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VOL. 16, NO. 2
BRIDGE
N OVEMBER/DECEMBER 2011
2011 – 2012
Bridge Cruises
Featuring Larry Cohen
Best-Selling Author and
26-Time National Champion
ACBL
Regionals
at Sea
To participate in the following bridge
programs, bookings must be made through
Alice Travel
888-816-1874 • [email protected]
Bermuda Cruise
Aboard
Royal Caribbean Explorer of the Seas
Round Trip from Cape Liberty, NJ
7 Nights, September 9-16, 2012
Western Caribbean Cruise
Aboard
Royal Caribbean Allure of the Seas
Round Trip from Ft Lauderdale, FL
7 Nights, December 16-23, 2012
To participate in the following bridge
program, bookings must be made through
Go Away Travel
800-721-5927 • 954-349-2800
Luxury Caribbean Cruise
Aboard the six-star
Regent Seven Seas Navigator
Round Trip from Ft Lauderdale, FL
10 nights, March 19 - 29, 2012
If the J were to lose to the Q in
West’s hand and West were to lead a
trump, South would be in trouble. I’d
be too afraid to finesse, putting all my
eggs in that one basket. I’d rather play
the A to be sure of getting to ruff a
heart with dummy’s singleton spade.
Maybe the Q will fall doubleton or
tripleton. Even if it doesn’t fall, we
could get lucky and lose only one
trump trick. Let’s say we chicken out
(imagine using ‘chicken’ and ‘egg’ in
the same bridge paragraph!) and
play the A. When we ruff a heart in
dummy East’s Q falls. Now what?
Declarer has to get off dummy.
Not expecting the missing diamonds
to break 6–1, declarer would lead a
diamond and ruff it. Disaster! West
overruffs. Now West leads a heart,
and declarer’s established J is ruffed
by East’s K. The defense has two
tricks, and still has the A and another
trump trick to come. Down one.
Upon reflection, declarer might have
made this hand. No, not by finessing
the J at trick three. Declarer would
still have to ruff a heart loser in
dummy and then couldn’t prevent
West from getting the lead to give
East a heart ruff.
The way to make the hand was
straightforward, even though it might
not be the best theoretical play. Win
the first trick with dummy’s A and
lead a trump. East’s K appears, so
declarer takes the A and Q. Then
lead a club toward dummy’s K.
West can win the A, but dummy’s
K is now established as a winner
on which a heart can be discarded.
Then take the heart finesse. In all,
declarer would lose only two spade
tricks and the A.
Looking at all 52 cards, it’s much
easier to play this game!
LESSON POINTS
1) With 7–4, rebid the seven-card
suit ahead of the four-card suit.
2) On defense, when in doubt, lead
a singleton against a suit contract.
3) As declarer in a suit contract,
look at the tricks you must lose.
This issue’s Real Deal was generated
by Bridge Baron, a software program
from Great Game Products that is
always a contender in the World
Computer Bridge Championships. It
will be vying for another title this fall
in Veldhoven, Netherlands.
Stephen Smith, lead programmer
for Great Game Products, knows a lot
about how computers play bridge.
First, can we expect a random deal?
“Research suggests that humans don’t
shuffle well and tend to deal hands
that are less distributional than might
be statistically expected. So when a
computer creates a truly random deal,
some people perceive it as more
distributional than the deals to which
they are accustomed.”
What are the advantages of having
a computer as a bridge partner? we
asked. “You can play with Bridge Baron
any time, day or night, in Windows,
on a Mac, on your iPhone, or iPad...
and soon on your Android device and
a Kindle as well. It is infinitely patient,
can interpret any bid, gives you hints
during the bidding and play...even
showing you what it is ‘thinking.’”
“It’s not as good as most competitive
bridge players, but computers have
been playing much better over the
past decade.”
Do computers exhibit any personality?
“The psychological aspect of bridge
is largely beyond the computer’s
capabilities at this point. Programmers
are cooking up improved approaches
to this problem. The key breakthrough
would be to get the computer to put
itself in another player’s shoes.”
Bridge Baron is available from:
www.greatgameproducts.com
Larry’s Bridge Lectures
November 3-4, 2011
Boca Grande Duplicate Bridge Club
Boca Grande, Florida
888-407-2622
April 2, 2012
Pomapano Duplicate Bridge Club
Pompano Beach, Florida
954-803-1477
April 3, 2012
Vero Beach Bridge Center
Vero Beach, Florida
772-562-3008
Gold
Points