tennis, life and a few things in between

It’s an intense one hour day of bridge: my L played bid and won 7H! My hands have been good, as usual, and won a 3NT.

Our 3N hand with 29 hcp:

• I’ve 17 hcp: ♠️KQ92, ♥️AQ7, ♦️Q83, ♣️A92.
• P has 12 hcp: ♠️A, ♥️10 6 4 2,♦️KJ94, ♣️ KJ10

One round bidding: my RH passed, I bid 1NT, LH pass and P bid 3N, which effectively close the bid.

The math: opening with 1N, means I’ve 16-18 hcp. P has 12, so we’rehacing at least 29 hcp (16+12), because two partners should have

• 26 hcp, bid a game
• 32 hcp,  bid a small slam
• 36 hcp, bid a grand slam

No Trump is the 5th suit in bridge, and it’s the highest of the four.

To bid

• 1N: 16-18 hcp, balanced hand
• 2N: asking for major suit
• 3N:
• 4N: asking for A
• 5N: asking for K

The math: opening with 1N, means I’ve 16-18 hcp. Two partners should have

• 26 points to bid a game
• 32 points to bid a small slam
• 36 points to bid a grand slam

1NT opening. You know your P has at least 16 hcp. Plus your own hand:

• 0-7 HCP: Signoff Responses
• 8-9 HCP: Invite to game.
• 10-13HCP: Game with no interest in slam.
• 14-15HCP: Game forcing, slam invitational.
• 16-17HCP: Small slam forcing
• 18+ HCP: Grand Slam Invitational/Forcing (depends on hand)

Response to NT bid

• 2N
• 3N
• 4N
• 5N
• …

Tonight, it felt like a losing game because we failed more than succeeded. But after counting closely, out of 15 hands, I played five and won four; collectively we only made 8.

The 4♦️hand: I’ve 14 hcp and my P has 12, with a void of spade ♠️. I couldn’t remember what was the reason to land us in 4 diamonds, which I’ve 3 and P has 4. But her void of spade helped a lot.

The last hand, I’ve 19 hcp, my P has 12 hcp. I dealt and opened with 1NT and my P respond w/ 2C:

A “2 club” response to a “1NT” opening in bridge is typically a Stayman bid, which means the responder is asking partner if they have a 4-card major suit, prompting the opener to bid their longest major suit if they have one; if not, the opener should rebid 2 diamonds to show no 4-card major.

1. me 1 NT; p; PT 2♣️: asking for a major suit
2. Pass; me 2♥️; pass;
3. PT 4H

So 4 hearts it’s, and I made 5.

Tonight 18 hands were played, 5 were no trump. I played 7 hands, only won 1. A big fat Waterloo night.

好牌不断
连输不断
…
魂断南桥

Two slams night: I played five hands winning 4, that includes an unbid grand slam.

The first slam is, a grand slam but we didn’t bid for – a pooper. We both have 17 hcp each:

♠️ A
♥️ K9872
♦️ AK62
♣️ K52
My P
♠️ K8
♥️ AQJ 10 3
♦️ Q10
♣️ A10 86

So, we’ve all four As and Kings. But we didn’t bid for it, for some reason, unfortunately, played at 4♥️.

The second slam, we’ve 32 hcp (me 15 and P 17): 3 As and 4 Kings.

We asked for As and Ks, ended up 6N and my partner made it – it was NOT an easy hand.

Note to myself: make sure to settle on the suit you’re playing before asking for As and Ks.

I initially bid for ♦️… If we stayed with ♦️, we could have another grand slam since we both have a singleton ♥️♠️.

Girls’ night in. Having another good hands game, starting from the very first hand – I played five hands, won 4:

1. #1 bid 2H, took 10↑ tricks
2. #4 2D, 8↑
3. #7 2H, 10↑
4. #8 4S 8↓ I didn’t play well
5. #12 2S 10↑

At clubhouse, my Lefthand opponent Ira opened with a pass. My partner Mark called two clubs, and said ‘you’ve to response.’ A pass followed. I answered with 3 clubs.

My hand is weak, with 8 points, with 5 low clubs cards, which was my longest suit. Since it’s informal and I’ve been asking questions on my bidding, Mark said ‘2 clubs’ meant a strong hand and not necessarily mean in club suit. 

A few notes for  Two Clubs bid and responses:

• 22 points to open bid (doesn’t show/deny club suit)
• 2D response bid = a bad hand, 0-6 points (doesn’t show/deny diamond suit)
• 2 No Trump bid only needs at 20-22 hcp with a balanced hand.

^{… a few hands from last night with the girls}

We chitchat a little between hands. And sometimes after a rubber or twenty some hands (22 hands here), we tend to loose focus. This will be the time we make mistakes. Most often, by playing the wrong card. Such as, one intends to use ♥️ to trump but instead plays ♦️. The dummy is usually keeps a tape on things, like who goes and if it should be led by the hand on deck. All the times, such mistakes were only pointed out afterward. No one, not even the partner would say a thing. And I like it a lot: at Guandan or other kind of card games with my fellow countrymen, oh boy, do they talk and cheat!

The first hand of the night: 18 hcp. I bid 4♥️ and made the game.

Toward end of the (the 16th hands) night, I bid 3 NT and ended up winning a grand slam.

The evening went smoothly and I ultimately played the majority of the hands.

My question for the evening is, would you have to play a great hand with little thinking needed, or a even hand that requests some brain to win?

您喜欢一手好牌不要用脑筋 还是 平均牌 需要技巧?

There are total 40 points in a deck: A K Q J, the high card point.

• HCP:
  • Ace = 4 points
  • King = 3
  • Queen = 2
  • Jack = 1

• long suit:
  1.  = 5-card suit
  2. = 6-card suit
  3. = 7-card suit
• short suit:
  1. = doubleton
  2. = singleton
  3. = void

Just so you know, the maximum points a hand can have – mathematically proven – is 37 HCP because each hand has only 13 cards.

♠️ A K Q J
♥️ A K Q
♦️ A K Q
♣️ A K Q

Girls night in, two interesting hands.

Bidding correctly is important: I tend to bid low, to feel my partner’s hand, or give her/him a chance to bid too. But many times, I don’t get to rebid when three passes occurred. Like this hand. My rho opened with a pass:

R1: p, 1♦️ (me), 1♠️, 2♦️
R2: 3♣️, 3♦️

Luckily, the bidding went on after my initial 1 diamond bid, which should have been 2♦️ bid.

This hand is identical to the last time at the club, 3 3 3 4, with 11 hcp, with the same partner:

R1: p, p (me), p, 1♦️
R2: p, 2♣️, p, 2N

By passing the first round, I’m telling my partner that I don’t have an opening hand, 12 to 13 hcp. She bid 1 diamond. The second round, I changed to clubs, which is my best suit, telling her that I’ve 10 points and club is my best suit. She then bid 1NT.