Unit 214: Hattiesburg Duplicate Bridge

It is time to change from bidding to defense. The next several lessons will focus on different aspects of defense. We are on defense 50% of the time.It is the hardest part of the game. Let's get to work.

You are on lead against two hearts. What do you lead? This auction screams for a trump lead. Why? North is most assuredly short in spades. You want to keep declarer from being able to ruff spade losers in his/ her hand so that you get your natural spade tricks. 

You lead a heart. Declarer puts in the two and partner wins A and leads back jack . Declarer wins K hearts. Plays A spades and Ruffs a losing spade. Plays A and K of clubs and comes back to hand and ruffs. They ruff with 10 hearts and you Pitch 8 diamonds. That signals your partner to lead a diamond if they get in. Declarer draws your last trump and must either play towards K diamonds or play towards spades. Watching your pitch, declarer plays towards Q 10 of spades. You win K or jack and cash again then putting declarer back in hand with a spade. 

DO NOT cash your A of diamonds. You know Declarer has 5 spades and four hearts. Declarer had two clubs and then ruffed a club. Declarer has two diamonds. Putting declarer back in his hand assures you also get two diamond tricks. You held the declarer to two hearts. Any other lead allows declarer to get rid of spade losers keeping you from your natural spade tricks and lets declarer make an overtrick. 

You have 4 of the preemptive hand’s hearts. What does the two notrump bid mean? It asks the preemptive hand for a feature. This means that the declarer is short in hearts and wants an entry to dummy to make this three no trump contract. What do you want to lead? You know declarer will have trouble running hearts. Knock out the entry early!!!. Lead a spade.  Declarer will let it ride to his ace. Your partner has great spots in spades. Declarer leads towards his hearts on trick two.  Do you take your Ace then. No. Let him on the board. Take your ace on the second heart. Then put him on the board with the King of spades. He gets the bad news about the hearts on trick five and will abandon that suit for the clubs. Now your partner will take the ace of clubs and three spades.  

Let’s examine how each defendant handled their Aces. West had to hold up until the second trick to take the ace of hearts. West knows that hearts will not run. By leading spades, west knew he could knock out entry to dummy early on. East now is in a good position. He has to pitch a club on the third heart. He does not need to hold up on Ace of clubs. He has the contract set with his three spade tricks . DOWN 1 . 

Sherry Kinkopf and Deanna Stewart are volunteering their time and representing ACBL HUB Unit 214 at OLLI. OLLI stands for Oschner's Life Long Learning Institute. They have a campus associated with the University of Southern Mississippi. Anyone interested in joining us should register with OLLI. OLLI offers many opportunities for learning and we are happy to be included.

SPRING 2025 Online and email registration | Wednesday, January 15 at 9 a.m. Phone registration | Thursday, January 16 at 9 a.m. Walk-in registration | Friday, January 17 at 9 a.m. Courses begin Monday, January 27, held in person and/or on Zoom.

https://www.usm.edu/lifelong-learning/index.php

Advancing your Bridge Play: Explore the World of Duplicate Bridge | $30 Thursdays, February 6 - March 6 | HB In-Person 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. | Five-Week Class led by Dr. Sherry Kinkopf and Dr. Deanna Stewart 34 Love contract bridge already? Want to improve your game and learn about the world of competitive bridge? Join us for a five week deep-dive into duplicate bridge where you will learn about scoring differences, conventions for bidding, defensive strategies and more. Each lesson will provide a focused topic with practical applications through supervised play. Get hooked on duplicate bridge with us and explore a whole new world of game play opportunities. Dr. Sherry Kinkopf is a retired classroom teacher and teacher educator with 29.5 years of experience. She retired from USM in 2023 and has been enjoying her lifelong passion for duplicate bridge. Sherry has moved up in her ACBL (American Contract Bridge League) rank from a Junior Master to an Advanced North American Bridge Championship Master and is four points from Life Master. Deanna Stewart, M.D., is a practicing physician in Hattiesburg with over 25 years of experience in her field. She shares a passion for bridge like her sister, her parents and her brother. Deanna has been teaching bridge in Hattiesburg for over a year, and she is a Silver Life Master with the ACBL.