Tue, 01 Sep 2009 06:06:21 -0400 http://www.demicoma.com/pn764/html/ A site on Duplicate bridge game. en-us http://www.demicoma.com/pn764/html/images/logo.gif http://www.demicoma.com/pn764/html/ panja@demicoma.com http://www.demicoma.com/pn764/html/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=365 The first round of the Bermuda Bowl 2009 did not go well for India. Here is a deal from that round. There was a mildly interesting lead problem. Holding KTxx,Qxx,xx,xxxx; what do you lead if righty opens 1H and the bidding goes 1H P 2C P 2D P 2H P 2S P 4H PPP? Make your choice before reading on.. Tue, 01 Sep 2009 06:06:21 -0400 http://www.demicoma.com/pn764/html/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=364 This was the hand I discussed in today's column. South plays in 4 after West opens the bidding in the third seat with a 1 bid but passes on two further rounds. West leads a top Diamond and shifts to the Q. South wins and plays a small Heart and West makes the fatal mistake of ducking. You are watching the play on the BBO vu graph and you notice that the contract is makeable at this point. Someone else (Gochi Oddkar, the proverbial oddity-seeker) notices that South can make the contract even if South cashed A at trick four. Sun, 05 Jul 2009 06:03:44 -0400 http://www.demicoma.com/pn764/html/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=363 Here is the deal from the recent Indian trials that appeals committee had to look at. In a strong auction, North paused slightly before bidding 4S, the agreed suit. South next Asked Aces and bid the slam. The director was called before the auction ended. He ruled that the score be adjusted to 4S made six. NS appealed. Fri, 03 Apr 2009 04:58:10 -0400 http://www.demicoma.com/pn764/html/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=362 Following deal came in finals of holkar trophy second session E-AQ8x: KQ KJ9xxx 6 N-K109xxx: xx Qx Kxx W-Jx: AJ9xx 8 Q98xx S-x: 10xxx A10xx AJ10x My partner Dr Harish Sahni as east dealer opened 1 D.We play prepared diamond. South bid 2 spades weak jump overcall.I Dr. K L Bandi thought and bid 3 clubs thinking that if it is doubled I can switch to hearts. south passed and Dr Sahni thought and decided to bid 3 notrump and then all pass. south led Hx. Dr Sahni made both K Q and played x spade south rightly played K thinking that if east had S A Q X the entry to west will be blocked..Now south was in dilemma.Thinking that if east had doubleton club ACE LOW C LEAD WILL GIVE ENTRY TO DUMMY so he rightly played D queen-x x to east King. Now east played low spade and dummys jack won and ran 3 hearts.south discarded low club on spade jack and and club Jack on last heart.North discarded 2 spades and one club.now east played C8 from dummy andsouth jumped with ace and played D ace and continued with diamond.east discarded low diamonds and last 3 cards were Diamond J and spade A Q.Thus we ended in making 10 tricks. EW being vulnerable ended +630 andscoreed +12. datum being. -20 We were the ony pair in whole field to make 3 NT. Iff you have any querry please write to me . The deal was played on 11 jan 09 at yeshwant club Thanking you Dr. K L Bandi KJ9xxx 6 Thu, 22 Jan 2009 20:55:38 -0500 http://www.demicoma.com/pn764/html/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=360 On the diagrammed deal, not many North players would prefer to spread their cards on the table when 6Nt is an attractive option. Perhaps, it isn't a a good idea to play in six Clubs and risk a Heart ruff on trick two. Can you, playing as South justify the confidence partner has placed in your Dummy play skills? Wed, 07 Jan 2009 15:33:55 -0500 http://www.demicoma.com/pn764/html/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=358 Having found a good spot at low level, you are in a safe two Spades contract. You can still try to make 9 tricks..... Fri, 19 Dec 2008 17:31:39 -0500 http://www.demicoma.com/pn764/html/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=356 People differ, and the difference does not vanish at the bridge table or in a bridge game. Some players would enjoy a game if the atmosphere and the food is nice; some others would enjoy if people are courteous; and still some others would not mind a shortcoming or two in either of these areas if the game is good and the players, competent. Unfortunately, not many appreciate the point. Last week, Jayesh Goyal and I played against a competent Pakistan pair, Rasheed Ahmed Jafer and Javed Miran. It was an enjoyable short session not the least because our opponents were competent and courteous. Sun, 31 Aug 2008 15:37:42 -0400 http://www.demicoma.com/pn764/html/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=354 IMP Some problems are difficult in two dimensions. You have to get the winning play for the actual layout, and you also have to justify the rationale for expecting the actual layout! Try your hand at the following problem. Sun, 13 Apr 2008 03:09:33 -0400 http://www.demicoma.com/pn764/html/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=352 IMP When you are defending, it is important to build a picture of the Declarer's hand and act accordingly. Sometimes, you have to go through the line the Declarer is likely to take, and find the killing defense with a bit of extra effort. See if you can manage that on the following problem. Here is the solution. Sat, 22 Mar 2008 15:59:05 -0400 http://www.demicoma.com/pn764/html/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=350 One of my favourite bridge passtimes is to keep track of my own mistakes and try and find the reason behind each. Here is a hand where I should have found the right solution. I didn't.... Sat, 15 Mar 2008 19:02:41 -0400 http://www.demicoma.com/pn764/html/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=349 Formidables, the most successful Indian team in International Bridge, has finally won the RUIA TROPHY. Kiran Nadar, B. Satyanarayana, Sunit Chokshi, Subhash Gupta, K. Venkatraman, and Rajesh Dalal were the mebers of the winning team. Mon, 07 Jan 2008 11:57:04 -0500 http://www.demicoma.com/pn764/html/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=348 Here is a deal from the second round of the second session. Avinash Gokhale and Sathe had been top of the list or nearby all through the first session. They were playing on the home ground, PYC gymkhana Club, which after its renovation a couple of years ago, is easily one of the Top Class venues for a good bridge game. The location is smack in the center of the city, all the facilities are nearby, and the venue itself is spacious. Sat, 05 Jan 2008 06:47:53 -0500 http://www.demicoma.com/pn764/html/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=346 The semi-final and final matches of the Ruia trophy were going to be shown on the VU Graph courtsey Bridge Base Online. As per the latest information we have, the VU graph has now been cancelled. The reason is concerns about 'Board Safety'. Wish you a very Happy and Prosperous year 1908. Fri, 04 Jan 2008 09:39:02 -0500 http://www.demicoma.com/pn764/html/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=345 Last weekend, I played a face-to-face event after quite a while. Considering the gap, I expected to be a little 'slow'. Indeed, there were at least half a dozen deals where lack of tournament practice affected my game. Some of them were very interesting. Let us look at them. This was the fourth board we played. I was sitting South in the diagrammed deal, wherein the hands are rotated for the sake of convenience. Sat, 29 Dec 2007 13:25:00 -0500 http://www.demicoma.com/pn764/html/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=342 Should you follow your instincts? Should you listen to your inner voice at the Bridge table? When I analysed the following deal that I played recently, I realised that the answer wasn't a simple yes or no. Tue, 19 Dec 2006 23:45:09 -0500 http://www.demicoma.com/pn764/html/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=341 Railway team wins the final of the Ruia Trophy today (Sunday, 10 Dec). Ruia Trophy elludes Formidables yet again. Sun, 10 Dec 2006 00:41:27 -0500 http://www.demicoma.com/pn764/html/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=339 There was, as they would say, a pin-drop silence in the Vu Graph room as South pondered his next move in his 4 contract. Sun, 12 Nov 2006 02:05:00 -0500 http://www.demicoma.com/pn764/html/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=337 I noticed this gem while commentating on the final of the fifth European cup. At the bridge table, you often have to guess the correct move. You could easily imagine layouts where either shift could go wrong when you have o­nly two options as a defender.  The trouble is aggravated when the cards in focus are mere spots. Bidding often gives some clue about the bigger picture cards, but the HCP takes into account o­nly cards above a Jack. What do you do when you are confronted with the task of locating an eight-spot? Consider this problem. Wed, 01 Nov 2006 05:00:00 -0500 http://www.demicoma.com/pn764/html/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=335 Is it easier to spot the best line of play with all the four hands o­n view? Examine the following problem and try to find out a winning line. Clearly, cards have to lie favourably for the Declarer for any given line to succeed. Still, the Declarer has to imagine a layout, and a corresponding line. Wed, 25 Oct 2006 05:25:00 -0400 http://www.demicoma.com/pn764/html/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=334 Bompis Sainte-Marie from France are leading the field with o­ne session to go. The two Pairs that play bridge in India...Thakral-Gupta, and Agarwal-Archie Sequeira are not in the top half.Jaggy  and partner have a 53% score. Jaggy doesn't however play much competitive bridge in India any longer. (sensex 5000 or 10000, number of millionaires 10 or 10000, there isn't a rich enough sponsor who can afford to have Jaggy in his team yet - or perhaps, they don't think Jaggy is a good player. Anything is possible. ) Sat, 24 Jun 2006 01:29:48 -0400 http://www.demicoma.com/pn764/html/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=333 There are at least two pairs from India in the Open Pairs final. Sandeep Thakral and N.K.Gupta were in top 10 for the first two sessions with a near-60% score. They dropped back in the third session, but eventually made it to the finals.  Sandeep Thakral is a fan of DEMICOMA and an original member of the DEMICOMA team.. Thu, 22 Jun 2006 00:09:38 -0400 http://www.demicoma.com/pn764/html/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=332 At Verona, for the 12th World Bridge Championships, there were at least 8 Indian teams out of a total of 172 teams. Two qualified for the round of 64 and o­ne made it to the round of 32. The Formidables team, playing as Nadar even built up a sizeble lead vs. Ekeblad. They did fail to cross the last hurdle though.The more encouraging performance, however, is taking shape in the Open Pairs event. Sun, 18 Jun 2006 12:44:57 -0400 http://www.demicoma.com/pn764/html/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=331 In the latest ratings published by FIDE, Anand has achieved 2800+, for the first time! That tells you how tough it must be. Alas, we don't have anything similar in bridge (except, of course, o­n OKB where the rudimentary rating system still gives us a fair idea about a player's level. ) Sun, 02 Apr 2006 05:47:54 -0400 http://www.demicoma.com/pn764/html/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=330 The Tolani Grand Prix tournament was held again after a gap of eight years.  Some interesting points ... Sun, 02 Apr 2006 05:22:27 -0400 http://www.demicoma.com/pn764/html/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=327 A couple of days ago, while commentating o­n o­ne of the KO matches in the RUIA GOLD CUP, I came across the following hand. Looking at all the four hands, my first impression was that 3Nt was a hopeless contract, however, the deep finesse kept on suggesting it was a make on ANY lead.The commentators kept discussing different aspects of the board. o­ne commentator suggested how 3Nt could be made, but the discussion, as often happens, was about too many things at the same time. Most kibitzers would probably have lost the thread about the winning line. I made up this problem so that you could think about the winning line Single Dummy. See if you can get the idea. I will post the full hand in a day, and the solution, a little while later. Tue, 03 Jan 2006 09:37:36 -0500