Kaye Thomas Does Elgin Illinois

When I practiced law in Rochester, New York, I was fortunate to have as a law partner Kaye Thomas. Kaye practiced tax law for our firm and was my “go to” guy for all complex tax matters and everything else that required raw intellect. Not only was he an incredible resource but he had writing skills that could boil the most complex legal concepts down into a language that even I could understand. Kaye took a law job in Chicago many years ago and then went into the publishing business in that area. Recently I got an e-mail from Kaye saying “I have taken up bridge and am playing on line. In doing an on line internet search I came across your bridge blog. I recognized the writing style as it looks like you stole it from me.”

Maybe he is right, because certainly I didn’t come by this “Rock and Roll” style honestly. He thought I might be able to repay him for all the advice he had so freely given to me. Now get this, this guy has never played in a club game and is one of those BBO night riders who has never seen a real opponent with a face, doesn’t know what a convention card is and has never experienced the ignominy of having all the bidding cards fall out of the bottom of the bidding box. He has no partner, doesn’t know what a score card is and doesn’t have a clue about registration or the partnership desk. So he says “there is a Sectional Tournament in nearby Elgin, Illinois next weekend and I thought I might as well saunter over and start half way up the ladder. Start me off at the front door and spare me anything that I can pick up on the fly.”

Unless you have written “tech manuals”, it is hard even get your arms around this problem, much less organize it and detail it. After about a week of furious e-mails back and forth daily, I am pleased to say that Kaye has joined the ACBL and has a vague idea of the match point duplicate protocol. I, on the other hand, am exhausted, and now realize it would been less of a headache to fly to Chicago and be his first partner. I expect that it will not be too long before Kaye is on a first name basis with the ACBL directors since BBO players alert their own bids and are prone to making strategic aggressive claims.

In a future blog I will report if Kaye manages to retain the same partner for more than one session, for that matter for one complete session. Look out you 299ers, he is on the way. Now that I have concluded all my pay, deal, sort and play advice, I realize that I haven’t given him a strategy for knocking some of those 299er heads together, so here are some guidelines Kaye to get you through the first 24 boards:

1. Identify vulnerability before the cards come out of the tray and make vulnerability part of your bidding strategy? If vulnerability is unfavorable, don’t be carried off the battle field on your shield. If vulnerability is favorable, don’t let them play a contract if you can hold your losses to down 1 or even 2. Remember that when opponents play the hand, a score of -90 to -120 is the “death zone”. Even the best players find it near impossible to double low level contracts, and the urge to take another bid, rather than suffering the ignominy of letting the hand be stolen, is almost irresistible.

2. Accept that in match point duplicate that you are not the master of your own result? In match point games, inequity plays out on every hand. Good players defending will steal an extra trick from poor players and good players declaring will do the same thing. Play the hand for its full potential and don’t worry about the “gifts” that other teams may be getting on the same hand. Pouting about “fixes” is the quickest way to fix yourself. “If you want justice, go to night court!”

3. Do not fret over any hand that has been played. Can I say that again or often enough? Once the hand is done, it is over!! You are never going to see that hand again; the odds are 1 in 465 billion! Looking backward only will set in motion mood swings of highs and lows (more lows than highs) and will prevent you from playing with equanimity. Don’t give away the next board worrying about the last one.

4. Accept the fact that a badly defeated contract can still be a great board. If you are in a contract that is going down from the minute the dummy hits the table, play extra hard to minimize your losses. If you have bid the hand correctly, other teams will keep you company.

5. Realize the value of average plus boards and their place in determining overall results. Good results in match point duplicate are not produced by a massive array of high boards. High and low boards will frequently even out. At the end of the day if you have more boards in the “average plus” range than in the “average minus” range, you will have a good result.

6. Be a winning coward. Grand slams are for bridge heroes. Heroes are usually carried off on their shields. The risk-reward ratio is out is whack because we are competing against teams composed of imperfect people and not robots! Bidding and making a small slam in the right denomination will invariably get you an average plus good board even if the hand makes 13 tricks.

7. Be a tranquil declarer. When you declare, do not panic. You can’t develop a playing strategy if your mind is running in all directions. Tranquility is a state of mind and no battle plan was ever created in the middle of a full retreat.

8. Plan your work and work your plan. Once you have a plan, execute it with confidence. Don’t appear to be frazzled and torn by indecision. Thank partner for coming down with exactly the cards that he bid (effusively if you are disappointed). If opponents think you have it “in the bag” and are about to “claim”, they might just fall asleep and start pitching cards carelessly. Never give the opponents even the slightest reason to kindle their hope.

9. Bid on the KISS principle. If you have two choices, make a bid that you are sure partner will understand. Game day is not a bidding examination. If there is any concern that your bid will send partner “into the tank”, then it is wrong even if it is 100% right. Save the bidding lesson for later.

10. Reward partner for balancing. If partner acts courageously in a balancing situation, give him a little room for his bravery. Don’t hang him out to dry. Remember that he has already bid some of your points. It is not necessary or advisable for you to bid the same points again!

Well, Bon Voyage Kaye. If the door prize is a watch, send it to me.

Sometimes Hands are Almost Unbiddable

Recently, on the next to last Board, I was dealt x, Txxxx, Kx, AJxxx. Partner and I were riding a 60% game going into the last set so I was hoping for something prosaic that would not cause a big swing. I was thinking maybe partner will pass or open a club, heart, diamond or 1NT, and I will skate out of this hand without serious injury. The Bridge Gods don’t let you off the hook that easy. By now you have guessed that partner opened 1 spade. We were playing Standard American with 1NT forcing. Thus, a 2/1 bid showed 10 hcps. I am not above telling a little lie but usually it is the "least worst lie" and would indicate the lack of a better bid.

Whether you are playing SAYC or 2/1 game force, my hand is what the 1NT forcing bid was designed for, so I decided to play it straight and run in the same direction as the rest of the field. The opponents passed (darn it) and partner now bids 2 diamonds.

Well, what do we know about partner’s hand? If he held 6 spades he would have rebid spade, so 5 spades it is. Partner also has 0-3 hearts since he would have bid 2 hearts with 4+ hearts. Another rule of 1NT forcing rebids is that if your clubs are at least equal in length to your diamonds, you always bid clubs. This gives responder more space and options for his rebid. So what we have left is that partner has 4-6 diamonds and 0-3 hearts. Oh, we need to one more rule. Responder does not introduce a new suit on his rebid unless he has 6 of them. So now that I have gathered all this intelligence for you, what action do you take after partner bids 2 diamonds? Hint: Going to the restroom is not an option! Further hint: There are no winners in this game except those that look in partner’s hand!

I had a lot of a lot of partners and friends, whose bidding skills I respect, look at this hand. Most took a view, but nobody was satisfied with their answer or strongly convinced that the course of action selected was the right one. About this time I got Larry Cohen’s free newsletter (www.larryco.com)and noticed he was doing a 2/1 game force series and in the current letter discussing the 1NT forcing response and its continuations. How timely I thought, so I sent the hand to Larry and requested that I be able to quote his response in this blog.

Larry is good about staying in touch and sure enough I got an e-mail back from him shortly. Here is his entire response:

Tommy,

Sure, you can quote me.

This problem is a headache beyond belief. I would answer by asking if you want me to submit it to the Bridge World Master Solvers Club.

Larry

So, if you are a Bridge World subscriber, you will see this hand and expert analysis in the coming months. When I get it I will also reproduce the results in a follow up blog. Are you truly an expert? Here is your chance to find out.