Black Arts and Culture
Bridge Corner: May 25, 2017
Hello and welcome to the Tidewater Bridge Unit (TBU).
To name a suit as trump, you and your partner want a comfortable majority of cards in that suit. There are 13 cards in each suit. If you have six or fewer in the combined partnership hands, the opponents have the majority. If you have seven, the opponents have six and you have a small majority. If you have eight or more, you have a comfortable majority, since the opponents have five or fewer. This comfortable majority of eight-plus cards in the trump suit is called a Golden Fit.
South (S) is Dealer. What should the contract be?
North
♠ A764
♥ K83
♦ J52
♣ AQ8
West East
♠ 82 ♠ 93
♥ QJ105 ♥A96
♦ A94 ♦KQ763
♣ J732 ♣1065
South
♠ KQJ105
♥ 742
♦ 108
♣ K94
1. How many points in each partnership?
2. Does either partnership have enough strength for game?
3. Which partnership has a Golden Fit?
4. Which partnership has the majority of the strength?
5. Who will make the opening bid? What will the opening bid be?
6. Which player is responder & captain?
7. If North & South bid a contract, should it be a game or partscore?
8. Would it be notrump or suit contract?
9. What might be a reasonable contract?
10. Who will make the opening lead? What will the opening lead be?
11. How many tricks must declarer win to fulfill the contract?
12. How many “sure” tricks are in the combined North & South hands?
13. What is the advantage of playing in
a Golden Fit?
14. What might happen if North & South played in a Notrump contract instead of their Golden Fit?
Answers:
1. North-South have 23 combined points; East-West have 17 combined points
2. Neither partnership has enough strength for a Golden Fit
3. North-South have a Golden Fit in spades. East-West have a Golden Fit in Diamonds
4. North-South have the majority of the strength
5. North opens the bidding with 1♣
6. South is the responder and the captain
7. North-South should be in a partscore
8. The contract should be in spades
9. 2♠ would be a reasonable contract
10. West makes the opening lead. West leads the ♥Q.
11. Declarer must take eight tricks
12. There are eight sure tricks between North & South
13. The advantage of playing in a Golden Fit is that you can stop the opponents from taking too many tricks in any one suit.
14. If North-South played this deal in Notrump, the opponents could take four tricks in hearts and five tricks in diamonds
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