Ray Adam’s Bridge Stories

Intermediates Gone Wild: An Introduction

Welcome to Intermediate Place, where all the tens, nines and eights go to relax and tell bridge stories after a hard day at the duplicate table. Since cards live in a strict social order where an ace always beats a king, a ten a nine, and a three a deuce, they are very conscious of their rank. As a result, they have formed three social clubs: the Royal Honors Club for aces, kings, queens, and jacks; Intermediate Place; and the Sevens and Under Public House.
Intermediate Place is quite cozy, but roomy enough to accommodate all of the intermediates plus everyone from the Sevens and Under Public House on special occasions. Its center is dominated by a horseshoe-shaped bar surrounded by tables and chairs. In the roomy kitchen, delicious food is cooked for any intermediate who might be feeling hunger pangs after a hard day at the bridge table. Next to the bar, a large blackboard has been provided so that the regulars can diagram bridge hands and auctions. Friendly and hospitable bartenders and waiters serve orders quickly and efficiently. The jukebox has a nice selection of golden oldies, blues, and jazz classics. It is no wonder that intermediates feel so much at home here.
This book is set entirely in Intermediate Place. Readers will hear the tens, nines, and eights tell bridge tales in their own voice and in their own way. A great number of bridge players have forgotten about this important group of cards, but listening to their tales of triumphs and tribulations will surely change many views.
The regulars at Intermediate Place feel that bridge buffs frequently discriminate against them. When a hand is evaluated, for example, only the honor cards are counted. Even a lowly jack is worth one more point than any of the intermediates.
And yet, these middle cards add a richness to a bridge hand that gives it much more trick taking potential. Just take a look at the following four hands:

 
1.  ♠ A84       2.  ♠ A109      3.  ♠ A54       4.  ♠ A108
     ♥ KJ8           ♥ KJ10          ♥ KJ2           ♥ KJ9
     ♦ Q98           ♦ Q109          ♦ Q43           ♦ Q105
     ♣ AK96          ♣ AK109         ♣ AK42          ♣ AK98

All four hands count in at the exact same 17 high card points, yet even a beginning bridge player will know that hand # 2 is the best of the lot; hand # 4 next best; # 1 is third best; and # 3 is the worst of the lot. This is clearly because hand # 2 has a wealth of intermediates, while hand # 4 is not too far behind # 2, but has more nines than tens. Hand # 1 has more eights than nines or tens, and hand # 3contains absolutely no intermediates. So why are tens, nines, and eights so overlooked? Could it be laziness on the part of the average bridge player? Perhaps, but it should come as no surprise that the most successful bridge players always pay the greatest of attention to the middle cards, and in so doing, gain many wonderful results at the table.
It is my hope that readers will never look at eights, nines, and tens in the same way after reading this book. And this is nothing but good. Intermediates hate being ignored and undervalued. They are there to serve any bridge buff who chooses to see their value and use it. Now it’s time to take a magical tour of Intermediate Place. Your bridge will undoubtedly improve. The little intermediates will make sure of it.

The Adventures

of Poor Frank and Lucky Archie

Poor Frank’s Agony

  Just the other night at the local bridge club, Poor Frank and Lucky Archie were once again fighting for first place.  It all came down to this fateful hand (dealer is east and east/west are vul):

	North KT7 KQ32 AQ74 87
West (PF) A8643 8 T93 QJT4		East QJ T76 J82 K9652
	South (LA) 952 AJ954 K65 A3

East	South	West	North
Pass	1 H	Pass	2 NT
Pass	3 C	Pass	3 D
Pass	4 D	Pass	4 S
Pass	6 H	All pass

The bidding requires some explanation.  2NT was a forcing raise in hearts, showing 4 hearts and an opening hand.  3♣ supposedly showed shortness in clubs, although this was usually one or none.  Perhaps Lucky Archie had a club mixed in with a spade.  3♦, 4♦, and 4♠ were all explained as cuebids, and somehow the pair arrived in this unlikely slam.      

     Poor Frank led the ♣Q and declarer won his ace, then drew trumps in three rounds.  Next came three rounds of diamonds, Lucky Archie smirking unpleasantly when the suit divided 3-3.  He then tossed his little club on dummy’s last diamond.  

    Declarer ruffed a club and led a spade towards dummy.  Poor Frank ducked hopefully, but Lucky Archie went right up with the king.  When this held and East played the jack, the lucky one led a small spade to East’s queen.  Poor Frank was fixed.  If he overtook with the ace, dummy’s ten of spades would be the slam-going trick.  Therefore, he was forced to duck, but East fared no better.  He had to lead a club, giving Lucky Archie a ruff and a sluff and this improbable slam contract.

     Poor Frank was in agony.  To make this slam, Lucky Archie had needed to find diamonds 3-3, West with the ♠A and East with the queen/jack doubleton in spades.  This made the slam about a one in fifty chance or perhaps even less.  Poor Frank was quick to complain of this to anyone who would listen as the players left the club, but most of them were too busy congratulating Lucky Archie to even notice Poor Frank’s agony.        

The Adventures of Poor Frank, Part 4:  Cool Ruff Frank

     The latest chapter in the continuing rivalry between Poor Frank and Lucky Archie took an interesting turn recently at the local bridge club.  This was the hand:

     Poor Frank opened the South hand 2♣, North showed zero or one control, but when this player later supported clubs, Frank took a shot at 6♣.  West led the ♥K.  Declarer won his ace and realized he was short of entries to the dummy.  This helps explain his subsequent play.

     Poor Frank cashed the ♦A, then ruffed the ♦K low in dummy.  Lucky Archie raised his eyebrows at this play and commented, “Ruffing good tricks, Frank?”

     Poor Frank had recently seen his favorite movie “Cool Hand Luke” for the twenty-fourth time and replied, “Sometimes ruffing good tricks can be a pretty cool play, Archie.”

     Declarer then led the ♣8, East playing the four, South the three, and West the seven.  Poor Frank next led a small spade, inserting the queen when Archie played low.  This held the trick and declarer cashed the ♣A to drop his rival’s king and soon claimed this small slam, conceding a heart trick.

     The twenty or so kibitzers gathered around the table soon spread the news about the interchange between Lucky Archie and Poor Frank.  As a result, all the local bridge buffs began calling Poor Frank “Cool Ruff Frank.”  However, it was not long before Lucky Archie returned to his lucky ways and beat Cool Ruff Frank unmercifully, and the name Cool Ruff Frank was quickly forgotten.  In a week, it was back to, “Poor Frank, when will he ever learn?”