| Tournament Hand Analysis: (Bunch the trump!)
Last month's column featured a hand from the Cincinnati, OH Grand Prix Nationals. This hand drew a response from several astute readers. Please bear in mind that many of the deals featured in this column are taken from live events, and feature lines of play that are not always the best! When you are in a competitive tournament, you must make split-second decisions based on your experience and level of skill. Then again, it is a lot easier to choose the proper course of action after the hand is over. (We call that hindsight!)
Here is the deal repeated for convenience:
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| The up card is the Jack of Diamonds, and the score is 9-7 in a ten point game. (Most tournaments do not use the ten point format; each round is usually an eight hand, total points cumulative score). The National Event features a Swiss-paired best two-out of three, standard ten point games structure.
In any case, three passes come to South, and he promptly grabs the Right, discarding the nine of clubs from his hand. I wonder how many East players would have passed with three diamonds and a void? Now, we come to the commentary. West chose the lead of the nine of spades. The play (after this lead), was described in the November column. Most of the e-mails that I received suggested the lead of the diamond Ace! Does this work? Let's check it out! North is forced to play his Left, as East drops his nine, and South follows with his ten spot. North can try the Club Ace; this wins, as West cannot trump, and the hand rolls home. If North leads the Jack of spades, South will win the Ace, and the Right assures victory.
Ron R. suggested a low heart lead by West. This makes for some fascinating (and brutal) analysis! Now North must guess. Trumping with the Left is risky here, as East tosses his singleton Spade. Now what? West is trumping clubs, and East is trumping spades, and North/South will be held to two tricks (the Bowers) if East/West defend properly. If North instead, 'trusts' the trick to his partner (and discards his lone spade), East will ruff with the diamond nine, and sayonara goes the Ace of hearts. The ten of clubs by East, makes things interesting, as South must drop his spade ten. (Trumping with the Right is fatal, and using the ten of diamonds is totally nonsensical.) West is in with the Ace of trump, and continues with hearts. North is forced to discard the club Queen. East plays coyly and dumps the Queen of spades, as South trumps with the diamond ten. (Had East trumped, South would have won the Right, led his small trump to the Left, extracting East's King, and the Ace of Clubs saves the day!) Careful play by South (a 'cross-ruff' with the Bowers separately) will ensure success. Thus, our seemingly 'routine' hand is full of minefields and endless second guessing. Is there any more analysis for this hand? LOL Who said Euchre is an easy game?
Holiday Super Quiz
Part #1 – Bidding Quiz
Assume the score is 0-0 in a ten point game, and you are the dealer, sitting South. The up card is the Ace of Hearts. Three passes come around to you. You are not required to have a 'natural' in order to pick up the Ace of trump. What is your bid with each of these hands? | |
| Quik Kwiz
Assume no loners, reneges, or mis-deals.
1. In a standard ten point game, what is the maximum number of hands that can be played by both sides before either team wins the game?
Assume no loners, again.
2. What is the minimum number of hands that can be played by either side before either side wins the game?? | |
