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A Kelsey Hand. An Ottlik Hand.
Aug. 7th, 2007 02:02 pmI know that all my readers are dying to see all my fabulous hands from the Nashville NABC. Well, the hands are on the way, but it takes time to ensure the high level of quality you expect. Still, I just had a hand this weekend and I can't wait to publish.
In my circle of bridge friends, everyone wants to have A KELSEY HAND. A hand where they get to be the protagonist in a double entry squeeze, or a knockout squeeze, or even a backwash squeeze. These are all Ottlik hands, but Kelsey's the name everyone remembers. Anyway...
A few times I've had a squeeze in one card. That's fun. Years ago my teammates pointed out a non-material uppercut (dummy could overruff and declarer still had enough high trumps to draw trumps, but he was in the wrong hand). I've waited a long time, and here's my Kelsey hand, a non-material throw in. BTW, I grant that the whole story is incredibly flawed, but that just makes it more poignant. To make it even more special, my partner had wanted to play Cappelletti over opponents' 1N overcall. I objected, and that's the only reason I got to play in 2C on this deal.
Board 15) 4th, favorable, swiss teams
P-1S-1N-2C, P-P-P
KQ9xx QT9x AQx K
x Kxx Jxx Qxxxxx
LHO led D9, Rusinow (showing the T or shortness) and RHO's 1N showed 16-18 HCP. That meant the DK was wrong, so I put in DQ to build an entry to hand. DQ held, of course, because RHO decided to bid 1N on 15+. Fine.
I led CK, and RHO won to clear diamonds. I led SK and, without any more diamonds, RHO returned SJ. I pitched my diamond loser and needed to get to hand to draw trumps. I ruffed a spade and LHO overruffed. I could tell partner would give me a lesson on declarer play later... Anyway, LHO tapped me with DK and RHO pitched a spade. I ruffed, cashed CQ, and had to pitch from dummy. I could pitch a spade and then put RHO in with a club and he'd be endplayed, but he could just exit a spade, establishing a trick I could never reach. Instead, I pitched a spade and RHO was caught in a non-material endplay. He couldn't afford to break hearts, so he had to eliminate the spades for me. Then I led to HQ and, after winning the ace, he had to lead from the jack. That's PLUS NINETY!!! Woo hoo.
The best part is that if I had played RHO for a 15 count and five spades, I would have run D9 to my jack, played a club, won the diamond return in dummy, knocked out SA, won the spade return, run HT, played another heart and now RHO can win HA and play a spade. If I ruff high and play another trump, they score three aces, one club, a spade ruff, and a diamond ruff. If I ruff low they overruff, diamond ruff, and another spade promotes the setting trick. If I pitch a diamond, they continue spades and it only gets worse. I found the only way to make 2C. See? I knew what I was doing all along...
In another match I formulated the shifty rule. If you make a bad opening lead against a notrump contract, you're only allowed to break one more suit. If that doesn't work, you're not allowed to break a third suit unless you count out the hand. That means none of my partners are allowed to break three suits at notrump.
In my circle of bridge friends, everyone wants to have A KELSEY HAND. A hand where they get to be the protagonist in a double entry squeeze, or a knockout squeeze, or even a backwash squeeze. These are all Ottlik hands, but Kelsey's the name everyone remembers. Anyway...
A few times I've had a squeeze in one card. That's fun. Years ago my teammates pointed out a non-material uppercut (dummy could overruff and declarer still had enough high trumps to draw trumps, but he was in the wrong hand). I've waited a long time, and here's my Kelsey hand, a non-material throw in. BTW, I grant that the whole story is incredibly flawed, but that just makes it more poignant. To make it even more special, my partner had wanted to play Cappelletti over opponents' 1N overcall. I objected, and that's the only reason I got to play in 2C on this deal.
Board 15) 4th, favorable, swiss teams
P-1S-1N-2C, P-P-P
KQ9xx QT9x AQx K
x Kxx Jxx Qxxxxx
LHO led D9, Rusinow (showing the T or shortness) and RHO's 1N showed 16-18 HCP. That meant the DK was wrong, so I put in DQ to build an entry to hand. DQ held, of course, because RHO decided to bid 1N on 15+. Fine.
I led CK, and RHO won to clear diamonds. I led SK and, without any more diamonds, RHO returned SJ. I pitched my diamond loser and needed to get to hand to draw trumps. I ruffed a spade and LHO overruffed. I could tell partner would give me a lesson on declarer play later... Anyway, LHO tapped me with DK and RHO pitched a spade. I ruffed, cashed CQ, and had to pitch from dummy. I could pitch a spade and then put RHO in with a club and he'd be endplayed, but he could just exit a spade, establishing a trick I could never reach. Instead, I pitched a spade and RHO was caught in a non-material endplay. He couldn't afford to break hearts, so he had to eliminate the spades for me. Then I led to HQ and, after winning the ace, he had to lead from the jack. That's PLUS NINETY!!! Woo hoo.
The best part is that if I had played RHO for a 15 count and five spades, I would have run D9 to my jack, played a club, won the diamond return in dummy, knocked out SA, won the spade return, run HT, played another heart and now RHO can win HA and play a spade. If I ruff high and play another trump, they score three aces, one club, a spade ruff, and a diamond ruff. If I ruff low they overruff, diamond ruff, and another spade promotes the setting trick. If I pitch a diamond, they continue spades and it only gets worse. I found the only way to make 2C. See? I knew what I was doing all along...
In another match I formulated the shifty rule. If you make a bad opening lead against a notrump contract, you're only allowed to break one more suit. If that doesn't work, you're not allowed to break a third suit unless you count out the hand. That means none of my partners are allowed to break three suits at notrump.
