presents   Professor IMP's Weekly  Master Class  #17      To Prof. IMP Index
Prof IMP
-		 'Bid Timidly, Play Safe'
Only a few weeks before the beginning of the World Teams Olympiad at Maastricht, the Dutch Open Team played a practice match against Denmark. The site was a beautiful estate in the Eastern part of The Netherlands, owned by Transfer Solutions, a software house which employs many bridge players. Professor IMP was one of the few guests invited to watch the match. Thanks to some rather lucky slam decisions, The Netherlands beat Danish Dynamite by a hundred IMPs or so.

It does not happen very often that the Professor is impressed by the play he witnesses, but the deal below was an exception. In fact, the declarers at both tables took the same line of play. The 'guru' was kibitzing this South hand:

-  A K J 10 7 3  3  K Q 10 5 4 3

North, as dealer at love all, passed, as did East. South opened with 1, doubled by West, North bid 2, East passed, and South conservatively bid 4 only. West doubled again, and everybody passed. West led the A, and this is what declarer and the celebrated kibitzer saw:
 

-
N/none K J 4 3 2 
9 6 2
J 5 2
9 8
 
-      ---
e -
A K J 10 7 3
3
K Q 10 5 4 3
 		 -
WEST----
-
Double
Double
 

-

 NORTH -
Pass 
2
Pass		 EAST----
Pass
Pass
Pass		 SOUTH
1
4
Pass

 
 

South ruffed the second diamond and cashed a high trump, felling West's Q. Declarer next led the K, taken by West with the Ace. The diamond continuation was ruffed, leaving this position:
 

- K J 4 3 2 
9 6
-
9
 
-      ---
e -
K J 10
-
Q 10 5 4 3

With clubs divided 3-2, declarer can simply take eleven tricks by cashing the Q and ruffing a club with nine of trumps.
But what if East has a singleton club? Then the contract would be in danger: East ruffs the second club and plays his last trump. This leaves declarer with an unavoidable club loser and the loss of four tricks.
But the declarers at both tables found the solution. They continued with a low club(!), leaving the defence powerless.
- -

-
N/none K J 4 3 2 
9 6 2
J 5 2
9 8
A 8 7 6
Q
A K Q 10
A J 6 3
Q 10 9 5
8 5 4
9 8 7 6 4
7
e -
A K J 10 7 3
3
K Q 10 5 4 3
 		 -

Professor IMP, who had considered the 4-bid to be a slight underbid, still had the last word. Paraphrasing the late Rixi Markus' great book 'Bid Boldy, Play Safe', he remarked that sometimes it pays to 'Bid Timidly, Play Safe.'

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