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Guest Authors

With the posting of the Balancing after 1M - 2M analysis By Dave McClintock the HHI Bridge blog is extremely proud to acknowledge the guest authors and analysis each has written.

0027 - Balancing after 1M - 2M an analysis by Dave McClintock
0025 - End Play an analysis written by Jamie Traudt
0023 - Last Train an analysis written by Gary Donner
0022 - Forcing or Not an analysis written by Geoff Phipps

A complete list of guests authors can be found on blog Pages: Authors  In addition, guest authors are listed in blog: Topics with a link to respective analyses.  

Hilton Head Bridge Club online games

Hilton Head Bridge Club online games are in partnership with Bridge Club of Atlanta online games played on Bridge Base Online. (see HHBC announcement)  To find a game log into BBO click on Competitive, then click on ACBL Virtual Clubs, then type BCA in the upper right hand search box.  If you need help with HHBC online games or BBO, contact Sandy Ritchey. 

0027 - Balancing after 1M - 2M

Balancing after one opponent opens the bidding 1  or 1  and her partner raises to two of the suit, 2 or 2 .

This analysis is by Dave McClintock. see Pages: Authors

Don’t let the opponents steal the contract from you at the two-level. One of the worst scores in bridge is -110 where the opponents bid and make 2  or 2 . Note that if the opponents have found an 8-card fit, we almost always have our own 8-card fit. We need to compete!

Thus, the auction at our table should never go 1  – P – 2  – P – P – P (Well, almost never!). If the auction died at the 2-level, partner has points, even if I don’t.


What can happen if we balance against 1  – P – 2  – P – P – ?

a. We find a fit and make a contract (good for us!)
b. We go down 50 or 100 against their +110 (good for us!)
c. The opponents take the push to the 3-level and go down (good for us!)
d. The opponents take the push to the 3-level and make it (okay for us)
e. The opponents bid on to game and make it (bad for us, but rare!)
f. We go down 150 or more against their 110 or 140 (bad for us!)

Note that only 2 of the 6 possibilities are bad for our side and one of them (e) find a game after a balancing bid is a remote possibility. At matchpoints (pairs), it’s imperative to use that competitive edge. If we go down 500, it’s only one bad board versus the several very good boards we get for competing.

Warning: After balancing, let the opponents have the contract if they bid to the 3-level! Bidding again invites trouble and a big minus score!

 Here are some sample hands after an opponent opens 1  and her partner responds 2 . Then, pass, pass to you.

0026 - West – Finesse – East

What a difference a finesse makes!

This is a deal Paul Thurston (thurston) West and Keith Balcombe (kbalcombe) East, two World Class Canadians, defended Friday, April 17, 2020 on BBO against two Belgium players sitting North-South.


Auction: The auction is pretty simple. South deals and with 15 hcp, 6 losers and a semi-balanced hand (5-4-2-2) could open the bidding 1 NT, but with a 5-card major opens the bidding 1 . West (Paul) and East (Keith) are silent throughout. North makes a 2/1 Game Forcing bid of 2 . South bids 2  as natural and North bids 4 .


In the actual play of this contract, on opening lead - T1 Paul (West) leads the  4 to Keith (East)  A. Keith returns the  6 to declarer (South)  K - T2.

How do you play this hand?

Playing on BBO

from Sam Marks (Bridge Club of Atlanta) on using BBO

I still get a lot of questions about how to play, convention cards and self alerting. Here are three quick videos that are worth watching. Silvana Morici is the owner of the Sagamore Bridge Club. They have been raising over 200,000 yearly for Alzheimer's Association. She was one of the first clubs online and has spent a lot of time polishing these videos.




How to Bid and Play on BBO by Silvana

You can take online lessons from Silvana Morici see Pages: Silvana Morici

GREAT NEWS!

Effective immediately the Hilton Head Bridge Club is partnering with the Bridge Club of Atlanta to offer daily club games on Bridge Base Online (BBO).  You will now be able to play with and against HHBC players as well as those at BCA.  


All players of HHBC club will be eligible to play.

There are daily games (many of them stratified to enable us to reach all levels of our players).  Game registration is open appx, 2 hours before the games.  The cost for the game is $6 and a portion of that will be returned to our Club.  Games are 18 boards.

BBO Game Schedule  see Pages: Bridge Club of Atlanta

In order to play you will need to visit Bridgebase.com and create a username and password.  After you have registered, you need to purchase BBO$ with a credit card.  The cost of the game is automatically deducted from your BBO account each time you play.  Once you have a BBO account, you can fill out convention cards for each partner with whom you will be playing.

To find the daily club game -- from the main screen go to "Competitive" under "Play or Watch Bridge" --ACBL Virtual Clubs -- look for BCA game.

We hope you will support our Club by playing in these games as well as other BBO games.  
As always we miss our face to face bridge games, but are thankful that ACBL and BBO offers online alternatives.  We appreciate the opportunity to partner with the Bridge Club of Atlanta to make these club games possible.

A great thanks to Beth and Sandy  

Keeping Safe