Double Dummy Challenge #5*

The rules are simple. You get the contract and the lead. You may look at all cards and play accordingly (you are always South). However, the defense can do the same, and they never make mistakes. You must find a way to make the contract against any defense.

Challenge #5* (difficulty: easy)

(East's full hand is ♥6 ♦KQJT98765432)

Hi all readers. I rate this week’s problem as being easy (*) but prepare yourself! Next week’s DD will be Evil (****)! I wonder how many will manage to solve it.

You are playing 6♠. West leads the ♦A. Make your contract against any defense. Good luck!











Solution:
To make your contract , you need to eliminate all suits so that you come down to the position where South’s last 3 cards are ♠AJ10  and West’s last 3 cards are ♠KQ9. Only then you will be able to play the ♠10 and force West, upon winning with his ♠Q, to play back a spade into your remaining ♠AJ.

In any other case, when West wins a trump trick, he can escape by leading another suit, thus protecting another trump trick to set you. So how can you get rid of 6 trumps from hand? Ruff the opening lead with the ♠3 in dummy and under ruff with the ♠2 at the same time! Ruff a club (you are down to 7 trumps in hand now), go back to dummy with a heart (finesse as cheap as possible), ruff a club. Rince and repeat 3 times – heart to the dummy and club ruffs. Now you are down to the desired position before playing the ♠10 at trick 11.

Well done to everyone who solved the problem!

Double Dummy Challenge #4**

The rules are simple. You get the contract and the lead. You may look at all cards and play accordingly (you are always South). However, the defense can do the same, and they never make mistakes. You must find a way to make the contract against any defense.

Challenge #4** (difficulty: medium)

You are playing 7♣. West leads the ♦K. You must make your contract against any defense. Good luck!











Solution:
Ruff the diamond lead with the ♣A and discard the ♠A from hand! Ruff a low spade with the ♣K and draw 2 rounds of trumps with the ♣QJ. Return to dummy with a high heart and play the ♠Q for a ruffing finesse, throwing hearts from hand if East chooses not to cover. Suppose East covers with the ♠K – Ruff with the ♣2 and return to dummy with another high heart. This is the situation now:



Play the ♠J10 and throw hearts from hand. Continue with spades. If East will ruff – overruff, draw his last trump, and your hearts in hand are high. If he chooses to discard diamonds instead – throw your hearts from hand. At trick 12 he is forced to ruff and you will get the last 2 tricks.

Well done to everyone who solved the problem!

Swedish Bidding

As a child, I liked watching The Muppets Show. My favourite was the Swedish cook, always getting chased by his own chickens and bitten by his own spaghetti. My father told me then that the Swedes have their way of doing things. Maybe that’s why most teams prefer to avoid playing bridge against Sweden. Besides having great players, they have a very aggressive way of bidding and unique conventions. Take a look at the following sequence which took place some years ago in the Swedish team trials. Notice: There are no misunderstandings in the bidding!



The bidding:



Capish? No??? OK then:
1♣ - Better minor
2♣ - Michael’s cue bid = both majors, either 6-10 point or 16+ points.
3♣ - I have club support and a "relatively" weak hand.
4♣ - Partner, if your hand is strong , I have interest in a slam in either major. If its weak – just bid a game.
5♣ - I have more clubs than I showed. By the way... We are not vulnerable.
6♣ - Regarding your bidding, I have an interest in a slam. A grand slam. Ah, don’t worry about club losers.
7♣ - I also have more clubs than I showed. Did I hear anyone say we are not vulnerable?

Up to the 7♣ bid the bidding went quietly, fast and smooth. The problems started later: West passed rather quickly - a mistake, as his Pass shows a better hand than a Double. Pass is forcing - showing extra values for a grand slam and transferring the decision to East. East thought for a long time (probably wondering how come his partner passed so fast). Finally he decided to double, which turned out to be, as the cards laid, a better move for him than the grand slam which is not makeable (only because of the ♠10!).

7♣ went 3 down but collecting a good score of -500 nonetheless. North-South appealed. They claimed that East had no other bid than 7♥/7♠ with no minor losers and an encouraging Pass from partner. They claimed that if West would hesitate a bit before Passing, East would clearly go for the Grand. East-West said that it’s the first time someone is appealing based on a fast bid (which is not after jumping or a stop card). Normally it happens the other way around - you call the director when one is thinking a lot before passing and his partner chooses to bid.

Eventually, the result remained unchanged.

Double Dummy Challenge #3***

The rules are simple. You get the contract and the lead. You may look at all cards and play accordingly (you are always South). However, the defense can do the same, and they never make mistakes. You must find a way to make the contract against any defense.

Challenge #3*** (difficulty: hard)

Some complained that the first two riddles were too easy (don't worry, the first two were just to warm up!) We have a more difficult one this week.

Against 4♠ West leads the ♥K. Make your contract against any defense. Good luck!











Solution:
Ruff the heart lead and discard the ♥A from hand! Finesse spade and play another round of spades to pick up the rest of opps' trumps. Draw the ♣A and exit with the ♥2, discarding a diamond from dummy. West will continue hearts and you will allow him to win the next two tricks while discarding two more diamonds from dummy and 2 clubs from hand. You have now reached this position, with West on lead:



Ruff his heart in dummy and discard the last club from hand. East is squeezed: If he throws a diamond – Cash the ♦A, ruff a club, ruff a diamond, ruff a club and the last diamond in hand is high. If he chooses to discard a club – Ruff a club, play a diamond to the ♦A, ruff another club, ruff a diamond and the last club in dummy is high.

Well done to everyone who solved the problem!

Search for the Queen #2

Note: This is an intermediate level problem.

West's X is a support double, showing 3 cards in hearts.

West leads ♦AK on which East follows once and discards a spade later. West continues with the ♦5. You want to say something to your partner about his raise but he already has left to smoke (there, you got your answer...). So... you are alone now and you try the ♦10 but East ruffs and continues with a low heart.

1. How many diamonds does East have?
2. How many hearts does East have?
3. How many spades does East have?
4. How many clubs does East have?
5. Will you win? If yes, what will you play next? If not – Why not?
6. You won the ♥A. Where is the ♣Q?
7. How will you tackle clubs?

Answers

1. How many diamonds does East have?
   One. He followed diamonds only once.
2. How many hearts does East have?
   Four. Since West’s double shows 3 hearts, and you and dummy also have 3 hearts each, East must have exactly 4 cards.
3. How many spades does East have?
   Four. E-W have 8 cards in spades, which must be divided 4-4. If West would have had 5 spades, he would have opened 1♠. If East would have had 5 spades, he would have responded 1♠. Therefore, spades must be 4-4.
4. How many clubs does East have?
   Four.
5. Will you win? If yes, what will you play next? If not – Why not?
   You’ve lost already 3 tricks and you still have another 2 heart losers and a club loser. To make your contract you need to find and catch the ♣Q and after drawing trumps to throw a heart loser on the ♦Q. Therefore you must win the ♥A, else West will win the trick and continue with another diamond, on which East will ruff again. You will be able to over ruff but now you will always lose 2 heart tricks and go down.
6. You won the ♥A. Where is the ♣Q?
   Most likely with East, as clubs split 1-4 (4 with East).
7. How will you tackle clubs?
   After winning the ♥A, play a club to the ♣K. If West’s singleton club is the ♣Q, it will fall now. Otherwise, play another club from dummy and finesse against East. Draw his last trump too, go back to dummy with spade and pitch a heart loser on the ♦Q.

Click the Next button in the diagram to follow the play.

Things to remember:

• With two 4-carder suits, bid the lower one first (with 5-5 bid the highest first).
• Support double is a valuable weapon! You use it as opener, after Pass from left, one of a major from your partner (which shows at least 4 cards) and an overcall from your right opponent. Double now will show exactly 3 cards in partner’s suit (and encourage him to rebid his suit with 5 cards). A direct raise in partner's suit will show 4 cards and any other bid (NT, return to your suit, new suit or even Pass) will deny 3 cards in his suit (so partner will know that rebidding his suit with 5 cards won't help).
• If East-West end up in 3♠, the defense can set if they play spades fast enough: ♠AK and a third spade will allow the defense to win a diamond trick (or a 2nd club).

A Traumatic Top

The weirdest top I’ve achieved came from this hand. I was in Holland playing in a local club with my wife's father. Any local club in Holland has a big bar in the center. You pick a drinking card and fill it during the game. The first round you start with coffee and then you move on to beer(s) and then stronger stuff. My father in law was a real drinker. His Bridge performance was in inverse ratio to his drinking... The last board of the tourney was this:



The bidding:



* Wake up!
** No bomb will wake me up

After my opponents found the diamond fit, I should have doubled. However, a quick glance at my partner proved that he was already half asleep (with much alcohol in his blood). I needed to find a bid to wake him up so I chose a cue bid of 3♦, which didn’t do the job as he passed with no hesitation. "Shall we close on 1 down?" I asked. "Ney (=No)", said my opponents, insensitive to my humor. They cross ruffed the first 8 tricks in the majors. As they had nothing more to ruff, they won only 2 more trump tricks and a club. 3♦ minus 7 was worth 350 points for them, a huge trauma for me and... a top for us! When we opened the score sheet we saw one score of 400 (5♦) and the rest were 550 (5♦ doubled).

"You don't stand a chance against our bidding system", muttered my partner in his sleep.

Double Dummy Challenge #2*

The rules are simple. You get the contract and the lead. You may look at all cards and play accordingly (you are always South). However, the defense can do the same, and they never make mistakes. You must find a way to make the contract against any defense.

Challenge #2* (difficulty: easy)

The contract is 6NT. West leads the ♦2. Make your contract against any defense. Good luck!











Solution:
Win the ♦A (discard a club from dummy), play 2 high hearts, enter dummy with a high club and finesse spade. Play 2 more rounds of spades, dropping East’s king on the way. Re-enter dummy with another high club and play your 4th spade, pitching the ♥A on it! West will win and continue heart, as he only has hearts left. Win the trick with the ♥10 and discard the ♣10 from your hand. The clubs in dummy are high now and you can throw your diamonds on the high clubs. Well done to everyone who solved the problem!

Counting is everything

Note: This is an intermediate level problem.

Your partner (West) leads the ♠Q. Declarer wins with ♠A, plays a club to the Ace and continues with the ♥2.

1. How many spades does West have?
2. How many hearts does West have?
3. Where is the ♠K?
4. Where is the ♥A?
5. Which card will you play?

Answers

1. How many spades does West have?
   Six. South’s 1NT denies 4 cards in spade (with 4 cards he would bid 1♠). Therefore West must have at least 6 cards (with 7 cards, not vul he might have jumped to 3♠).
2. How many hearts does West have?
   Three. South’s 1NT denies 3 cards in hearts (with 3 cards he would bid 2♥). Therefore West must have at least 3 cards (probably only 3 for else declarer would not play that suit).
3. Where is the ♠K?
   With South. The lead of ♠Q denies the king.
4. Where is the ♥A?
   With West. As south showed the ♠AK, he cannot possibly have the ♥A too for his hand is limited to 6-9(10) points.
5. Which card will you play?
   The ♥Q! Protect your partner’s lone entry to his long suit. As you know your ♥Q will hold, play it now and continue with your last spade. Declarer is bound to go 2 down now as the defense will win 2 hearts and 4 spades. If you play any other heart, South will play the ♥J and continue to develop his hearts. Whatever your partner will try (play low or take the Ace) it will not help and declarer will manage to establish at least 3 heart tricks.
   

Click the Next button in the diagram to follow the play.

Things to remember:

• From a simple bid and lead you can conclude a lot! Notice that the 1NT response after a 1♣ or 1♦ opening denies 4 cards in a major suit, and that a 1NT response after the 1♥ opening denies 3 cards in hearts and 4 cards in spades.
• It’s easy to count points and distribution, if only you practice it. Here, like a puzzle, you could place your partner with ♠QJ10xxx and ♥Axx already after the first trick!
• South could have made his contract. He should have hold up the first trick and win the second spade. Then play a club to dummy and return a heart. You can jump with your Q but you have no more spades to play and whatever you continue, South will win, play another heart to his J and manage to establish his hearts.
• Most players will jump to 3NT with North’s hand. However, it would not be wrong to invite with 2NT. Even though it has 18 points, the hand is "anemic": no spots (10’s and 9’s), points are in the short suits, weak long suit and 2 little spades where South denied 4 cards. However, South will accept the invitation and bid 3NT.

The New World Record

What is the highest score in Bridge? The world record has been broken on the following deal - and this record will never be reached again (unless the World Bridge Federation decides to change the points system!). Many awkward scores were achieved on this board (including 7♣ redoubled by South and 7♥ doubled by West) but nothing came close to what has happened at "our" table:



The bidding:



* Finally, I get to play the hand!
** This hand is mine!
*** Mine, and only mine!
**** Out of principle

East led the ♥Q and the defense was quick to win the first 13 tricks. Down 13, redoubled, vulnerable. 7600 points. The highest score possible in Bridge. A new world record!

North almost fell off his chair. But before he got to open his mouth and mention a few things about stoppers in no trump, South was quicker: "Why on earth did you redouble?"

Double Dummy Challenge #1**

The rules are simple. You get the contract and the lead. You may look at all cards and play accordingly (you are always South). However, the defense can do the same, and they never make mistakes. You must find a way to make the contract against any defense.

Challenge #1** (difficulty: medium)

Contract is 6♥. West leads the ♦A. You must make your contract against any defense. Good luck!











Solution:
Ruff the ♦A lead. Draw ♥AKQJ and discard ♠AKQJ from dummy! Play now a club to your Ace and continue with a spade. East will win with his ♠10 but whatever he chooses to play, you are back in your hand, which is high. In any other way defense can set. Well done to everyone who solved the problem!

Search for the Queen #1

West leads ♦AKQ on which East follows twice and discards a spade later. West continues with the ♦10.

1. How many hearts does East have?
2. How many spades does East have?
3. How many diamonds does East have?
4. How many clubs does East have?
5. Will you ruff? If yes, with what? If not – What will you discard?
6. You discard the ♥3 from dummy. West wins his ♦10 and plays a spade. Where is the ♣Q?
7. How will you tackle clubs?

Answers

1. How many hearts does East have?
   Five. Opponents have 9 cards in hearts. West opened 1♦, therefore he doesn’t have 5 hearts. So East has the long hearts.
2. How many spades does East have?
   Five. With less than five cards he would bid 1♥ first.
3. How many diamonds does East have?
   Two. He followed to 2 rounds of diamond, then showed out.
4. How many clubs does East have?
   One.
5. Will you ruff? If yes, with what? If not – What will you discard?
   Don’t ruff. If you ruff low, East will overruff. If you ruff with the ♣10, there a chance East will overruff. If you ruff with the ♣K, the trick will be yours but you will lose a heart for sure plus it will be much harder to capture the ♣Q. Discard a heart – loser on loser. It will make it easier for you to ruff a heart in dummy later.
6. You discard the ♥3 from dummy. West wins his ♦10 and plays a spade. Where is the ♣Q?
   Probably with West as East has only one club.
7. How will you tackle clubs?
   Play the ♣A first. If East has ♣Q singleton you will smash it now. If East follows with a low club, finesse the ♣10 next.

Click the Next button in the diagram to follow the play.

Things to remember:

• Counting is everything. You can count tricks, points and distributions. Don’t give up the privilege of counting.
• When East changed suit, West would have been forced to bid, unless South bid something. Pass from West shows that he has nothing more to add at this point, besides the opening which he already showed. Don’t worry! Your partner still gets another chance to bid, and he will bid if he has more to say. It is a common mistake of many players to bid 2NT, which promises 18-19 points. Just pass if you have nothing extra, even if South bid at the 2 level and even if you hold stoppers in his suit!
• With 5-5, always bid the higher suit first.
• 8 ever, 9 never. That’s a statistic rule which means: If you are missing the Q – With an 8-card suit it’s better to finesse, and with 9 cards it’s better to play for the drop (play AK). But... statistics might fail. Better to count.