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1 week ago | 
thehindu.com | Bob Jones
Good hands with 4-4-4-1 distribution are among the most difficult hands to bid. North chose to open one club and reverse into two diamonds despite not having a five-card suit in his hand — perhaps as good a choice as any. South’s two-heart bid was the fourth suit and could have been made with many different hands, including hands that did not have four hearts. North’s raise to three hearts, therefore, promised four cards in the suit and pinpointed his spade shortage.
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3 weeks ago | 
thehindu.com | Bob Jones
Today’s deal is from a World Championship team event some years ago. It was a two-team match, but all teams in the event were playing the same deals. West was Renee Secrete, from London, where a one no trump opening usually shows 12-14 points. She chose to lead the king of spades. The sight of dummy gave her much to think about. Partner could have at most three spades for his one no trump response. South, therefore, had a six-card spade suit.
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4 weeks ago | 
thehindu.com | Bob Jones
This was a beautifully bid grand slam. South, with the help of Key Card Blackwood, knew every card in North’s hand except, possibly, the jack of spades. That card would make 13 tricks a breeze, but even without it, 12 tricks would depend on nothing more than the expected 3-2 split in spades. South won the opening club lead in hand and cashed the king of spades.
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1 month ago | 
thehindu.com | Bob Jones
Today’s deal was played some years ago in Marbella, Spain. South was Sydney Mathews, an American who had lived in Marbella for many years. Mathews was 100 years old at the time this deal was played, starting his second century of life. The deal was played in a pairs competition where overtricks are very important. Mathews saw that 10 tricks would be easy enough if the suits split normally. There were two chances for an overtrick.
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1 month ago | 
thehindu.com | Bob Jones
Sherlock Holmes would often dazzle his sidekick, Dr. Watson, with his deductions and observations about the people around them. Watson would express his admiration and wonder before Holmes patiently explained the reasoning that led him to those conclusions. It would all seem so simple to Watson, after the explanation, that Watson wondered why he hadn’t reached those same conclusions himself. A bridge expert is a mini-version of Sherlock Holmes.
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1 month ago | 
thehindu.com | Bob Jones
South’s jump shift created a game force, so North’s three spade bid was stronger than a four-spade bid would have been. South used Key Card Blackwood and settled for a small slam when he learned that the queen of spades was missing. How would you play this slam after a diamond lead? Many would win the diamond ace, cash the ace and king of spades, and then start running clubs, hoping to discard two diamonds from dummy.
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2 months ago | 
thehindu.com | Bob Jones
Today’s deal is from a recent team match in Great Britain. At one table, the West player threw in a remarkable two-heart pre-empt. Had the old timers who taught us the game seen that bid, they would have had West arrested for impersonating a bridge player! South made an intelligent four-no-trump bid, bringing his diamond suit into the picture, but North had a good fit for clubs. The problem was that North had no reason to even think about a slam and South couldn’t bring himself to bid slam either.
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2 months ago | 
thehindu.com | Bob Jones
South’s two-heart bid was forcing to game and North’s jump to four hearts showed a minimum. A simple raise to three hearts would have shown a better hand. There was no stopping South and he used Key Card Blackwood to reach slam. West did not want to warn South about the bad spade split by leading a spade and he found the excellent lead of a low trump. Dummy’s seven won the first trick. 12 tricks would be easy if the spades split 3-2, but there was a danger if the spades split 4-1.
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2 months ago | 
thehindu.com | Bob Jones
Today’s deal is from a tournament in India a few years ago. South was Anil Upadhyay, from Delhi. South might have tried to penalise the opponents’ two-spade contract, but he chose to pursue a vulnerable game instead. South played low from dummy on the opening heart lead and captured East’s jack with his ace. He knew that he could force a spade trick for himself, so he went after that right away by leading a spade to dummy’s king. East won with his ace and shifted to the four of diamonds.
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2 months ago | 
thehindu.com | Bob Jones
Today’s deal is from the club’s most recent Saturday night duplicate. When Hard Luck Louie declared this deal, he rose with dummy’s queen on the opening spade lead, winning the trick as East followed with the jack. Louie led a club to his ace and ran the jack of diamonds, winning the trick. He cashed dummy’s ace and king of diamonds, felling the queen, and crossed back to his hand with the king of clubs to cash two more diamond tricks.
