had the values for game, and I was
marked with two or three hearts for my notrump rebid. Perhaps
he just wanted to allow me to declare 3NT.
Great
minds think alike — I bid 3NT. George would declare a heart
contract; I would declare notrump. Case closed.
I
cursed myself after seeing dummy; 3NT had no chance with the
club lead. I won East's
Q
with my king, but now what? I had to lose at least one heart
trick, and the opponents would then run clubs. The
2
lead suggested that clubs were dividing 4-6, so it appeared
that 3NT would be down two; at best I would lose one heart and
five club tricks.
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© Marty Bergen
Was
there any hope for the 3NT contract? I did see a longshot,
based on the average player's tendency to “cover an honor with
an honor.” I led the
J,
dreaming that West would cover and East had been dealt a
singleton heart honor.
As
luck would have it, all this came to pass. When both heart
honors hit the table on the same trick, the opponents looked
like they had just been notified of an IRS audit. I was now
assured of twelve tricks: the
K,
six hearts, four diamonds, and the
A.
Making 3NT with three overtricks was a great result, but I was
not through. I was now ready to apply Bergen's Law #43: When
there are 12 tricks, there may be 13.
After
winning the
A,
I overtook the
K
to return to my hand. I led the
4
and topped West's seven with dummy's eight. I now ran hearts
from the top as the opponents grudgingly discarded. Having a
great time, I cashed the
Q,
and led the ten to my jack. Here was the position as I led my
9
at trick 11.
To add insult to injury, West was squeezed. He
correctly discarded the
A
in the hope that his partner had been dealt the 10. No dice. I
cashed my
10
and made seven.
The
atmosphere at the table was¼
interesting. West appeared ready to strangle himself,
with East quite willing to furnish the rope. As for George,
his naiveté and innocence provided the perfect contrast.
“Sorry, Marty, I had a feeling that we had a slam!”
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© Marty Bergen
Are You Guilty of Premature Grabbing?
“It is not the handling of difficult hands that makes the
winning player. There aren't enough of them. It is the ability
to avoid messing up the easy ones.”
S. J. Simon, British bridge writer
Many
players' natural instinct is to rush to win any tricks they
can. This is not the way to go. How often have you witnessed
an inexperienced declarer in 3NT win the first seven tricks
and¼lose
the remainder? He never had a plan of attack; he just grabbed
everything in sight.
Only
grab when you are in a position to fulfill your
contract or defeat the opponent's. Rather than playing trick
by trick, learn to consider the big picture. Be patient.
An
expert's first move will often result in losing a trick; in
fact, he may lose several. However, once his plan is under way
he cruises along smoothly, and the next thing you know, he has
nine tricks in the bank. Lose your losers early is
excellent advice.
...
If You Don't Have Entries, You Ain't Got Nothing
“Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.”
Vince Lombardi, legendary football coach
Declarer must exercise great care with his entries. This is
especially true in notrump contracts where the source of
tricks can sometimes be found in the weak hand.
| |
|
Declarer
must insure that at least one entry remains in the
weak hand until its long suit is ready to run.
|
|
|
...
A Record That Will Never Be Broken
“Some men see things that are and say why, I see things that
never were and say why not.”
Robert Kennedy
All
sports and games have their records, some of which may never
be broken. Because of one hand, I hold a unique record — one
that I’m 100% positive will never be broken.
While playing in a national tournament several years
ago, I was North on the following deal:
West
North East South
P P P 1NT*
P 2
P 2
P 3NT* All Pass
*
Imaginative.
I passed in second seat, and my partner opened 1NT (15–17). I
responded 2,
Stayman, asking about the majors. Partner denied a four-card
major by bidding 2.
With
my aceless hand, it did not seem right to try for 10 tricks. I
was concerned that we might have a lot of fast losers; so I
chose to suppress my five-card spade suit and jumped to 3NT.
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© Marty Bergen
West's opening lead of the
2
was strange. I would have led the
3
without a second thought, delighted to be holding a five-card
suit and two entries. What did West have in mind? I can only
think that he was overreacting to the following: When
selecting an unbid suit to lead against notrump, prefer a
major.
Anyway, on to the play. East chose to withhold his king at
trick one; instead; he signaled encouragement with the seven.
After winning the first trick in dummy, declarer led the
J,
which held. East also ducked the
10,
but took his ace on the third round when the king was led.
East
returned his partner's heart lead, and the defense took their
ace and king. East now shifted to the
10,
which was won in dummy with the queen. Declarer led a club to
the queen and West’s ace.
Here
was the position with West to lead at trick nine. Declarer
needs the rest of the tricks to make the contract.
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© Marty Bergen
Obviously, the contract was not in jeopardy; both the North
and South hands contained nothing but winners. However, there
was a great deal at stake for me. I concentrated fiercely and
West obliged by leading a club rather than a diamond.
Why
did it matter? Reporting this hand in The New York Times
on July 29, 1992, Alan Truscott wrote: “The diagramed deal
from the first hand of the Spingold Knockout Teams set an
unobtrusive world record. It was so unobtrusive that the
declarer did not realize it, and it can be predicted that few
readers will spot the unusual feature of the deal.”
Do
you see what happened? The North hand, although unable to
open the bidding, won all nine tricks! After opening 1NT,
declarer failed to take a single trick in his hand in a
contract that succeeded.
I do not know what fate has in store for me, but of one thing
I am sure. On a lovely summer day in Toronto, Marty Bergen was
the only passed-hand dummy in the history of bridge to
single-handedly fulfill a game contract.
Nothing Obscure About These Guys
1.
What actor has been seen playing bridge in an old, frayed
raincoat?
2.
What two famous non-American leaders played bridge early in
the 20th century? (Hint: Their initials are W.C. and M.G.)
3.
What foreign actor prefers bridge to acting, horses and women?
4.
This president was described by Oswald Jacoby as “in general,
a superior bridge player.”
Answers:
1.
Columbo (Peter Falk)
2.
Winston Churchill, Mahatma Gandhi
3.
Omar Sharif
4.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
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© Marty Bergen
CHAPTER 13 - SOME PLAYERS
DO IT WITH FINESSE
109
