02 March 2012

No rafters to swing from

Playing a high variance system normally yields wild results. Not bad results mind, just a lot of imps traded.

Turning up to the club teams this week clutching my Electric Ant system card I was hoping for some fireworks. 27 boards later and we were +4 on the datum with no swing larger than 6 imps.

Nothing happened. Nothing. All night.

One of our 6 imp pickups was on this hand:

9 4 3
K 6
Q 5 3 2
K Q 7 6
A J T 7
A Q J 8 7
K J T 7
-
Q 8 6 5 2
T 4
9 6
9 8 4 2
K
9 5 3 2
A 8 7
A J T 5 3

After an auction that went something like:

WestNorthEastSouth
1 Pass Pass 2
X 2 Pass 3

The defense started on hearts making 9 tricks comfortable. I never drew trumps instead playing side suits to end in a high cross ruff. The datum of -120 indicated that very few EW pairs found the comfortable spade game.

Maybe the auction our team mates had was more common, at their table the heart opening was passed out! A few lapses in concentration from the defenders and they had 10 tricks. 7 imps to the good guys.

If you don't get the cards to swing the games there's nothing you can do but play tight and hold the little wins.

2 comments:

  1. Passing out 1H, as did your teammates' opponents, has much to recommend. As South, I would be wondering "where are the spades?". Whether they are with partner or with the opponents, I am unlikely to enjoy the next part of the auction.

    On the auction at your table, it seems surprising the EW pair did not find spades: shouldn't East be bidding 2S over 2H, given his partner's takeout double of 2C?

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