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Vil Gravis Writes

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Basic Opening Leads and Signals 01

Vil's Tips - Tue, 01/07/2025 - 9:02pm

Good defence requires good players and a good communication system.

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Categories: Vil Gravis Writes

Thursday Tips 01

Vil's Tips - Mon, 30/06/2025 - 10:03am

Vil is starting a new series to be emailed to Hutt's Thursday players (but I'm sure he wouldn't say "no" to including you if you sent him your email address to villyn@xtra.co.nz). He's billing it as Thursday Tips. Here's the first installment

Board 4 from last Thursday is a good example of when you need STAYMAN, and not only that - but when you need Stayman at its most effective, and that is, when you can use it without restriction on point count, from zero to 20!

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Categories: Vil Gravis Writes

The Guessing Game 10

Vil's Tips - Fri, 06/06/2025 - 7:52am

This second board at X-Clubs is even more basic than the first, yet few Wests, as declarers in 4S, managed to arrive at eleven tricks. This should have been a near universal 4S contract for EW, and competent declarer play should have resulted in eleven tricks. But no, even when North made the very favourable opening lead of the diamond seven.

Board 5 from Tuesday 3/06/2025
Dealer N NS Vul
92T7653272T75AQ6439AQ543K4K85KQ86QJ9632JT7AJ84KJT9A8

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Categories: Vil Gravis Writes

Your Call 22

Vil's Tips - Mon, 26/05/2025 - 11:54am

What part of “Fourth Suit Forcing” do people not understand? It seems very simple to me, but clearly not so simple to some others. Even natural bidding without any need for the confusion of the idea of the fourth suit should land EW on this deal in 4H and not the very much inferior 3NT or 4S. But let’s see this full deal:

Board 14 from Thursday 22/05/2025
Dealer E Nil Vul
K54KQJT843T93QJT872A743KJJ9852AQ762AQ72A963T695K8654

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Categories: Vil Gravis Writes

Slams 15

Vil's Tips - Thu, 22/05/2025 - 5:37pm

How difficult should it be to count to thirteen tricks? That is what all the Norths who responded with a quiet 1H when South opened the bidding with 1D had to do when South’s next bid was 4H, or even a conservative 3H. Or maybe some Souths might open 1H, a legitimate enough Acol opener. Take a look at Board 2 from Tuesday 20/05/2025 at X-Clubs.

Board 2 Dealer E NS Vul
K4QJ985432KAJJT327QT598743Q876J9862QT62A95AKT6A743K5

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Categories: Vil Gravis Writes

Your Call 23

Vil's Tips - Mon, 19/05/2025 - 1:43pm

Unusual No Trumps, partner? And how, and when do you play it? What about Michaels? Same question: how and when do you play that? And a final question: have you heard of ‘leaping Michaels’? The answer is possibly that you have, but what about leaping Unusual No Trumps? When you think about it, why not play the Unusual NT and Michaels to include leaps to a higher level depending on your distribution and strength. Here is a great example of the use of the UNT.

Board 10 from Friday 16/05/2025
Dealer E All Vul
KQ8763KKJT764QT875994Q9853AJ9652AQT875AK432AJT4J6322

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Categories: Vil Gravis Writes

Slams 14

Vil's Tips - Thu, 15/05/2025 - 4:41pm

Put yourself in the NORTH seat. You have landed in 6H. This has been in part thanks to your own bidding as well as partner’s great cooperation. East leads the QUEEN OF CLUBS.

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Categories: Vil Gravis Writes

Slams 13

Vil's Tips - Tue, 13/05/2025 - 11:05pm

This slam and the results at X-Clubs tells me that our present day players are somewhat lacking in their communication skills. It also tells me that bidding slams is not necessary for a good result, just being in the best denomination at game level and being able to execute the declarer play will get you over 75%, at least it did for the two pairs who played in 4H and made six. Bidding is about talking to partner and being aware of what both partners need to know, not just set rules about bidding suits and 4-4 fits. Let’s take a look at Board 11 and the NS thought processes.

Board 11 from Friday 9/05/2025
Dealer S Nil Vul
K2AQJ9QJ743A89838742T5K652T7665K9862QJ7AQJ54KT3AT943

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Categories: Vil Gravis Writes

Slams 12

Vil's Tips - Tue, 06/05/2025 - 11:45am

Now put yourself in the West seat and play the 6C slam that you have put yourself in after East has opened 1S and put down the most unhelpful dummy that you have ever seen from an opening bid. North leads the ten of hearts.

Board 13 from 1/05/2025
Dealer N All Vul
QJ42T972652K3AKQ864AAQT974AK87655QJ9765T93J3KT843J82

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Categories: Vil Gravis Writes

Slams 11

Vil's Tips - Mon, 05/05/2025 - 2:22pm

This deal should have led to a slam, but when it did, it led to the wrong slam. And a lot of the time, it was not even close to a slam, which does make me wonder about how much understanding there is between most partnerships. Let’s see what could, or should, happen in the real world. Take a look at the West hand. Can you imagine not being in a slam after East a) opens a weak two, or b) East opens a legitimate ‘rule of 20’ 1S?
Board 13 from 1/05/2025
Dealer N All Vul
QJ42T972652K3AKQ864AAQT974AK87655QJ9765T93J3KT843J82

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Categories: Vil Gravis Writes

Slams 10

Vil's Tips - Sun, 27/04/2025 - 9:28pm

This deal occurred at X-Clubs recently but unfortunately it was Board 28 so was only played at some clubs and was not included in the full X-Clubs analysis, but it is of such interest that it is worth discussion.

Board 28 from on Tuesday 22/04/2025
Dealer W NS Vul
984K753276T85AJT76AAAKQJ62Q2Q64QJ985974K53JT98KT4323

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Categories: Vil Gravis Writes

Opening Leads 30

Vil's Tips - Fri, 18/04/2025 - 5:05pm

Some well thought out opening leads can have unintended consequences. This could have been one such time, but unfortunately not a single EW pair were in what I would have thought would be the best contract if bid properly, so the opening lead was not as potentially productive as it might have been. But let’s see how things might have turned out if EW had reached what I consider the best contract, and South also made what I would rate the best opening lead, despite my constant admonitions to never lead an unsupported ace. Let’s look at the deal from X-Clubs on Tuesday 15/04/2025.

Board 13. Dealer N All Vul
Q7JKT2KJ97543KJ43Q96393AT2AT62AK742Q756985T85AJ864Q8

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Categories: Vil Gravis Writes

The Guessing Game 08

Vil's Tips - Fri, 11/04/2025 - 5:04pm

Declarer is South, in 4S doubled. West leads the queen of hearts. How should declarer play to avoidminus 800 and a bottom board?

Board 6 from Tuesday 8/04/2025
Dealer E EW Vul
82K632J6432T3QQJT8AT97KJ87J53A954K5A654AKT97647Q8Q92

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Categories: Vil Gravis Writes

Opening Leads 29

Vil's Tips - Thu, 10/04/2025 - 5:04pm

Another deal from X-Clubs that gave both sides the chance to score well or badly. The opening lead against the final contract was not what the results hinged on, but the subsequent declarer play and defence did make a huge difference. Let’s see what happened at X-Clubs.

Board 6 from Tuesday 8/04/2025
Dealer E EW Vul
82K632J6432T3QQJT8AT97KJ87J53A954K5A654AKT97647Q8Q92

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Categories: Vil Gravis Writes

Opening Leads 28

Vil's Tips - Tue, 08/04/2025 - 3:55pm

Another deal from X-Clubs that produced some extraordinary results. The opening lead would appear to be a given, and so should the outcome, but read on and you’ll be surprised!

Board 17 from X-Clubs 1/04/2025
Dealer N Nil Vul
JT54KQJ65294TAKQ8AT98K6Q979343AQJT8KJ3276277532A8654

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Categories: Vil Gravis Writes

Opening Leads 27

Vil's Tips - Mon, 07/04/2025 - 5:22pm

This one caused a lot of controversy when I put it to my panel of club players. The deal occurred at X-Clubs on 1-April. It was a quite competitive deal, where good and bad scores were evident across the board, and where the choice of opening lead made a big difference.

Board 9 from X-Clubs 1-04-2025
Dealer N EW Vul
A634AJ75432K7KT5J8765KAJ85Q82AT92T86QT2J974KQ3Q99643

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Categories: Vil Gravis Writes

The Guessing Game 05

Vil's Tips - Tue, 01/04/2025 - 7:40pm

This deal comes from another match point session, where the opening lead can score or lose you many match points, as of course can the declarer play. In this deal only overtricks mattered, and the best lead from a hand that has little of any substance, resulted in a good match point score, in fact over 80% on the board, but it also needed the cooperation of partner.

Board 13. Dealer N All Vul
76A952JTAQ973K52KJ87A65JT8J984T63432642AQT3Q4KQ987K5

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Categories: Vil Gravis Writes

The Guessing Game 04

Vil's Tips - Fri, 28/03/2025 - 11:29am

This deal comes from a match point session, where aggression and enterprise was generally rewarded but not as much as it could have been had the NS pairs found the very simple way to communicate, which the cards they held allowed them to do. The deal is a bit freakish but that is where the better results can be obtained by aggressive bidding, partnership communication, and lateral thinking by one partner and ‘message received’ by the other partner.

Board 1. Dealer N Nil Vul

T2KQJT97Q63K4KQ8754J5JT963A963A64942A82J8532AKT87Q75

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Categories: Vil Gravis Writes

The Guessing Game 03

Vil's Tips - Tue, 25/03/2025 - 10:06am

There is no such thing as the correct lead from a particular holding. For instance if you had a suit like KQJ92 would you ever think of leading any other card but the KING? This deal comes from the archives and I reported it about 40 years ago, but bidding has advanced considerably since then and we may bid differently these days. How, I don’t know. But then, so many years ago, we bid as much by instinct and the seat of our pants rather than science. At the time, we bid to a 3NT contract which gave the opponents enough information to defeat the contract, but they failed to listen. Let me tell you the story as I remember it.

Dealer W All Vul
Q8753JT65K643AK64AK874AJ8253T8764AQ2Q75JT92KQJ9293T9

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Categories: Vil Gravis Writes

The Guessing Game 02

Vil's Tips - Sun, 23/03/2025 - 10:34am

This deal comes from a recent X-Clubs session which was used as one session of a Swiss Pairs series at our club. In this form of the game both the contract and the opening lead could have made a huge impact on the result of an 8-board match. That is because of the possibility of a slam being bid, and the opening lead if the slam was played by either North or South. But the events that I expected to see did not eventuate at our club, with nary a slam bid anywhere. Even across the whole of X-Clubs the 6S slam was only bid four times, with surprising results. But more of that later. Let’s have some guessing practice to see what we can learn about leads against small slams.

Dealer N NS Vul
You are WEST and pick up this hand:
3KT9762KTJT72

This was the bidding:
SouthWestNorthEast--1NTPass3Pass4Pass4NTPass5Pass6PassPassPass

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