OBAR BIDS – Acronym for Opponents Bid And Raise – Balance In Direct Seat. Popularized by Larry Cohen in “To Bid Or Not To Bid: The Law of Total Tricks“. Conceptually, when one side discovers a trump fit at the 2 level trump (beneath 2 Spades), the other side should consider entering the auction – even bidding without substantive values in direct seat. While many might make a bid in the balancing/passout seat (“borrowing partner’s King”), making a freebid in direct seat is typically viewed as showing additional values – no so playing OBAR BIDS.
Criteria to consider when making an OBAR BIDS:
1.
Sensitive to Vulnerability – caution when unfavorable “Red versus White”
2.
Shortage in OBAR suit
3.
Reasonable length in higher ranking suit
4.
Working values – honors in higher ranking and side suits
5.
Quality of hand – controls, primary honors, intermediate values, sequences, etc
Example:
P – (1) – P – (2);
2 A reasonablebid holding:
K Q J 8 2 Nice sequence, working values, and good lead direction 5 3 J 10 5 9 6 4
The Monastry of SANTA MARIA A RIPA, was probably established around 1533, when a tiny group of young ladies living in the castle of Montecatini Alto and particularly devote to Catholic Church decidedto leave, to escape from the world, and to retire in prayer. Many happenings throughout the centuries led to a disruption of the monastry until 1881, when it had been acquired again, so the nouns from the closest convent of Borgo a Buggiano could live in it, again.The monastery is still a profound and spiritual place to stay and retire for prayers or for simple seek for peace.
Escaping is something that also is common in some boards in bridge, sometimes not successfuly, as in this board played in the second round of the R16 Play-Offs.
R 2-2 R 16 Play Offs Board 20
After a 2 opening bid by West, Auken overcalled her spade suit, Upmark showed his strong hand with a 2NT bid. Welland closed the spade game, after two pass, Upmark reopen the bidding with 4NT, relay to 5 Auken said 5 and lastly the E/W partnership decided to play the club slam. Three pass closed the bidding.
Auken had the lead and chose a spade. Declarer won with his ace and ruffed his other spade. He continued with a diamond to his ace, played three trump rounds and claimed 12 tricks.
At the other table things were a little different…producing a huge 18 IMPs swing.
Seamon opened 1 and Migry overcalled 2, Pepsi showed his club suit, and South closed the spade game. After two pass, Pepsi reopened with 4NT and finally decided to play 6. Now Williken had the lead and Migry decided to use a Ligthner double, to suggest that an unusual lead, usually the first suit bid by dummy.
Pepsi very quickly visualized Migry’s heart void, and escaped to 6NT, this time Willeken doubled. Not good this time…Two down doubled = -500.
So if after the championships someone needs to escape for some rest, an alternative way to experience Tuscany could be to sleep atThe Monastry of SANTA MARIA A RIPA, where the escape is low cost: monasteries are cheap or sometimes even free, this is because several monastic orders take hospitality as one of their rules, along with their vows of poverty and charity.
For true bridge players there is no activity that absorbs them in the way bridge does. But on the way to satisfaction, during the championships there are some stones = hands that produce a bitter moment accompanied by stress, difficult to combat. Luckily this open European championship is being played in Montecatini, which boasts its anti-stress hot springs.
East = Hinden decided to open his hand with a 2NT bid, South= Pavlushko interrupted with 3NT showing a one-color heart hand and West = Osborne invited to 6NT. East who had already stretched out his hand, did not accept.
Declarer received the 3 lead, he won at the table and played a spade to the ace and continued with a heart, when South played small, he passed the 10 winning the trick. When the return of a small club to the jack also was successful, she claimed 12 tricks.
At the other table, East = Rudakov started a level lower, opening 1 (strong), South = Leslie also competed but with 2. West = Rudakov doubled and East closed the spade game. West with an incredible support in his partner’s suit and extras in front of a strong hand, continued asking for keycards and finally the pair chose to play the spade slam.
South led his A and the declarer claimed 12 tricks.
Getting trapped in your own trap causes a lot of stress …
MONTECATINI ALTO (HIGH) is the original Montecatini settlement, lying a few hundred metres above the ‘new’ town. The views from there are splendid, and the delightful Piazza Giusti is home to some good bars and restaurants.
Montecatini alto (high) is a characteristic medieval village, abounding in historical events culture and illustrious personages, is one of the most ancient inhabited centers in the Valdinievole. The Vallis Nebulae, or Valley of Fog, as it was called was, of old, inhabited by the Ligurians, Etruscans, Romans and Longobards and was always of relevant strategic importance because its hill dominated the important roads of communication such as the Cassia, the Francesca and the Romea. The Montecatini Alto of today, a suggestive outdoor masterpiece, does not retain the image of a sole period nor does it have a style with a definite, rigid imprint. Instead, it is witness to a historical parable of intense experiences, filled with dark moments, almost total descruction opposed to other periods of growth and splendour. Borgo, Castello, Terra Murata: around the year 1000 this ancient nucleus already had twenty-five house-towers and two fortresses to its name, town walls two kilometres long, built according to the natural course of the two hills, with seven gateways confirming a proud and uncompromising civic nobility and an indisputable strategic and military importance that lasted up until the fatal year of 1315, when Castruccio Castracani, a Ghibelline, lieutenant of Uguccione della Fagiola, laid siege to the castle, took it by storm and sacked it atrociously.
Today started the European Mixed Teams Open Championship, with a field of 114 teams. On Round 3 of the ten RR rounds, Board 22 generated important swings on many tables, almost all of those swings depended on how high South over-called after a 1 opening by East.
At table 1 a Norwegian team faced a Japan team:
Round 3 Board 22
East opened 1 and South chose to show his two-colored hand (spades and diamonds) with a heart cue-bid. This caused a Pass from West and a 4 jump from North. East doubled to show strength, but West preferred to pass.
East led his club ace, and watching dummy’s singleton club continued with his A and another heart, expecting his partner to ruff.
Declarer was able to win with dummy’s king of heart, and play a spade. West decided to take action and played the ace of spades, a second after she was watching the king of his partner fall.
Not even with this play the declarer could win the contract, since he lost, a clubr, a heart, a spade and the diamond king.
At the other table, not taking up space from the auction, and only declaring at the one level, had its consequences…
Larsson chose not to show her two suits and only showed her spades. East used the opportunity to show her club suit, with 2 (alerted as No Forcing). Also here North jumped to 4, but now East, with a strong hand and A K x x in his partner’s suit, chose to play game in clubs.
The spade lead, was won at the table with the king singleton, the declarer played two trump rounds, immediately discarded a diamond in the ace of spades and claimed.
See what was played and the result of the board on all tables: click here.
This deal gets my vote for the best defense ever. It occurred during the 1985 International Team Trial to pick the U.S. team for that year’s Bermuda Bowl world championship. Try it for yourself first.
Dlr.: South Vul: Both
Your partner leads a low spade. South ruffs your jack, cashes his ace of clubs, and ruffs a club with dummy’s eight of diamonds (partner plays the eight and ten of clubs). How would you plan the defense?
The full deal is ….
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(a) Limit raise or better with three or more spades
(b) At least 5=6 in the minors
Eddie Wold
Eddie Wold (West), judging that declarer would want to ruff clubs in the dummy, led a trump. This defense can be best, but it wasn’t here. As we will see in a moment, a forcing defense was better.
Lew Stansby
The declarer, Lew Stansby, could have got out for down one by winning in hand, cashing the ace of clubs, ruffing a club with dummy’s jack of diamonds, and drawing two more rounds of trumps. He would have lost two club tricks to West and a heart trick. But declarer won the first trick with dum-my’s jack of diamonds, so suffered two overruffs in clubs by Mark Lair (East). Stansby also had to lose a club trick, so East-West were plus 500.
Bobby Wolff (West) led a spade.
Larry Cohen y Marty Bergen
Marty Bergen (South) ruffed East’s jack, cashed the ace of clubs, and ruffed a club with dummy’s eight of diamonds. East, Bob Hamman, paused to assess the deal. What did he do? Judging from West’s eight and ten of dubs that declarer was 5=7 in the minors, Hamman could see that South was in trouble. His clubs couldn’t be that strong, because he hadn’t drawn trumps. And how would declarer get back to his hand for more club ruffs? Not with trumps, because he needed those in the dummy for the club ruffs. And if he ruffed a spade, South would lose trump control. So, Hamman, refusing the opportunity to overruff with the nine of diamonds, discarded.
Bob Hamman
Declarer exited from the dummy with a heart, but Hamman won with the king and forced Bergen with another spade. A club ruffed with the jack of diamonds was followed by a heart ruff in hand, leaving this position:
Declarer ruffed a club with the five of diamonds, but now Hamman overruffed and tapped again with a spade. Declarer finished with his five trump tricks, two ruffs in the dummy and the ace of clubs: down 800. That was a seven-imp gain in a match won 339-334 by Hamman’s team.
Hamman was understandably awarded the Defense of the Year prize by the International Bridge Press Association, and his team won the Bermuda Bowl that October. Why was this so good? Because almost every other player would have overruffed the eight of diamonds, then decided what to do — too late.
The European Bridge League has modernized its internet site, where the bridge players of the world, will have access to all the latest news of the European bridge. сервис подбора кредитов онлайн
His most important news today is the European Bridge Championship in Montecatini, from the home of the site you can enter the site of the event where everyone can access the results, bulletins, the list of entries for each championship and much more.
Below you cand also find a list of upcoming European events, to help us to plan the bridge tournaments in which we want to participate …
Enter and discover for yourself all the information it contains …
Below we show the new facade, but what we are showing is only the aroma of what the page really is … enter http://www.eurobridge.org/… We hope you enjoy the experience …
In June 1997, 20 years ago the 43rd GENERALI EUROPEAN BRIDGE CHAMPIONSHIPS was played in Montecatini Terme, Italy. Today we bring you an article that was published in the second bulletin of that event.
Monday, 16 June 1997
Analysis Slow and Quick
Jean-Paul Meyer
(The Editor, sometimes known as the ‘Mozart’ of bridge on account of how he used to analyse problems at his mother’s knee, presented this problem to the readers of ‘Bridge Magazine’ in 1956. Of course he claims it was written by his Grand-Father).
Below is a hand which was published in Le Figaro and also in the American Bridge World. It occurred in a match which consisted of only one deal (!),the players being Messrs. Samuel Stayman, Stephen A. Lynch, J.T. Reese and Boris Schapiro.
Dealer North
One of the terms of this one-deal match was that at least a game contract had to be reached otherwise the deal would not count. With West’s double a game contract had been reached.
East-West took the first four tricks:
East took two clubs and led the ten of spades, the ace killing South’s king. West led the queen of hearts to East’s ace. Reese now led the jack of clubs, which he might have led at trick three, instead of a spade.
Stayman ruffed high,West discarding a heart. He led the five of diamonds and finessed dummy’s nine. Dummy’s last club was ruffed with South’s remaining honour, this play (according to the analysts) producing a trump squeeze.
Here is the position:
South, remember, is winning the trick with the king of diamonds and West has to discard. If he throws a spade South takes two more trumps, discarding the eight of hearts from his own hand, then makes the queen of spades and ruffs a spade. He takes the last two tricks with the king of hearts and eight of spades.
If, instead of discarding a spade,West discards a heart, the play is similar except that South discards a spade on dummy’s penultimate diamond and ends up by making the king and ten of hearts.
What the analysts did not spot was that West is not trump-squeezed at all; he merely discards a trump and cannot be prevented from making one more trick to defeat the contract.
Yesterday we had breakfast early and went out with Mario to walk Rome.
First the obligatory visit to the square of San Pedro, innumerable amount of tourists were directed to the square so, with patience, we walked by the paved roman streets, arriving at our first destination, breakfast in piazza Venezia where we met with Robin Fellus.
Fontana di Trevi
Second stop: La Fontana di Trevi. This fountain is the largest (with about 40 meters in front), the most ambitious and the most famous of the monumental fountains of the Italian Baroque. The fountain is located at the intersection of three streets (tre vie), marking the end point of “Aqua Vergine”, one of the ancient aqueducts that supplied water to Rome.
The custom of throwing coins: A traditional legend holds that visitors throwing a coin to the fountain ensure their return to Rome. Another version of this legend is that it brings luck throwing three coins with the right hand over the left shoulder, I threw three.
Always walking we passed the Colosseum and arrived at the “Circus Maximus”. It was the largest circus created under the command of the fifth king of Rome, Lucio Tarquino, was a carriages stadium of the ancient Rome. Located in the valley between the Aventine and Palatine mountains. It was the largest circus of ancient Roman civilization.
After a pause we went to “The Mouth of Truth”, tells the legend about this monument that the one who lies loses the hand when introducing it in the mouth. Robin already had a question to ask me while I had my hand in the mouth, but luckily as there were many tourists doing the line we left the subject for another occasion.
Templo de las Vestales
The Temple of Vestals: My tour guide Robin told me that according to him this should be the most important place in Rome. Why? Here the legend says that the god Mars begot the twins Romulo and Remo.
Ahhh and afterwards a wolf fed them, I said…and it was here where I received an explanation simple and unknown to me. Robin told me that “The Wolf” was an animal and was also the way to call the prostitutes of that time. Interesting!.
Finally and always walking, we passed the monument to Giordano Bruno and then we arrived at the Ghetto of Rome and the great Synagogue, there and in the afternoon we made a stop to eat and recover, always under the eyes of Robin that at every step had a new story to tell me.
At last walking back to Trastevere which is a neighborhood in the historic center of Rome to Mario’s home. It was almost dark when my hosts cooked octopus! what a treat! And then we went out for a coffee. Early tomorrow we leave for Montecatini.
Many thanks to Robin and to Mario for having been the best tour guides I could have had here in Rome and chao Rome … where I will surely return to … if the Trevi Fountain does not fail me.
But I am one of the many who are enjoying a few days in Italy before diving into the bridge of the Open European Championships, Montecatini 2017.
Thus publishes Migry Sur Campanile on his facebook: (click the image to see all the fotos)
Tonje Brogeland; Toasting with her husband:
Others tell us that they are already on the way to Montecatini:
Just arrived to Montecatini!!!…tomorrow I will tell you more…
Four marines were playing bridge in a hut on a Pacific island.
Suddenly another leather-neck burst into the room and shouted: “The Japs are landing a force of about 200 men down on the beach!”
The four bridge playing marines looked at one another.
Finally, one said: “I’ll go, I’m dummy this hand.”
“Last night I waited up for my husband and questioned him about where he had been.”
He sweared he was playing bridge at the club…
I told him, I didnt beleive him, and asked him again…
“What did you get out of him ?” . “A new evening dress?’
A bridge expert, was on vacations, and decided to go to play some boards to the local bridge club. After the first two tables, he shifted his location to the toilet.
“Must be shocked,” the other players commented.
But the expert explained grimly, “It’s the only place around here where, people seem to know what they’re doing’
) – P – (2
A reasonable bid holding:
J 10 5
9 6 4
