MHAU00TE

MONTHLY HAND

AUGUST 2000

INTRODUCTION

THIS MONTH'S TOPIC:
Some Bridge History

On the night of September 29, 1929 in a fashionable Kansas City apartment, John G. Bennett distributed the cards in a deal that would become as legendary as the fateful Dead Man's Hand of Wild Bill Hickok.*
     Opposite Mr. Bennett sat his lovely wife Myrtle. The opponents were their friends Charlie and Mayme Hofman. They were playing Rubber Bridge at one tenth of a cent per point. But the stakes would soon prove to be much higher.
     On the hand shown Mr. Bennett opened the bidding 1 $ which was overcalled 2 u by Mr. Hofman. Myrtle jumped to game at 4 $. All pass. John Bennett played the hand going down one. His wife Myrtle then made a reference to "bum Bridge players" and commented unfavorably upon her husband's parentage. John Bennett in turn informed his wife of her poor bidding and mentioned something about her low I.Q.
To emphasise his reprimand he slapped her twice across the face.
    That did it. An exasperated Myrtle reached the breaking point. She rushed from the room and speedily returned armed with a Browning Automatic. In spite of her distraught condition and the Hofmans' horrified protests, her aim was quite good. She shot her husband dead. That sort of ended the rubber.
     At the subsequent trial the defense counsels managed to stack the jury with Bridge players. The judge being a Bridge player was another setback for the prosecution. The outcome was fairly predictable: Accidental Death. Myrtle was acquitted. This verdict (not the expected one of Justifiable Homicide) made it mandatory that the insurance company pay the bereaved widow $30,000. It was certainly thoughtful of John to insure his life against death by accident.
     At the time of the ensuing trial the famous bridge theorist Ely Culbertson published his famous Blue Book. The concepts in the book raised Bridge bidding to a higher scientific level. After the trial Culbertson commented, "Poor Bennett, if he had only played my system it would have save his life!" Maybe. A bad bidder is a bad bidder in any system.
     Epilogue: Since the shooting nobody has ever seen the Hofmans play Bridge. And as for Myrtle Bennett, she just drifted off into Bridge history oblivion. Some of her friends said that she had difficulty in getting a regular bridge partner. Wonder why? Where ever your are Myrtle, keep on playing!

BIDDING

John Bennett's bid of 1 $ by modern evaluation is clearly substandard. When length and distribution are considered, there is no where near an an opening bid for South. And even by Culbertson's method of needing 2 1/2 quick tricks to open, this hand also fails short. (Counting 1/2 a trick for a King, this hand has 1 1/2 quick tricks.) John should pass and maybe come in later with a Take Out Double. The partnership would eventually get to a 3 $ contract.
Mrs. Bennett is not entirely blameless in this fatal auction. She should bid 2 # or make a control cue bid of 2 u. This would show a first or second round control of Diamonds and support for Spades. In any case her husband would have a chance to discourage any further moves and show a minimum of a minimum opening by bidding 3 $.

OPENING LEAD

Never lead an Ace or under lead an Ace against a suit contract. (Under leading an Ace means leading a low card in a suit headed by an Ace.) This eliminates Hearts and Diamonds as candidates for an opening lead. Leading a Spade might burn a trick, so that lead is out. By a process of elimination Mr. Hofman must lead a Club. Since he has two he bangs down the J

PLAY

Dummy comes down. Do not play a Club; count losers instead. 1 Spade; 3 Hearts; and 1 Diamond. Looks like down 2 for the good guys. The Diamond loser is a certainty. Problem is how to reduce the losers in the majors from 4 to 2.
     PLAN: Playing in a suit contract the 3 ways of getting rid of losers are: DUMP, TRUMP and FINESSE. A Spade finesse if taken successfully can get rid of one loser. But should the finesse be taken at all and if so which way. (Finesse the 10 or the Jack?)
     There is that old Bridge maxim Nine Never; Eight Ever. This means that if between both hands you have 9 cards in one suit missing the Queen, NEVER finesse. Play the Ace then the King and hope the Queen drops. If you have 8 cards in a suit missing the Queen then you will for EVER take the finesse. North/South have 9 Spades between them so Declarer will play for the Queen to drop.
      Hearts are the problem. A small Heart can be played from Dummy toward the King. (Finessing the Ace.) If East has the A

the K

will be a winner. But since West did make and overcall there is a good chance that he has the A

. What to do? TRUMP or FINESSE are not options. What about DUMP? Clubs are the only suit that the losing Hearts can be dumped on. So the Club suit must be set up. This will be done by trumping Clubs and a ruffing finesse.
PLAY: Win the opening J

with the King. Assume that East has the Q

. Now play the Ace and King of Spades. The Queen falls, great! One hurdle overcome.*
Back to the Clubs. Play the 10

and over take with the Ace in Dummy. Now for the crucial play of the 8

from Dummy.
TAKE 1: If East plays a low Club, then Declarer DUMPS a losing Heart. The next Club is trumped in the closed hand making the fifth Club in Dummy a winner. The Declarer gets to Dummy with the 10

and DUMPS another losing Heart on the last good Club.
TAKE 2: If when the 8

is played from Dummy and East goes up with the Q

then Declarer plays trump and wins the trick. The other 2 Clubs in Dummy are good. Declarer gets to Dummy with the 10

and DUMPS 2 losing Hearts on the good Clubs.
In both TAKES Declarer DUMPED 2 losing Hearts on the Clubs. A Diamond trick will now be lost and eventually the second Diamond will be ruffed in Dummy.
For the overtrick a Heart is played from Dummy and the Ace is finessed by putting in the K

. This is not the day; the K

loses to the A

. But the Defenders can only take one more Heart trick. (The third Heart will be trumped in the closed hand.) The Declarer with only trump remaining can claim. Declarer lost 1 Diamond and 2 Hearts, making 4

* In the actual hand played by John Bennett the trumps split 3/1. (Mr. Hofman had 5 Diamonds and 3 Hearts.) The unfortunate Mr. Bennett lost a trump trick, 2 Hearts and a Diamond, and the contract and his life.

QUESTIONS:
1. If Mr. Hofman leads the A followed by a small Diamond (dummy ruffs) would the contract fail?
2. With favorable vulnerability (North/South vul and East/West not vul) should Mrs. Hofman bid 5 ?
Answers

DEFENSE

The Defenders just follow suit and try not to revoke.

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